There are thousands upon thousands of different scams out there. It’s an international problem, and even Barrhead is no exception.
Sgt. Bob Dodds, from Barrhead RCMP detachment, said the detachment receives calls regarding fraud complaints once or twice a week on average.
It’s so common in fact, that the RCMP has a card they hand out to refer people to the Canadian Anti-Fraid Centre. The centre works on keeping track of what’s out there so they can spread awareness, said Dodds. On occasion they are able to locate and prosecute somebody, but it’s rare.
“Locally at our level, I’ve never seen us able to prosecute somebody. It’s very difficult,” said Dodds. “It is so obscene. Typically they’re going after these elderly people who are on limited incomes, and preying on their good nature. It’s just horrible.”
Barrhead senior Donna Runge fell victim to a telephone and computer scam this summer, just after her children bought her a new computer for her birthday in Aug.
Just five days after she got the computer she received a phone call from someone claiming they were from Microsoft. The caller said they wanted to help her set up her system.
“I thought it was a courtesy call, getting you on the right track,” said Runge, who had never owned a computer before.
Runge said they guided her through a series of steps, and asked her questions about how long she had owned the computer, and what her goals were. It wasn’t until they began asking her for money, that she realized something wasn’t right.
“I told them I’ve got to talk to somebody about this, and can you call me back the next day and we’ll finish up then,” said Runge. “I phoned my daughter, who was one of the ones that got me the computer. I told her what had happened.”
After speaking with her daughter, Runge realized she had been scammed.
When the scammer phoned back the next day, Runge said she refused to give them any more information. In turn, the caller became aggressive and demanding, even calling back once more half an hour later.
“It turned out they literally took over control of the computer. My password didn’t work, nothing,” said Runge. “From that point on I couldn’t even use the computer.”
Although she eventually had the viruses removed, Runge said she is wary, even scared of using the computer for anything now.
“I was going to do my banking on my computer, but I’m scared to put any kind of information on there,” said Runge. “All I’ve got is my seniors pension. I wouldn’t want them having access to my bank and wiping me out, because I wouldn’t have anything to fall back on.”
Another common scam is what the RCMP call the grandson scam. A scammer will phone and look for an older person, said Dodds. When they find one, they claim to be the individual’s grandson.
“They’ll say it’s their grandson, send me money, I’m in jail,” said Dodds. “They’re proficient enough at it that they can make their way through a couple or three questions to get these people to actually send money, without them even saying which grandson.”
The oldest form of scam is what the RCMP call the Nigerian letters. People receive letters in the mail or through email from Nigerians talking about making a financial deal.
The letter usually requests banking information so $1 million can be deposited into an individual’s bank account.
The type of scam or fraud seems to go in cycles, said Dodds. About a year ago the big one in the Barrhead area was a message that would appear when an individual was surfing the Internet.
“Their computers would lock up, and there would be a message displayed on the computer that said something to the effect of they’ve been caught surfing child pornography,” said Dodds. “It’s got an RCMP crest on it, and says if you pay this fine we will unlock your computer.”
Dodds said although the RCMP doesn’t police this way, people were still falling for it. The detachment even had people come to the front counter asking questions about the fines.
The first thing people have to remember when it comes to protecting themselves against fraud, said Dodds, is if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.
“How often do you get a phone call saying someone is going to give you a whole bunch of money, just because?” Said Dodds. “It just doesn’t happen, and yet people fall for it.”
Secondly, Dodds urges the public to ask good questions. Who is it that’s calling? Where are they calling from? Why are they calling you specifically?
Many Canadians run into problems because they are too polite, said Dodds. They won’t hang up, and are essentially afraid of offending a person who is trying to steal from them.
“If you’re not comfortable with where the conversation is going, hang up the phone,” said Dodds. “We’re far too polite as Canadians. We want to make people happy and answer their questions, but we’ve got to start taking better care of ourselves.”
Dodds added it’s important to avoid giving out too much personal information, whether it’s over the phone, in person or on the computer. Under no circumstances should you give anyone your social insurance number, he said.
“Even things like your addresses, your date of birth,” he said. “Never give out banking information.”
For more information about fraud and how to protect against it, or to report an incident, visit www.antifraudcentre.ca or call their toll free number at 1-888-495-8501.
