Today is the start of Fraud Prevention Month 2017
As explained by the Government of Canada’s Competition Bureau “Fraud Prevention Month is an annual public awareness campaign held in March that works to prevent Canadians from becoming victims of fraud by helping them recognize reject and report it.”
For fraud prevention month 2017 there will be many organizations large and small who will be contributing informative and educational material about fraud prevention.
To get our fraud prevention month 2017 campaign off on a good start we will share these prevention tips from the Competition Bureau of Canada:
Tips to Protect Yourself from Fraud
- Don’t be fooled by the promise of a valuable prize in return for a low-cost purchase.
- Be extra cautious about calls, emails or mailings offering international bonds or lottery tickets, a portion of a foreign dignitary’s bank account, free vacations, credit repair or schemes with unlimited income potential.
- Don’t be afraid to hang up the phone, delete the email or close your Internet connection.
- Don’t purchase a product or service without carefully checking out the product, service and company.
- Don’t be afraid to request further documentation from the caller so you can verify the validity of the company.
- Don’t disclose personal information about your finances, bank accounts, credit cards, social insurance and driver’s license numbers to any business that can’t prove it is legitimate.
- Shred unwanted personal information such as bank statements, credit card bills, unwanted receipts, cheques, pre-approved credit applications and old tax returns.
- Check your credit report every year and report problems immediately.
- If a scam artist contacts you, or if you’ve been defrauded: Report it! Your reports are vital to the anti-fraud efforts of law enforcement agencies.
Source: http://www.competitionbureau.gc.ca/eic/site/cb-bc.nsf/eng/03662.html