Earlier this month, a store clerk was approached by an elderly male wanting to purchase gift cards. The clerk used the Gift Card Fraud handout, became suspicious of the request, and decided to intervene. Because of the clerk’s interference, the elderly male reached out to his family for help and realized he was being scammed. He had been in the process of liquidating his assets and would have lost $50,000 in RRSPs.
In 2019, there were over 46,000 reports of fraud, and $98 million was lost to fraud in Canada. As of Jan. 31, 2020 there have been over 3,400 reports of fraud in Canada.
Due to the success of the Gift Card Fraud handout, Alberta RCMP will send more of these handouts to detachments this month. In the meantime, the RCMP is encouraging retailers to ask themselves a couple of questions when selling gift cards to customers:
- Does this transaction make sense?
- Would you be okay if your loved one was making this purchase?
Educating yourself and your loved ones can prevent future frauds. Here are some prevention tips:
- If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
- Ignore communication from unknown contacts.
- Purchase items from reputable organizations.
- Never send money on a dating site.
- Regularly monitor credit card statements for unknown charges.
- Research organizations via the Better Business Bureau.
- Don’t leave personal identification in your vehicle.
March 05, 2020