The West Parry Sound OPP want to remind the public that March is Fraud Awareness Month and that it’s particularly important to be careful of frauds around tax season.
The OPP said the best defence against fraud is education. They recommend people educate themselves and those they know about how frauds are perpetrated. Authorities said a good place to start the education process is the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre’s website, which lists various types of fraud and how to avoid becoming a victim. Members of the public should be vigilant and expect that fraudsters may call them and claim to be from the Canadian Revenue Agency (CRA), said police.
“The CRA does not send people emails or call them saying you owe money and then threaten them. However, that is what con artists do,” said the OPP. “They put fear into you, and they say the police will come to arrest you if you don’t pay your taxes. That just won’t happen. But people will fall for this and other scams and area residents can count themselves as some of the victims.”
Some tips from the West Parry Sound OPP to avoid being defrauded:
- Always check your credit card statement to make sure all the charges are yours and not from someone who accessed your card illegally and bought something using your money. If you dispute a charge within a month or two of getting your statement, the credit card company will reimburse you.
- Always be careful with pop-ups on your email. Sometimes if you click the link in the popup you could end up downloading a virus onto your computer. Best practice is to be certain you know who the email is from before you click.
- A third suggestion is to avoid performing sensitive functions on wi-fi systems. This may be fine for getting news from, but you should avoid doing banking on a system that provides free wi-fi because it’s just not secure. A hacker can easily get into an unsecure site and the next thing you know, your banking information is being stolen.
For more information on how you can protect yourself from fraudulent activities, visit the Canadian Anti‐Fraud Centre (CAFC) website here or call 1‐888‐495‐8501.
