By Scott Gamble
March is Fraud Prevention Month in Canada, an important campaign leveraged across the financial industry to highlight the growing impact of fraud and equip Canadians with knowledge and advice to help them recognize, reject and report it.
The global pandemic has further accelerated our adoption of digital platforms. With an increase in online purchasing and banking, change in consumer behaviour is advancing at a rapid pace, creating new pathways for fraudsters to launch more sophisticated attacks.
Over the past year, we’ve seen an increase in digital fraud campaigns aimed at exploiting Canadians’ anxiety around the pandemic. Campaigns and websites targeting consumers with the promise of financial relief, vaccines and medical/cleaning supplies have been prominent. These have been amplified through fake websites, emails, phone calls and SMS messages, usually unprompted and urgent in tone from fraudsters disguising themselves as legitimate entities.
A challenge for all of us with the amount of information today is simply keeping up with everything we need to watch out for. Fraud types are expanding and can be confusing to understand: pandemic, romance, job and gift card scams, identity theft, phishing, vishing, smishing, credential stuffing… you get the point. When it comes to fraud prevention, let’s simplify how to think about it by focusing on three steps:
Recognize Fraud
The main goals of Fraud Prevention Month are increasing awareness of how fraudsters work, identifying where Canadians may be vulnerable or susceptible to fraud, and spotting the red flags to reject fraud before it happens. If you get an odd and urgent request from a known or unfamiliar source, proceed with caution. If in doubt, always double check the sender is someone you know or is a verified source.
Reject Fraud
If a deal seems too good to be true, it probably is. Be wary of fake websites that offer discounts and services, oftentimes masking themselves as legitimate organizations.
Scotiabank and other credible organizations will never call or email customers with requests for personal and financial information. Never respond to any messages or urgent calls that ask for personal information, especially ones that contain unfamiliar links or attachments. Remember: don’t fall for the trick, think before you click.
Report Fraud
The sooner fraud is reported, the sooner organizations can act to provide increased protection to our customers.
If you suspect you’ve been the target of fraud, or notice any suspicious activity, report the incident to Scotiabank (and any other financial institution you may have a compromised account with). Additionally, fraudulent or suspicious activity can be reported to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, through its website at antifraudcentre.ca, or by telephone at 1-888-495-8501.
While Fraud Prevention Month is only 31 days long, our goal is to build awareness year-round through continued touchpoints with our customers, employees and industry partners. We all need to be vigilant in the fight against fraud.
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Scott Gamble is Scotiabank’s Senior-Vice President of Global Enterprise Operations.