by Zain Usmani | Oct 15, 2024

March 2024 marks the 20th anniversary of Fraud Prevention Month in Canada. This month-long initiative aims to educate Canadians about various frauds and scams. It also aims to educate Canadians about fraud prevention measures we can take to protect ourselves.

As technology continues to change our world, many positive things come with it. However, this new era of technology has also given way to new types of fraud. Scams and fraud are the unfortunate realities we face. According to a recent poll conducted by Iposos, 43% of Canadians have affirmed being the target of fraud at some point in their lives.

Awareness of the tactics that scammers use and the different types of fraud is the first step in prevention. Discover more about Fraud Prevention Month and how to protect yourself from online scams.

Fraud Prevention Month in Canada is an annual campaign held each March to raise awareness about various types of fraud and scams. In 2004, Fraud Prevention Month was officially established by the Canadian government. The initiative aims to educate the public to recognize and prevent fraud and report fraudulent activities.

A notable feature of Fraud Prevention Month in Canada is its emphasis on education. The campaign includes reaching out to individuals and businesses through workshops, seminars, and resources. Fraud can happen to anyone, anytime, from anywhere. Therefore, Fraud Prevention Month in Canada encourages Canadians to be proactive rather than reactive. Simply put, this means better equipping ourselves to deal with fraud rather than taking action after it happens.

Scammers not only target individuals but can also target whole businesses. If you have a business, click here to learn how to protect your business from fraud.

In the early 2000s, the Canadian government recognized the need to address the rising incidents of fraud. Responding to the increasing sophistication of scams, authorities identified March as Fraud Prevention Month. The first Fraud Prevention Month in 2004 included a campaign to teach Canadians how to safeguard themselves. The initiative gained momentum as more people became aware of the many types of fraud. Eventually, more government agencies, law enforcement, financial institutions, and non-profit organizations joined the fraud prevention initiative in Canada.

The initiative originally focused on traditional frauds and scams. However, fraud has a very adaptive nature in our ever-evolving world. Scammers continue to figure out new ways to scam Canadians out of their money or sensitive personal information. As a result, the fraud prevention initiative added emerging threats such as cyber fraud and online scams. It was forced to adapt to stay ahead of scammers so that preventive measures against fraud remain relevant.

Today, Fraud Prevention Month continues to help Canadians become aware of the different types of fraud. There is also an ongoing effort to stay ahead of fraudsters and scammers. The Canadian government is committed to adapting its strategies accordingly to combat the newest methods utilized by scammers. As Canadians, it is our responsibility to educate ourselves on such methods so that we can protect ourselves and our assets.

There are many different techniques scammers use to commit fraud. Scams generally tend to target your money and your personal information. With increasingly sophisticated techniques, it can often be tricky to spot fraud and take preventative measures. To make it easier to recognize, we’ll explore three common types of fraud and techniques to avoid it.

Identity theft fraud occurs when someone wrongfully gains access to your personal information for fraudulent purposes, typically for financial gain. This stolen information can include your name, Social Insurance Number (SIN), date of birth, bank account information, and other sensitive data. The identity thief can then use this information to commit various types of fraud. This includes making unauthorized purchases, opening credit accounts, taking out loans, or engaging in other financial transactions in your name.

Victims of identity theft can face serious consequences, including financial losses, damage to credit scores, and legal complications. The stolen information can be acquired through various means, such as phishing scams, data breaches, hacking, and other fraudulent activities.

There are many steps to take that can reduce your chances of falling victim to identity theft:

• Use strong passwords online: weak passwords can often be easy for scammers to hack

• Don’t trust public wifi: your mobile device becomes susceptible to hackers and viruses if you download applications using public wifi

• Review your transactions frequently: check your credit card bills to look for unauthorized transactions or any discrepancies

• Be cautious with personal information: be mindful of what personal information you share online and on social media.

• Shred documents that contain personal information before disposing of them

• Be aware of phishing scams that can lead to identity theft.

Phishing scams are identity theft that occur through electronic communication, making them one of the most common types of fraud. They involve fraudulent messages, generally, emails and phone calls, that pretend to be from trusted sources, like banks. By imitating familiar entities, phishing scams aim to access your personal identifying information. The phishing scam can pretend to be financial institutions, government agencies, healthcare providers, or other reputable entities. 

There are many different ways that scammers employ phishing scams. These scams seek to achieve identity theft by acquiring personal details like names, addresses, and social security numbers. Financial fraud is another phishing scam that hopes to gain access to your banking information. All phishing scams attempt to obtain sensitive information through deceptive tactics. Since phishing scams are common and dangerous, they are an important type of fraud to discuss during Fraud Prevention Month in Canada.

Since phishing scams attempt to imitate familiar entities, they can often be tricky to spot. You might get an unexpected email that looks like it’s from a company you trust, like a bank or utility company. This can make them difficult to identify. However, phishing attacks usually ask you to do something that is not a standard procedure for the entity you believe is contacting you. They might tell you that your account is on hold because of a billing problem or invite you to update your payment details. Reputable entities do not usually send these kind of messages. For that reason, it is a good idea to take a deeper look if you receive a suspicious, unexpected message.

To learn more about how you can spot and prevent phishing attacks, click here.

Online purchase scams occur when fraudsters scam consumers into paying for misrepresented or non-existent products online. These types of scams don’t only happen on suspicious-looking or unknown websites. People also fall victim to online purchase scams on trusted online retailers such as Amazon and eBay. Online purchase scams generally fall under two categories:

1. Sellers list a non-existent item online and then vanish once they receive your payment.

2. Sellers list fake or counterfeit products that don’t function the way they are supposed to once you receive them. This type of scam is common with electronics and branded items.

Over the past decade, online shopping has become increasingly popular. With the increase in online shopping, comes many ways for scammers to engage in online purchasing fraud. These tips can help you avoid online purchase scams:

• Confirm that the online shop is legitimate: legitimate online retailers will display details such as the shop’s physical address, phone number, and email address. They’ll also generally provide extra details such as shipping details, warranties, and return policies.

• Check the reviews before making a purchase: reviews made by other customers can help you better understand how trustworthy the online store is. If there are very few reviews or the reviews seem repetitive or suspicious, there is a chance that the store could be fraudulent.

• Deals that are too good to be true: while it is possible to find great deals through online shopping, some deals are just too good to be true. Even though these deals are tempting, it’s a good idea to be wary.

In summary, Fraud Prevention Month aims to create a well-informed society to reduce and eliminate fraud. Its goal is to empower Canadians to actively work towards minimizing the impact of fraud on individuals and businesses. Through education, awareness, and collective action, the initiative aims to build resilience and reduce the prevalence of fraudulent activities. With scammers constantly changing their tactics to target the public, we should constantly stay updated on how we can protect ourselves from fraud.