Fraud Prevention Month
Written by Audrey Roy on 02/03/11
Photo by Nickb_rock on flickr
March is Fraud Prevention Month in Canada. In order to provide our readers with the best information on fraud prevention, a guest blogger from the RCMP’s Centre of Operations Linked to Telemarketing Fraud (COLT) will write a four-part blog series on the different types of fraud and how to protect yourself! Anyone can be targeted by fraud. It happened to me just 3 months ago when I was looking for someone to take over the lease of my apartment. A person claiming to be interested in renting it from me sent me a cheque. The person said that they had written the wrong amount of money on it and asked that I send them the difference. So I went to Western Union to wire the money and the employee told me that many people have been scammed by wiring money back to a supposed tenant and I should verify with the bank and make sure the cheque was real. Eventually, the bank discovered and told me that the cheque was counterfeit. I quickly deposited all the money back into my account and went back to Western Union to thank the employee who just saved me a whole lot of trouble. I was so glad he saw through the scam and was able to intervene to help me out!
The best way to prevent yourself from becoming a victim of fraud is by learning about the different types of scams that are out there and how to recognize them. Every week this month we will be publishing a blog that deals with a different type of fraud. Visit our website this month to learn more!
We also invite you to share with us what you do to ensure you are well protected!
Links
Centre of Operations Linked to Telemarketing Fraud (COLT)
DEAL.org – Online fraud and Scams
