Competition Bureau Participates in Worldwide Blitz on Hidden Traps Online

Ottawa, March 3, 2006 – The Competition Bureau, along with 61 other government agencies world-wide, has just completed a special three-day Internet surveillance and enforcement program targeting bogus product claims found on the Internet. This year’s international sweep was spearheaded by 23 agencies from the International Consumer Protection and Enforcement Network (ICPEN).

Bureau officers searched for Canadian-based Internet sites making unrealistic performance claims about their products’ abilities to cure serious diseases and collected spam using e-mail “harvest” accounts.  The results of the ICPEN sweep will be analyzed and follow-up enforcement action will be taken as necessary by the Competition Bureau.  

Health-related scams found on the Internet and through spam are examples of many types of fraud being highlighted throughout the month of March as part of Fraud Prevention Month – a month-long campaign launched by the Fraud Prevention Forum, which is chaired by the Competition Bureau. The goal of this campaign is to educate Canadians on how to protect themselves against fraud.  More than 75 private and public sector organizations are reaching out to Canadians in an effort to educate them on how to recognize, report and stop fraud.

Fraud Prevention Month has also been adopted by ICPEN. The Internet Sweep highlights the Competition Bureau’s involvement in ICPEN’s Fraud Prevention Month campaign – with the goal of providing consumers with the knowledge and skills to recognize, report and stop scams.

The Competition Bureau is an independent law enforcement agency. We contribute to the prosperity of Canadians by protecting and promoting competitive markets and enabling informed consumer choice.

ICPEN is a network of governmental organizations including the Competition Bureau, involved in the enforcement of fair trade practices laws and other consumer protection activities. ICPEN conducts sweeps in order to target the growing number of fraudulent and deceptive scams emerging on the Internet.

For more information on Fraud Prevention Month, please visit: www.competitionbureau.gc.ca/frau d

For more information about ICPEN, please visit: www.icpen.org

For media enquiries, please contact:
Maureen McGrath
Communications Advisor
Communications Branch
(819) 953-8982, or (613) 296-2187 (cell)

For general enquiries, please contact:
Information Centre
Competition Bureau
(819) 997-4282
1-800-348-5358