Watch out for scams

Masters in the art of manipulation, scammers use social networks and online dating sites to trick their victims into feigned relationships to get money from them under a variety of pretexts. They usually live in another country or province and let the long-distance relationship build over a period of several months. The victims, both men and women, are convinced they are in a real relationship. Before they have a chance to meet, an unexpected event occurs such as an accident, illness of a family member, lack of funds to travel to meet in person, or trouble with the law, generating a request for money. More and more requests for money follow.

Victims often lose their life savings and have to live with the grief and embarrassment that the relationship they believed in was a scam.

In 2017, dating and romance scams cost Canadians $22.5 million.

To learn more, read the article Dating scams: when love comes at a price.

In this type of scam, the fraudster on the phone could claim to be, for example, an employer of your financial institution, of the government or local police, of a close relative, or even of a non-profit organization. His goal is to get personal information or money.

How to detect this type of scam

The fraudster:

• claims to be a third party and demands a certain amount of money or asks you questions to get personal information
• says this is urgent
• says this must remain confidential
• tells you there will be consequences if you don’t act immediately

Tips

• When the person claims to be a close relative, ask a few personal questions that only your relatives can answer: name of a parent, his or her city of birth, a unique family moment, etc.
• When the person claims to be a professional, take down their name and call them back at the company’s official phone number (not the phone number the person gave you).
• Never give personal information during an incoming call.
• Validate the information even if the person asked you to keep your conversation confidential.
• Never transfer money immediately after a phone conversation.
• Don’t rely on the phone number displayed. Fraudsters have ways to display a phone number that seems legitimate.
• Feel free to hang up at any time if something doesn’t seem right.
• To get psychological support, contact your CLSC (in French only) - External link. This link will open in a new window. or the Crime Victims Assistance Centre (CAVAC) - External link. This link will open in a new window..

Have doubts about a situation?

Learn more:

• AccèsD
  • Toll-free: 1-800-CAISSES (1-800-224-7737)
• Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre
  • Toll-free: 1-888-495-8501
  • Toll-free fax: 1-888-654-9426
  • Website of Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre - External link. This link will open in a new window.
• Aide Abus Aînés (Elder Mistreatment Helpline)
  • Toll-free: 1-888-489-2287
  • Report financial abuse
• Police
  • Toll-free: 911
• Your local police station.

Be wary of sites that post application forms that require personal information (name, social insurance number, date of birth, address, phone number, etc.). Fraud artists post tempting job offers using the names of prestigious companies.

Classified ads also sometimes disguise pyramid schemes as legitimate job offers. Be careful! Pyramid schemes are illegal under The Competition Act and you could be prosecuted.

Some companies say they will give you credit even if you have a bad credit rating. They usually request an up-front fee, which may range from hundreds to thousands of dollars. Once you send your money to these companies, you never get your promised loan and you cannot get your money back.

In most provinces and territories, it is illegal for a company to request an up-front fee prior to obtaining a loan.

A scam known as a Nigerian Letter Scam also claims many victims. It begins when a victim receives an urgent and confidential email from a well-connected Nigerian making a business proposition. He may claim to have recently come into some wealth or inherited a family fortune and that he is looking for a foreign partner to help claim these assets.

He explains that his position prohibits him from opening a foreign bank account and asks his victim to deposit the money (often between $25 and $50 million) into their account in exchange for a certain percentage. To complete the transfer, the scammer requests personal financial information (name of financial institution, telephone and fax number, account number, etc.)

The outcome is simple: as a test, the scammer transfers several thousand dollars into the victims' account and asks his victim to send back a portion to his home account. A few weeks later, victims learn that the transfer has bounced and that the money they transferred into the scammer's account cannot be recovered from the overseas bank.