Provincial police say residents of South Bruce have lost about $89,000 to scammers so far this year.
South Bruce OPP Communications Officer Kevin Martin said this is Fraud Prevention Month, and he urged people to be aware that cons and scams are attempted daily through online platforms, by phone, by letter mail, or by fax.
“In 2021 Canadians reported losing $380 million to the Canadian Anti Fraud Centre,” he said. “In 2022 that number ballooned to $530 million. That’s a lot of money, but here’s the kicker. Fraud is under reported. They estimate nearly 10 to 15 per cent of cases reported, so do that math. It’s an amazing amount of money being lost. And with the internet and all these good things at their disposal, they can create very very convincing scams.”
Martin says people need to take their time, do their research, and not respond immediately to unsolicited contacts.
Martin warned people need to be absolutely sure who they are dealing with before responding.
“As we move in to our income tax season, we can anticipate the con artist impersonating or pretending to be a branch of the government,” he said. “We all know the branch, and I’ll be honest, I’m afraid of them too, but I will be absolutely certain it’s them before I ever reach for my cheque book.”
Con artists are picking up the pace and placing more phone calls involving the “grandparent scam.”
OPP Constable Martin pointed out the scammers may know all kinds of information about the person they are claiming to be.
“A lot of our younger people kind of live on line. They’ll share what they’re having for lunch, where they go to school, who their friends are, who they listen to, what movies they like,” Martin explained. “Everything about them is on lin2 so when a grand parent asks the con artist those questions, they have the answers from their internet search.”
The Grey Bruce Ontario Provincial Police is also seeing an increase in the number of calls for service regarding the fraud, which involves a desperate call from someone claiming to be a grandchild. Fraudsters cold call seniors, on phones, claiming to be a grandchild, family member, law enforcement officer or lawyer calling on behalf of their loved one. They’ll say that the person’s loved one was involved in an emergency situation and need money immediately for supposed bail, legal fees, or fines.
“They typically have an incident in the Montreal area. Be it the grandchild in jail, or in a car crash, or something of this nature,” Martin continued. “So our first defence is hang up that phone, and call son or daughter to find out where the grandchild is.”
He pointed out gift cards are a red flag. If someone contacts you and directs you to buy gift cards, you need to hang up the phone.
The South Bruce OPP reminded residents that if it sounds too good to be true, it likely is. Martin added that you can’t win a contest that you didn’t enter in the first place.
Read original story from Midwestern Ontario News – BlackburnNews.com