Be wary of scams

By Joanne McQuarrie editor@columbiavalleypioneer.com

Being defrauded of money and property is financially and emotionally devastating. There have already been 6,610 reports of fraud in Canada as of January 31 this year; victims of fraud numbers 3,923 and money lost to fraud is at $43.6 million, says a Government of Canada website.

Seeing such high numbers already in the early part of the year is disturbing.

Statistics from 2022 show how deeply scams and fraud having seeped into society. There were 91,190 reports of fraud; victims of fraud numbered 57,055 and $531 million was lost to fraud.

A huge variety of scams and fraud happen in Canada and new ones are invented daily, the site reads. Many attempt to imitate government services to gain access to your personal and financial information. For example, there are messages claiming to be from Service Canada or 1 800 O-Canada, or from the Canada Revenue Agency, Immigration, Refugees, Citizenship Canada and Canada Border Services Agency.

There are phone call scams, email scams, prepaid cards, bitcoin, and e-transfer payment scams, text messages/instant messaging scams, mail scams, scams aimed at newcomers to Canada, COVID-19 scams and fraud. People have had their social insurance numbers used, along with their birth certificate, driver’s license, health card other province or territory-issued documents, immigration documents and passports.

Grandparent scams have been been in the spotlight lately. A Government of BC website says these are also called grandchild scams and they target seniors. There’s usually a phone call from someone who pretends to be your grandchild. “If you get a call like this, be prepared: the scammer may already know your grandchild’s name and what your grandchild calls you (for example, a nickname like Nona or Grampy),” the site reads. “Acting as your grandchild, the scammer claims to be in trouble and asks for your help. The scammer may try to convince you that your grandchild was in a car accident or has been arrested. You may be asked to wire money right away, without telling anyone.”

If you get a call like this don’t wire money or give the caller any further information. Hang up and call your grandchild or another family member to find out what’s going on.

For this and other kinds of scams, report the incident to the RCMP; get a file number for future reference. If you find suspicious activity on your credit report, update your file with the RCMP. Contact the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre; call, toll free, 1 888 495-8501; email info@antifraudcentre.ca or go over information at Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre website. Contact your financial institution. Tell family, friends, neighbours and co-workers if you’ve been scammed. You might prevent it from happening to someone else.