CARP wants to bring all of your attention about the vulnerability of our members to online scams and frauds.

As well as the information from listed , There was be a Senior Symposium in Sudbury free to the public addressing such issues,  Hopefully it will occur again next year.

The best defence against these crimes is awareness and sharing information.

Members should be aware of the many kinds of internet, telephone and door to door scams.

The Canadian Anti-Fraud centre is a good repository of information and describes the scams.

http://www.antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca/english/recognizeit.html

 

Emails from banks, western union, moneygram, foreign and domestic government agencies (including Canadian Revenue), credit card companies, Paypal, lotteries, and international correspondents offering money,  are in almost all cases, fraudulent, sent out in bulk and should be discarded.

 

Telephone and online cries for financial help from family and friends, (grandchildren) on Facebook, hotmail, or over the phone are typical of common frauds and should be treated with caution.

 

April is a common month for phony emails from Canadian Revenue Agency, asking that you confirm details for your recent filings.  Well, everyone in Canada is busy filing their taxes, and some will not question a query from the gov’t and will unwittingly give out information that will be used to steal from them in a widespread fraud.

 

Now these crimes may seem minor in most cases, but in the case of seniors, any money lost is gone with precious little time to regain that money through investment or employment.

 

Further, these crimes have a cumulative effect into the billions of dollars paying organized crime organizations who have moved into this almost anonymous and difficult to police arena.

http://www.itworldcanada.com/news/cybercrime-dominated-by-organised-gangs-study/145148