Fraud awareness tips

March is Fraud Prevention Month across Canada. According to the federal Competition Bureau, 2016 marks the 12^th Anniversary of the annual education and awareness campaign that began in 2004 by encouraging Canadians to recognize, reject and report fraud.

Detective Bill Allan with the Edmonton Police Service (EPS) spoke about the topic to the Rotary Club of Morinville during their weekly breakfast meeting on Mar. 2 in the local Community Cultural Centre.  EPS is one of 125 law enforcement agencies across Canada that have partnered with public and private sector organizations to combat fraud.

Detective Bill Allan with Edmonton Police Service talks about fraud prevention to the Rotary Club of Morinville during their weekly breakfast meeting on Mar. 2 in the local Community Cultural Centre.

During his presentation, Detective Allan educated the Rotarians about vulnerable seniors, pin pad fraud, credit card security and data mining.  An experienced police officer with 30 years of service with EPS, Allan works in the Economic
Crimes Unit and does about 70 presentations a year on fraud awareness. He estimated that about 50 of his talks are to seniors groups in Edmonton and area.

“Seniors as a favourite group to target by fraud artists, so we give them information on how to keep their money,” said Detective Allan. “At each session, I tell them if they have some extra money burning a hole in their pocket, give it to me and I will give you absolutely nothing in return. So far I've gotten one dollar,” he chuckled.

Detective Allan continued. “The seniors tell me they don’t want to give me any money because I’m not giving them anything.  And I say, ‘Exactly!’  That's the message - fraudsters will promise you everything, and give you nothing in return.

Once the seniors understand that, they get the point about keeping their money.”

Detective Allan described seniors as a vulnerable group who want to maintain their independence for as long as possible.  He added they think if they ask “silly questions” they might not be taken seriously because of their age.

Switching the topic to pin pad fraud, Allan said: “We don't see much pin pad skimming in Edmonton and area like we used to with our economy taking a downturn.”  Based on police investigations, they have discovered those type of criminals operate from Toronto and Eastern Canada.

“Montreal is a hotbed for that type of activity. This is based on fact, not on profiling. The majority of mass marketing fraudsters and credit card fraudsters and skimmers are from there,” said Allan. He noted they sometimes travel to ‘The Golden Triangle’ of Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton to scam from unsuspecting people.

A common tactic in credit card fraud is for a criminal leader, or ‘Kingpin’, to induce someone, a ‘Smurf’, to do their dirty work.  “They get some guy who owes them a drug debt or something, and will bring him out to Alberta for a month,” Allan explained.  

“They’ll take him around and open up fictitious bank accounts using stolen identities,” said Allan.  They [Smurfs] hand over the bank documents to their handlers, and then we see them [Kingpins] on cameras later at an ATM pulling out cash from the accounts.”

Detective Allan urges people to refrain from carrying vital documents with them. For example, Social Insurance Number (SIN) cards, birth certificates and passports.  Unless those documents are needed for a specific reason – such as employment, banking or international travel – it’s safer to leave them at home.

“Think about this if you lose your wallet. What else is in there? Everything, right?” said Allan.  He explained that criminals who specialize in identity fraud use special kits to produce a fake drivers license.  Armed with that basic information, the person had their wallet or purse stolen is now a target.

“When a Smurf goes into a branch of your bank, they will claim to have lost their credit card,” said Allan. “The bank staff will ask for identification and the fraudster will give them the fake drivers license. Along with the stolen SIN card and the birth certificate.”  

Allan emphasized that SIN cards and the birth certificates have very few security features and no pictures, so they are easily transferable.  “Those are the reasons why you don't want to carry them around.” 

As for debit card fraud, Allan shared some recent statistics.  In 2012, fraudsters stole $142 million.  That was the same year that Canada began switching to the ‘chip and PIN’ payment system for consumers.  “Now we are fully engaged in chip and PIN, and the losses last year on debit cards was $8 million,” said Allan.

Despite those encouraging numbers, Allen encouraged people to change their PIN security numbers on a regular basis. He also spoke briefly about the decline of counterfeiting in Canada.

“The polymer notes are out in full force.  We are about 83 per cent changed over, so there's only about 17 per cent of paper money in currency,” said Allan.  “We will never get it down to zero, there’s still one million $1,000 bills out there.” 

Detective Allan concluded his presentation by talking about data mining and document security.  To prevent online data mining on social media sites, be careful about sharing private information – particularly when travelling and there’s nobody at home. 

As for printed records at home, use a shredder.  Shred anything with your name on it.  For example, items ranging from magazine labels and junk mail to airline boarding passes and membership information. “Basically, anything that has your name and address on it should be shredded,” said Allan.  “It's data mining, and there are people out there who get a profile of you from going through your garbage.”

Detective Allan’s presentation was one of many being conducted across Canada this month to help people recognize, reject and report fraud.  Want more tips? Visit the Competition Bureau website.

Grant Cree is an Edmonton-based photojournalist focusing on photo and video event coverage to help clients connect with their audiences. www.grantcree.ca  780-940-3228