In this digital day and age, there are always evolving strategies and technologies fraudsters will employ but they’re all aimed at one thing: your bank account.
All it takes is clicking on a fraudulent link or posting about your birthday on social media, and a criminal could access your device to find your banking credentials or guess your password based on the information you shared online.
“Unfortunately we, as a society, give them access to that information because so much of our life is online now,” said James MacDonald Servus Credit Union senior manager of corporate security.
MacDonald said although online banking is a secure way to manage your finances, it takes some security savvy to protect your devices so scammers can’t get access to your accounts.
MacDonald, who is a retired detective from the Edmonton Police Service’s economic crimes division, came to Bashaw on April 22 to speak at a fraud seminar hosted by the Bashaw and District Chamber of Commerce.
Bashaw RCMP detachment members had been invited to attend to answer any questions about local issues with fraud, however they were unable to attend. The event was held a the Bashaw Ag Centre.
The most prevalent types of scams are: the grandparent scams (grandson needs bail), investment scams, lottery scams, bank investigation scams, Canada Revenue Agency scams, border services/Canada Post scams (claiming an illegal package is being shipped to you), computer access/tech scams, romance scams and…
