By MorinvilleNews.com Staff
Ottawa – It is estimated Fraud robs Canadians of between $10 and $30 billion each year, a figure comparable to revenues from drug trafficking. Yet only five per cent of fraud victims report the crime, the majority thinking it will not help.
The Canadian Anti Fraud Centre (CAFC) is hoping to change that. Originally known as PhoneBusters, the CAFC is a combined effort of the RCMP, the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) and the Competition Bureau. Since its inception in 1993, the CAFC has grown to become a one-stop-shop for fraud reporting.
To take that service to a new level, the CAFC has launched an updated website at www.antifraudcentre.ca to help better serve victims of fraud.
The CAFC receives tens of thousands of calls and e-mail messages from consumers across Canada and the USA each year. The Centre’s intake unit is staffed by anti-fraud specialists who help callers protect themselves from being victimized by identity crimes and other fraud schemes.
“We need to dispel the myth that fraud isn’t a serious problem,” said RCMP Assistant Commissioner Stephen White, Director General of Financial Crime in a realease Tuesday afternoon. “Today’s frauds are increasingly sophisticated and the impact can be devastating for individuals, families, and businesses. We encourage Canadians to be informed and remain vigilant. Prevention through public education and awareness greatly contributes to the fight against fraud. No one deserves to be a victim.”
The CAFC also has a team of intelligence analysts who turn collected fraud information into intelligence reports, which are then disseminated to Canadian law enforcement agencies across the country. The information acts as a road map, showing investigators in one province how frauds they’re working on are connected to frauds taking place in other parts of the country or in other parts of the world.