South Bruce OPP are continuing to advise caution when it comes to cons and scams, as about $305,000 was recently lost.
Police say this past week, the OPP received word of two reports of successful scams in the area. The first fell victim to what is known as a bitcoin, cryptocurrency, or online investment scam, which resulted in $300,000 being lost.
The other victim experienced what is commonly known as the grandparent or emergency scam, when a scammer calls to tell you a grandchild has been in a vehicle collision and needs money. The scammer made off with $4,900.
In these two circumstances, police advise making sure you know who you are dealing with, and to call your family first to make sure they have been involved in a collision.
Police say cons and scams are attempted daily through online platforms, as well as by phone, letter mail, and by fax. Being a multi-million-dollar enterprise, cons and scams will only end when it stops making money.
While scammer’s will change tactics and come up with new schemes, police say there are some common tools in a con artists toolbox, these include:
-Spoofing, when you are contacted by what appears to be from a friend, legitimate company or a branch of government. To avoid the scam, end the call and connect with the real person, company, or branch of government. If it is an email, hover over the reply to check the email address that shows up.
-Urgency, act now or limited time offer scams, when the scammer doesn’t want you to consider the offer as suspicious. To avoid the scam, time is on your side, verify before you go any further.
-Emotional manipulation, con artists will play on your emotions to get your money, by using a romance scam, emergency scam, grandparent scam, or charity scam. To avoid the scam, be suspicious when they play on your emotions. Check out the Anti-Fraud Centre’s list of scams, as it may be listed.
-Pop-up scams, when boxes appear on your computer or device claiming your won a prize or your device is infected. A toll number will be provided for you to call. To avoid the scam, install anti-virus and pop-up blockers, and clear out your cache, and block cookies when possible. Additionally, don’t use public Wi-Fi, especially for online banking.
Police add a couple of tips to keep in mind are if it sounds too good to be true, it likely is, and you cannot win a contest you did not enter. If you have a concern about your computer, take it to a reputable repair shop and don’t allow remote access to a tech that calls out of the blue. Also gift cards are a red flag, if someone contacts you asking you to buy gift cards, hang up.
More details are available by calling the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre at 1-888-495-8501 or by visiting the website here.
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