Scam Prevention Tips  –

Phone scammers want to steal your personal information and, eventually, your money! Don’t let them! Here’s how:

Protect sensitive information: Avoid giving out your Social Insurance Number (SIN), banking information, passwords, birth dates, family names and associations. Shred your personal and sensitive printed documents at the annual HSCPC Shredding Day which is held the first Saturday in May every year.

Never send money to strangers: Scammers may ask you to buy gift, store or Visa cash cards and tell them the card numbers. If you are unsure, call a friend or trusted neighbour instead and tell them about the call.

Beware of “urgent” or “free:” If a caller wants you to act urgently, be wary. Also beware of “free” trip offers that usually involve revealing personal and sensitive information.

Who are you? When a stranger asks for information or money, ask for details of their company or organization. Then look up the phone number online and ask them to mail you information.

Keep it short: Scammers try to gain your trust by being friendly, seeking further information. Keep stranger conversations short, or just hang up.

Answering machine: Let the answering machine take your calls; you can always pick up if you recognize a voice but most scammers won’t leave a message.

Call Display: Don’t trust Call Display; It can show false and manipulated information, called “spoofing”.

For more helpful hints, go to Fraud Prevention on the VPD website (vpd.ca), or The Little Black Book of Scams on the Competition Bureau Canada site (in several languages including Chinese).