Fraud Prevention Month in the Friendly City

Tuesday, 14 March 2023 07:17

The Woodstock Police Service has some tips for the public just in time for Fraud Prevention Month.

WOODSTOCK - It is Fraud Prevention Month and the Woodstock Police Service is reminding everyone to protect themselves.

Community Service Officer Shaylyn Jackson says that the WPS will be sharing tips all month.

"We strongly encourage that the community takes advantage of all the tips and tricks that we share throughout the month on social media, but also taking the initiative to look up the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre. There's so much fantastic information there."

Fraudsters continue to change and evolve their scams, especially when it comes to cybercrime with more people relying on technology every day. They have been advancing their use of technology, making it difficult to determine what is and is not real online. Some things a scammer may do to gain trust in their victims include spoofing phone numbers and websites, or sending out phishing text messages and emails.

According to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, frauds affecting Canadians the most include investment frauds, romance frauds, and extortion frauds.

Jackson urged that everyone in the community should utilize the CAFC resources.

"You can report frauds there and they keep all of the statistics in Canada. They're in partnership with the RCMP so they have a lot of really fantastic information about fraud trends."

Recent fraud reports in Woodstock include the fraudulent use of credit card and a sextortion incident. Police caution social media users, especially youth to be extremely cautious of sextortion scams. Never be ashamed or scared to report a fraud to local authorities.

Altogether Ontario victims lost over $190 million dollars to scams in 2022, which accounted for 41% of the $464.5 million victims lost Canada wide.

March is Fraud Prevention Month – know what fraudsters are up to in order to protect your information and assets. Fraudsters continue to evolve their methods of targeting people of all ages, particularly when it comes to cybercrime.https://t.co/H2ij8BGig4 pic.twitter.com/DDuu52FNpz
— Woodstock Police Service (@Woodstock_PS) March 7, 2023