South Bruce OPP is warning everyone to be mindful of potential scams and to be vigilant.
Constable Kevin Martin, the community safety and media relations officer for the South Bruce OPP, says that in five fraud cases that were reported between December 11 and 31st, a total of $500,000 was taken in different scams.
Martin says that statistically, only around 5-10 per cent of scams are reported to police, which is shocking.
“I wish I could tell you it was out of the norm, but actually what we saw [were] reasonably significant losses just in southern Bruce County. And what I mean is in five different incidents, residents of southern Bruce County lost almost a half million dollars to con artists. Now, what’s even more shocking for me is they estimate between 5 and 10 per cent of fraud is actually reported. So if a half million in little old Bruce County is 10 per cent, good grief, when you start thinking about Ontario or Canada or North America, it’s just too much money changing hands with the wrong people.”
He says that while each is upsetting, it’s important that everyone be aware of the different ways criminals can try and cheat them out of money. The cases reported in December are:
– Online purchases made through a fraudulent website – $97 USD
– Two incidents of E-transfer made to help a “grandchild” – $3,000 each time
– Crypto exchange through a fraudulent site – $140,000 USD
– Crypto investing through a fraudulent online broker – $338,000
The most shocking cases involve cryptocurrency scams, which involved the victim signing up with a broker and allowing multiple transactions, which then totalled $140,000 USD in losses for one person, and an eye-watering $338,000 for another.
He says that these were just some “successful” scams that happened, saying “By successful I mean that somebody pays. That’s bad news for us as a society, but it’s deemed successful when money changes hands. That is just something that we need to collectively stop.”
He adds that if you do happen to fall for a scam, regardless, it might be possible to recover those lost funds, but it’s also incredibly difficult and there’s no guarantee the money can be recovered.
“This is not victimless, this is not harmless. Although it’s sort of a willing transfer of funds, make no mistake this is a criminal offence,” he explains. “But at the end of the day, [people] need to understand it’s very difficult to retrieve funds. Once you transfer funds to a con artist, it is very difficult for us to retrieve money. What we do as a police agency, is we try and hold someone accountable through criminal court, and that process of recovering money could be initiated as a separate process through our civil courts. And sometimes there’s a process where you can make applications to the Crown to have an order for the recovery of funds, but those are very difficult pieces. So it is absolutely critical that you do not reach for your pocketbook until you are absolutely sure who you’re dealing with.”
Martin reminds everyone that there are ways to stay safe, namely to understand that anyone calling and asking for money, or in the case of a grandparent scam which tries to play on emotions to get away with money, is to be a little sceptical. Police share some safety tips:
– If it sounds too good to be true, it likely is.
– Remember that you can’t win a contest that you didn’t enter in the first place.
– If you have a concern about your computer, take it to a reputable repair shop for service. Do not provide remote access to a “tech” that calls you out of the blue
– Gift cards are a red flag. If someone contacts you and directs you to buy gift cards, you need to hang up the phone.
The best way to prevent yourself from becoming a victim of fraud is to do your homework, including by reading different reviews or looking the business up on a credible website such as the Better Business Bureau.
“Similar to our youth at that school age are very good at sharing peer-to-peer that someone is bad and to not talk to them… it’s also happening for us as grown-ups. The peer-to-peer reviews are out there.”
Martin also says that being smart and reading reliable reviews are a start because although the OPP is working endlessly to stop con artists, it’s a big hill to climb.
“The southern Bruce County that my detachment polices has approximately 60,000 people. There’s no way for us to interrupt these fraudulent transactions for 60,000 people. We can’t do it.”
In order to avoid scammers from learning personal details, he says to be smart about what gets shared online. He points to the “All About Me” questionnaires on social media sites such as Facebook, where people willingly disclose information such as where they were born, what the make and model of their first car was, and the name of their first pet: while these seem like harmless questions for friends to learn about one another, they are also very common password-recovery questions that can be accessed by anyone trying to hack into online accounts. Martin advises to not fill those questionnaires out for any reason, even if it seems like harmless fun.
He also encourages everyone to read up on different ways to keep safe, including the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, which can be accessed through their official website or their toll-free phone number.
The OPP also has information resources on its official website as well.
– Canadian Anti Fraud Centre official website or 1-888-495-8501
– OPP.ca Fraud Prevention
