Recognize. Reject. Report: Preventing internet scams

Being aware of common scams is one way of being educated.

Common internet scams:

Fake websites—Fraudsters make their websites and products appear authentic by stealing company logos, trademarks and product images from legitimate sources. Fake websites may offer luxury or other items at much cheaper prices and will not deliver the products you paid for. Fake websites may also try to collect your personal identity and payment card information.
Fake advertisements— Fraudsters offer items that may take advantage of heightened demand, which currently may include facemasks, hand sanitizer and cleaning supplies. Fraudsters will keep your money without delivering items. Do your research when purchasing online from unknown suppliers or look elsewhere.
Mystery Shopper—A fake job offer that has you pay a fee to be secret shopper, deposit a cheque and transfer its funds to another bank account or attend a store and buy things with a gift card. The cheque or gift cards provided may be fake. These ads can be online or by mail and may include legitimate looking surveys to convince you the job is real.

BC RCMP want to remind the public to never pay to be an employee for a company; do not allow anyone to cash cheques in your bank account—even if compensation is promised; never make bank or wire transfers on another person’s behalf; do not click on suspicious website links—look for spelling or grammatical mistakes, or logo’s that appear old; hang up on unvitiated tech support calls; do not give a stranger remote access to your computer; do not feel pressured to give out your financial or personal information; and if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.

Fraud victims are urged to report the crime to their local RCMP.

by Veronica Beltran

Recognize. Reject. Report: Preventing internet scams

Common internet scams:

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