Every year, Canadians lose millions of dollars due to scammers who bombard us with online, mail, door-to-door, and telephone scams.
We are pleased to bring you the first Canadian edition of The Little Black Book of Scams. We hope this book will increase your awareness of the vast array of scams that target Canadians and share with you some easy steps you can take to protect yourself.
SCAMMERS DO NOT DISCRIMINATE
Scammers target people of all backgrounds, ages and income levels. Fake lotteries,
Internet frauds, get-rich-quick schemes and miracle health cures are some of the favoured
means of separating the unwary from their money. New varieties of these scams appear
all the time.
The Competition Bureau has seen the devastating effects scams can have on people and their families. One of the best ways to combat this kind of fraud is to take measures to prevent yourself from being caught in the first place.
PROTECT YOURSELF
If you want to stay on top of scams, inform yourself on how to recognize the various
types of scams and protect your personal information by visiting law enforcement organizations’ websites, the Canadian AntiFraud Centre (www.antifraudcentre.ca) or other reputable organisations.
Busting these common myths will minimise your chances of being scammed.
All companies, businesses and organizations are legitimate because they are licensed and
monitored by the government. This is not always true. While there are rules about setting
up and running a business or a company in Canada, scammers can easily pretend to have
approval when they don’t. Even licensed businesses could still try to scam you by
acting dishonestly.
All Internet websites are legitimate: This is not always true. Websites are quite easy and cheap to set up. The scammers can easily copy a genuine website and trick you into believing it is legitimate.
There are shortcuts to wealth that only a few people know. This is not always true. Ask
Ask yourself: If someone knew a secret to instant wealth, why would they be telling their secret to others?
Scams involve large amounts of money: This is not always true. Sometimes, scammers target a large number of people and try to get a small amount of money from each person.
Scams are always about money: This is not always true. Some scams are aimed at stealing personal information from you.
