Recognize It!

Here are some facts about fraud in Canada. Through awareness, you can avoid becoming a victim.

• Thousands of Canadians are defrauded each year. Recognizing fraud is the first step to better protecting yourself.
• There is no typical fraud victim in Canada. In fact, fraud victims are likely to include those who are well educated and informed.
• Fraudsters are imaginative and well organized.
• If a fraudster is successful once, they will try to scam you again.

Fraudsters are professional criminals that know what they are doing. Fraudsters rely on some basic techniques to be successful. These include:

• developing professional-looking marketing materials;
• providing believable answers for your tough questions;
• impersonating legitimate businesses, charities, and causes;
• pretending to be your ordinary supplier;
• hiding the true details in the fine print;
• falsely claiming affiliation with reliable sources, such as legitimate news sites to support their products or services; and
• exchanging victim lists with other fraudsters.