Do you frequently receive suspicious text messages and calls about your bank account being compromised or notifications about unauthorized charges to your credit card? You’re not alone.
Bank fraud is on the rise in Canada and scammers are now using new ways over the phone to spoof Canadians.
This year, as of September 30, 2,769 phone calls from fraudsters claiming to be from a financial institution have been reported, according to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Center (CAFC). That number is up from 2,212 reports in 2021 and 1,147 the previous year, according to data shared with Global News this week.
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The number of bank-related phishing text messages reported to the CAFC also increased in 2022, with 543 reports affecting 219 Canadians, up from 394 reports last year and 347 in 2020. But that number could be much higher as the agency estimates that less than 5% of phishing scams are actually reported to the CAFC.
Text spam is becoming mainstream as scammers get smarter and more efficient, said Daniel Tsai, professor of law, business and technology at the University of Toronto.
“It basically looks like legitimate text from your bank when in fact it’s a parody (but) it looks genuine,” he said. “So a lot of people who aren’t sophisticated may not recognize it’s a scam.”
What does a scam look like?
Sometimes it can be difficult to tell the difference between a scam and legitimate bank correspondence, but there are a number of red flags.
Criminals can use caller ID spoofing to display the number of a financial institution. These calls are often an automated voicemail message, but sometimes they may also attempt to have a conversation with you.
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Banks will never ask you to confirm your account number, PIN, password, social insurance number or any other personal information by text, phone call or email. They will only ask for information to verify your identity when you call them.
Underwater phishing scams involve the culprit pretending to be a legitimate source, asking for money to be sent to them.
Financial institutions will never request a transfer of money to an external account for security reasons, the CAFC warns.
In Canada, new variations of the “investigator bank” scam have also emerged, according to the CAFC.
In one of these variations, the scammers prompt you to dial *72 followed by a phone number so that all incoming calls to the victim’s phone are forwarded to them.
Fraudsters also impersonate CAFC employees in an attempt to obtain your personal and/or financial information.
A scammer may also call to request a cash withdrawal to help catch a bank clerk who may have stolen money.
There are a number of things scammers are looking for when trying to scam you, money being one of them.
According to the CAFC, the “banking investigators” scam via direct phone calls resulted in a loss of $3.27 million this year.
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Tsai said a “big driver” for scammers is access to private information and passwords so they can hack into your bank accounts and steal your money.
There is also a risk of identity theft when fraudsters can use your personal information to access bank accounts, open new bank accounts, transfer bank balances or apply for loans and credit cards, the CAFC warned in a recent newsletter published for Cybersecurity Awareness Month. in October.
Identity thieves can also buy property, hide their criminal activities, obtain passports or receive government benefits.
Protect yourself from fraud
Faced with the resurgence of bank fraud, there are several ways to protect yourself.
Refrain from sharing your personal information over the phone and donating money, especially if you’ve been contacted in an unsolicited way, Tsai says.
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“Find out from them who you are talking to, what the contact number is – then check the number and call them back,” he advised.
“And it’s a way to check and make sure you’re not being scammed.”
To avoid falling victim to phishing attacks, avoid clicking on suspicious links or downloading attachments sent via SMS. The CAFC also advises to watch out for spelling mistakes.
To protect yourself from bogus calls, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission recommends that Canadians register their telephone numbers on the National Do Not Call List.
More recently, some Canadian networks, like Bell, have also started using artificial intelligence to detect and block fraudulent calls.
Over the past two years, Bell’s new system has protected Canadians from more than a billion such calls, said Eliane Légaré, spokeswoman for the telecommunications provider.
If you believe you have been the victim of fraud, contact your local police department, report the incident to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Center and also inform your bank.
If you are a victim of identity theft, put flags on all your accounts, change your passwords and report the fraud to both credit bureaus (Equifax and TransUnion), the CAFC says.
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