6 common online scams and how to avoid them

March is known as Fraud Prevention Month across Canada.

Dave Schurman of the FirstOntario Credit Union joined Annette Hamm on Morning Live to discuss common online scams and how to avoid becoming a victim of them.

“Last year there was about a 130 per cent increase in fraud reported by Canadians to the Anti-Fraud Centre than the previous year,” Schurman said.

“That’s about $400 million that Canadians reported…and most frauds don’t even get reported.”

Most Popular Online Scams

Online activity has dramatically increased due to the COVID-19 pandemic, providing more opportunities for fraudsters to target people. Here are some of the most common scams this year.

Phishing: Sending emails and text messages appearing to be from reputable companies in order to induce people to reveal personal information, such as passwords and credit card numbers.

Investment Scams: Occurs when scammers try to trick you into investing money.

Romance Scams: Happens when a criminal creates a fake online identity to gain a victim’s affection and trust. The fraudsters then use the illusion of a romantic or close relationship to manipulate or steal from the victim.

Identity Theft: Occurs when someone uses another person’s personal identifying information, like their name, identifying number or credit card number, without their permission, to commit fraud or other crimes.

Schurman said there are also two new scams to be on the lookout for.

Licence Plate Sticker Scam: A scam that claims to offer a refund for licence plate stickers fees. The scam surfaced less than a week after the Ontario government announced it would be scrapping licence plate renewal fees and stickers for passenger vehicles, light-duty trucks, motorcycles and mopeds. Many Ontarians started receiving text messages from a number that claimed to be Service Ontario and advised the user to click on a link to access their $120 refund for their sticker fees.

Ukrainian Relief Scam: This scam began immediately after Russia attacked Ukraine. There were fake livestream videos on TikTok of people claiming to be from Ukraine and asking for donations.

How to Avoid Becoming a Victim of Scams

The first way to avoid becoming a victim of scams is to verify the information of the organization.

“Look online for contact information for the company that supposedly called or emailed you, and call them,” Schurman said.

“Verify calls from your credit card company and call the phone number on the back of your credit card.”

He also suggested not providing personal information to people who request it through calls, text messages or emails, especially if you did not initiate the conversation.

Other ways to protect yourself from scams are to use a strong password, use multi-factor authentication, not use public WiFi and not post personal information on social media.

If you have a question for Schurman, email him at FinanceFriday@FirstOntario.com or message him on Twitter at @Finance_Friday. If your question or topic is selected to be covered on air, you will win a gift card from a local business in your community.