Fraudsters have developed different kinds of scams over the years. Some of them have become quite sophisticated and complex. Never provide financial or personal information to anyone online or over the phone until you have verified their legitimacy. You can help verify their legitimacy by doing a quick Google search of the company and their contact info.
Examples of common scams that occur:
Phone call scam:
Someone calls you claiming that they are from your financial institution or a large government institution. They ask for your financial information and seem to be demanding and urgent. At this point, you should hang up the call, and contact your financial institution from the number on their website to confirm the legitimacy of the call.
Job scam:
You receive a job offer letter promising easy money received as text/email. The ‘employer’ sends a request for a specific payment method to cover costs of training in return for minimal work with a high salary. They make it clear that the spot is very limited and you need to act quickly.
Romance scam:
A person you have never met is asking you to send money as e-Transfer or wire transfer overseas. They’ll explain that they are in desperate need, that they've fallen in love with you, or some other emotional appeal. Their profiles on social media have fake pictures to give the illusion that they are very attractive.
Buy/Sell scam:
Always make sure that the exchange of money and product is done simultaneously with a legitimate and verified seller.
- As a buyer, you can be coerced to make an advanced payment before you receive a product.
- As a seller, you can be convinced to send the product before the transfer of money is completed.
Free trial scam:
Do not share your card details with any website that offers free trials or promises to send a product for free if you pay for shipping before verifying their legitimacy. Searching for companies on Google, reading reviews, and checking social media pages for companies are all useful ways of verifying whether the free trial is legitimate or not.
For more information on scams and fraud, visit the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre.