by Morinville Onl;ine Staff
With March being the Alberta Community Crime Prevention Association’s (ACCPA) Fraud Prevention Month campaign, the Alberta RCMP are offering fraud awareness tips each week.
This week’s focus is business fraud and scams, including the following:
- Scams targeting businesses and/or businesses targeting consumers;
- Businesses targeted by phishing scams and/or phone scams;
- Business emails being compromised;
- Mortgage fraud;
- Money laundering in real estate;
- Door to door scams;
- Contractor and home repair schemes;
- Duct cleaning services; and,
- Unlicensed businesses.
“Whether you are a member of the public looking for a business or a business owner, you must always be diligent about keeping your personal information private and familiarizing yourself with the warning signs,” said Corporal Sean Milne, Alberta RCMP Provincial Economic Crime Team.
RCMP offer the following tips to better protect yourself from business fraud and scams:
- Keep personal information private;
- Always remember that businesses don’t ask for banking information via phone; and,
- Check the website URL by:
- Typing the URL into a search engine;
- Looking for the “secure” icon on your search bar;
- Look for any spelling errors and awkward phrasing; and,
- Check the contact page – which should have multiple options for a legitimate business (email, phone number, live chat, and address).
You can visit the Government of Canada’s website to learn about common scam types. If you have been the victim of fraud, report it to your local law enforcement and to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre online at www.antifraudcentre.ca, or by calling: 1-888-495-8501. Be sure to contact your bank and credit card company if you believe your personal or financial information has been compromised.
