These days it is essential to be extra careful as scammers are reaching for improved sophistication levels to pry cash from Canadians. These tricks may vary from outright extortion, mimicking government employees, to synchronized email campaigns. Read on to find out more about some of the popular scams online and how do people fall for the scammer’s ploys.
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The Immigration rip-off
The victim gets a phone call from a person who knows them by name. There are a lot of times when they fake the caller ID and claim that they are with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada or the government department. The victims are asked to pay a hefty amount of penalty to the government for not correctly completing and submitting immigration documents.
Dealing with such situations can be a worrisome task for the new residents or Canadians who are trying to work their way through Canada’s immigration system. It is important to note that no one from Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada will ever call fees submission and payments are never made through money transfer services, pre-paid credit cards or iTunes gift cards.
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The Service Fraud
These comprise of a fake customer service representative. There are times when scammers will falsely claim that they are from some technology firm, and the victim’s computer has been hacked. They would like to access the victim’s machine. Also, there are times when people receive phone calls from someone claiming they are with the calling from the victim’s bank. They would ask for the victim’s social driver license number or insurance number.
You need to understand that no company will ever call their users for informing them that their computer is infected with a virus. So never give remote access to your computer to a fraudster to install real malware or viruses.
And if you are suspicious about the phone call which you receive from someone who claims to be a representative of your bank, hang up and get in touch with the bank directly or reach out to the nearest branch of the bank.
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The Inheritance Scam
In such scams, the victim will receive a phone call from someone who will claim that there is a large sum of money in an account which belongs to his or her relative. The scammers pose as a government representative, lawyer, or banker. They will eventually ask for your identification like passport information, for sending money to the account.
You need to know that the fraudsters would like you to believe that there is a pile of cash waiting for you. It is a hoax and if you ever receive a phone call from someone trying to legally represent a distant relative, who has left money or a fortune for you, you just try getting in touch with your legal representative.
If you ever feel that you are falling prey to an online scam, get in touch with the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre at 1-888-495-8501.