Protect yourself from scams in Fraud Prevention month

It’s not the kind of little black book that will help you keep track of your personal life, but it could help prevent you from becoming the victim of a romance scam.

The second edition of the Little Black Book of Scams is available on the Competition Bureau of Canada’s website and is a great resource to learn more about trending scams and what you can do to protect yourself from being victimized. Knowledge is power and when it comes to fraud it’s your best line of defence.

March is Fraud Prevention month in Canada and the goal is to help educate the public and raise awareness so people can better protect themselves from the myriad of schemes and scams that are always making the rounds.

Fraudulent scams wreak havoc on individuals, families and businesses. In 2017, there were 580 fraud reports, up just slightly from 2016. Locally, the most common frauds we investigate include credit card/debit fraud, identity theft, passing counterfeit currency and trending scams such as romance fraud, advance payment fraud, the CRA scam and business compromise fraud.

We have also seen a rise in vehicles being fraudulently purchased at car dealerships using stolen identity documents.

Fraudsters are sophisticated and use creative and complex ways to scam money out of possible victims, so it’s important to always be vigilant. Whether you are contacted online, in-person or over the phone, it’s critical to verify who you are dealing with. And if you have any doubts — don’t take a chance.

• If you are unsure of the legitimacy of a telephone call, or feel harassed or threatened — even if the caller sounds official — hang up.

• If you receive suspicious emails, delete them.

• If you receive something suspicious in the mail asking you for personal information, throw it away.

• Above all DO NOT forward money or personal information to anyone, unless you are certain of the legitimacy of the recipient.

• Ensure your mail is not in a place that could be easily seen and stolen.

• Conduct regular Equifax and Trans Union checks on yourself to

ensure no one has stolen your identity and taken credit out in your name.

• Shred and destroy all personal documents and information prior to discarding it.

• Report all instances of fraud to police

For more information about current and common scams, visit the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre website www.antifraudcentrecentreantifraude.ca. If you are the victim of fraud, report incidents to police by attending the station or calling 403-328-4444. If you have been contacted by a scam artist, but not victimized and wish to report it for information purposes only, please report the matter to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre to help the organization track scams and identify new ones.