Several members of the Dryden OPP were guests on the CKDR Morning Show on Friday. Detective Sergeant Logan Randell with the OPP Dryden Crime Unit, Sergeant Brittany Bembeneck – Crime Prevention and Community Support, and Constable Ron Fults – Community Service and Engagement Officer spent several minutes discussing fraud and an upcoming public presentation on fraud.
Detective Sergeant Logan Randell, “The Fraud Awareness presentation is going to be happening July 15th at 1pm at the Dryden Native Friendship Centre, which is situated at 74 Queen Street. We are partnering with the Dryden Native Friendship Centre. We’re going to have Bank Manager Rhonda Hart from CIBC attending as well. Many people feel embarrassed, upset or shocked after being scammed. These feelings are normal and scammers are skilled and convincing and being targeted does not mean that you did anything wrong.”
If it sounds to good to be true it probably is. According to Brittany Bembeneck – Sergeant with the Dryden OPP’s Crime Prevention and Community Support – some scams begin by slowly building trust. “In some cases, the scammer may even send money into your bank account at the beginning. This is done to make a situation appear safe and legitimate. Victims may be asked to move, return or use the money in certain ways or may be told that more money will follow or that the amount will increase. After the trust has been established, victims may be pressured to send their own money with promises of large profits or guaranteed returns. This is often when significant financial loss occurs. Any offer that guarantees profits, promises to quickly grow your money or ask you to move money to someone else is a scam.”
Stay calm and save information. Dryden OPP Constable Ron Fults explains. “We ask that if you are a victim of fraud, that you keep all emails, text messages or letters related to your fraud. If you have screenshots of the messages or the websites, any receipts or bank statements. If you have phone numbers, names or websites used, dates and times you were contacted or you replied to the contact. Do not delete these messages if possible. This information is necessary to help investigators.”
Detective Sergeant Logan outlines the next step. “If money or banking information was involved, contact your bank or credit card company as soon as possible. Ask the bank company to place alerts or flags on your accounts and change your passwords or your PIN numbers.”
Sergeant Bembeneck says the important step three is crucial. It deals with reaching out to law enforcement if you are concerned. “We encourage everybody who may be possibly frauded to contact the police. It helps to protect you and others. You can report by phone or attend your local police detachment. 1-888-310-1122 is a number that will put you in contact with the OPP. We’d also like to share that if you follow our social media pages, we try to send out proactive information, warning residents about frauds that are taking place in our communities.”
Constable Fults talks about the CAFC. “You’re encouraged to report any fraud to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, even if no money was lost. This information helps identify trends and prevents future scams. You can contact them two ways, by phone 1-888-495-8501 or their website, the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre. Google that.”
We all have a busy life but some of us just seem to not protect ourselves. Detective Sergeant Randell has some tips on what we should be doing to ensure our safety from being scammed. “A few things you can do to protect yourself moving forward. Be cautious of anybody offering guaranteed profits or quick returns. Do not send money to receive more money. Do not send gift cards, prepaid visas, cash or cryptocurrency. Do not share passwords, PIN numbers or one-time codes with anybody. Never give remote access to your computer and take your time to talk to someone you trust.”
Tax time is always a heightened time for scammers. Detective Sergeant Randell hilights what to be aware of. “One thing to keep in mind when filing your taxes is the CRA will never call you personally and threaten the police against you. They’re never going to call and say if you don’t pay a certain amount of money or give out certain information that the police are going to come arrest you at your front door or put a warrant out for your arrest. That’s something that the police will never do.”
A public event is coming up later this summer in Dryden to better inform residents about how to recognize and deal with fraud. Constable Fults “The OPP in partnership with the Dryden Native Friendship Centre is going to be holding the fraud awareness presentation at the Dryden Native Friendship Centre 74 Queen Street, July 15th at 1 p.m. This presentation is open to the whole community. The OPP is going to be holding similar presentations in the future to be proactive in these new fraud scams. We encourage everyone to attend that presentation.”
