Fraud Prevention Month

Wadda.

It's almost March. WHAT! You know what that means. It's Fraud Prevention Month! Last year I wrote about a fraudster in the GTA car community (his picture remains attached), and last I heard, he got arrested for causing a disturbance/threatening others, and his GTR got pretty damaged when they were towing it. Let's hope he gets thrown in jail for defrauding so many people. The day will come.

It was also revealed Manulife was the company/bank behind the hefty fine for not reporting over 1,200 transactions of $10,000 or more in funds with one customer, who turned out to be a fraudster as well (selling counterfeit medications). He is now currently in jail in the USA.

There are so many stories of fraudsters in this day and age. Anywhere from random people calling you that you've won an expensive trip, to the CRA demanding money from elders. Then there was one lady who spent all her retirement savings because the caller told her she had won a trip, but to claim it, she had to pay up in increments.

People ask, "Well, anyone would know not to drain their own funds to some random stranger". Easy to say, but when you get sucked into someone's words, everything becomes believable.

My uncle had gotten a call back in Asia, and on the other line they demanded him hand over money otherwise they will kill his daughter. In the background, you could hear a girl screaming "papa!". In reality, my uncle doesn't have a daughter. So he hung up the phone. Best to keep conversations at minimum and not yell at the other person that you don't have a daughter, otherwise they will continue to provoke you (and remember, they do have your phone number).

The most common one these days are messages from the "CRA" or any big name banks who try to either call you or text you (yes, I've had text messages coming from "banks" saying that I owed them money, even though I don't even have an account with that particular bank). The CRA or banks will never do such things. If in doubt, always walk into a bank and talk to someone there. I'm very weary about doing transactions over the phone or text because I really have no idea who is on the other side.

Anyone who tries to call me or text me to lure me into paying them can kiss my arse. I will hang up on them, but I will probably say a few choice words to them first.

Then there are random charity calls or calls looking for donations. Most of the time they always ask for the head of the household. I usually say I'm a maid and the family is on vacation forever. So they haven't called back much. My other answer was to say the head of the household died, so please stop calling but I don't want that to be a curse, so I didn't use that one.

There was one time I thought the call was an ad for duct cleaning. I said I didn't speak English, and I did it in the most horrible Chinese accent possible. The guy on the other line asked if he could speak to my husband, so I passed it to my dad. It turns out my dad had booked a company for duct cleaning and they were just confirming a time. Failed man. I believe I left the house for the day.

It is also tax return season, so definitely keep your eyes and ears alert for any weird requests for money. When in doubt, go to the bank.