The Brant County Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) is asking residents to continue watching out for cons and scams. There have been several reports of successful scams over the holiday season. Successful in that the con artist made money.
The Brant OPP are currently investigating two new fraud reports. One Brant resident lost $100,000 and another has lost $250,000.
Tech-savvy scammers use technology to create very convincing schemes to trick you into sending them money. They will commonly use the name of a real company to gain your trust so that you will send money or personal information to them.
The Brant OPP is offering you some tips to help protect you from a con artist:
- 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.
- Your best defence is to verify any unsolicited contact. Unsolicited means that you didn’t ask for it.
Fraud is a multi-million-dollar enterprise that will only end when they stop making money.
Anyone interested in more information on fraud can contact the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre at 1-888-495-8501 or check online at http://www.antifraudcentre.ca/.
