Community services officer warns against scams to seniors & others

Const. Nick Dupuis spoke recently at ACS about fraud and scam awareness for seniors and other community members.

A seniors luncheon at Amherstburg Community Services (ACS) also served as an attempt to take a bite out of crime.

Const. Nick Dupuis, community services officer with the Windsor Police Service – Amherstburg Detachment, was at ACS recently and outlined a series of scams that have been used to take the money and identities of seniors, but people of all ages as well.

“Everyone gets caught in these things,” Dupuis told the room full of seniors. “It’s not just the senior community.”

Dupuis pointed out that just before he started speaking, he received an e-mail from someone claiming to be from Norton Anti-Virus, but he could tell based on the odd look of the link that was in the e-mail that it was not from Norton Anti-Virus but a scammer pretending to represent them.

Fraud is a crime of deception, said Dupuis, and tricks the victim into giving money away whereas theft is the outright taking of money. Fraud also features little to no violence or weapons but often results in more money being lost by the victim.

“Historically, there is less jail time with fraud than with theft,” said Dupuis.

Victims of a fraud are often too embarrassed to come forward, he added, but he tried to dissuade people from feeling that way.

“There is no shame in any of this stuff,” said Dupuis. “You shouldn’t be embarrassed. You shouldn’t be ashamed. You are the victim of a crime.”

Seniors are often targeted because they often live alone, have savings, are trusting and are less likely to call police, with the latter sometimes attributed to fear of reaction from friends and family members.

“It’s important you do report it,” said Dupuis.

Many fraudsters run elaborate and sophisticated crime networks, he said, and are trained into tricking people to get what they want. 

“Sometimes they don’t stop,” said Dupuis. “They are relentless.”

Dupuis urged the public not to give away money, ask friends and family for their opinions, contact the police if there are any questions or to contact their bank with questions or concerns. 

“Don’t be so willing to give $500 or $1,000 away to an unknown person,” he said.

The “Grandparent Scheme” sees a scammer pretend to be an older person’s grandchild and the scammer often tricks the victim into saying their name and claims to be in trouble. The scammer will then try to get a person to send money quickly through methods such as gift cards, wire transfers or credit card numbers, also telling the victim to keep the transaction quiet.

Dupuis said bail is not paid through such means and anyone asking a person to lie to a bank, friends or family is committing fraud. He urged people to ask a lot of questions and if the person on the other end delays or gives vague answers – or doesn’t answer at all – to hang up and tell someone they trust what happened.

The “Romance Scam,” also known as catfishing, sees a scammer build trust using a fake identity and develops an online relationship. They create a crisis such as travel costs, medical bills or debt to explain why they can’t visit and then ask for money to help solve the problem, often demanding money on an ongoing basis.

Dupuis urged people to “watch for red flags” in such a relationship, including requests to communicate over different platforms and requests to keep the relationship a secret.

The “Repair Scam” involves a fraudster contacting a person claiming their computer or electronic device has a problem and asks for remote access to run “scans” or “diagnostics.” After gaining access, they simulate serious issues to make the so-called problem look real and then pressure the victim to check their bank accounts and provide credit card information and banking details to “fix” the issue.

“They’re looking for ways to steal your information,” said Dupuis. 

Dupuis added: “If there is not a problem that you’re noticing, then there’s not a problem. If you have a computer problem, you will call someone. They won’t call you.”

Online shopping scams involves a seller creating urgency, such as multiple interested parties, and the request for an upfront payment to “hold” the item. A red flag for people is if the seller refuses in-person verification, claims they're out-of-town and will only ship after receiving money. Another red flag is to suggest a suspicious meeting arrangement.

A safe exchange location has been established in Amherstburg, he pointed out, with that being in the parking lot next to the police station. He added to stay alert, take precautions and avoid deals that seem too good to be true.

Phishing scams were also pointed out, with the public encouraged to be very careful about clicking on suspicious links or putting too much financial information online. There are websites created to look like a legitimate banking institution and often trick people into entering financial data. Dupuis urged people about not clicking links and to check for spelling and grammatical errors.

With tax time being here, scammers will also claim to be from the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) and trying to intimidate people stating they owe money to the government and stating police will be called if there is no payment.

“The CRA never requests payment over the phone,” said Dupuis. “Police don’t arrest people for taxes.”

Gift card frauds were also listed, with Dupuis telling people not to fall for it if they are requested to pay a balance of money with gift cards. He said scammers in those instances will use high pressure tactics and are willing to stay on the phone for lengthy periods until gift cards are purchased.

Dupuis also urged people to contact their credit card companies, banks and police if their documents are stolen or gone missing, as a way to avoid identity theft.

“Report theft of your documents right away,” he said. “Don’t wait.”

The public was also encouraged to be wary of people watching them at ATM’s and to not use an ATM if something appears to be suspicious with it. 

“Nowadays, you shouldn’t give your card to anybody,” he said.

Dupuis ended by stating people shouldn’t be pressured into performing a transaction they feel uneasy with.

“Don’t give your money away, take your time, think about the situation and talk to someone.”

Community services officer warns against scams to seniors & others

By Ron Giofu