March is Fraud Prevention Month in Canada, a month-long crime prevention initiative aimed at educating and informing consumers and the community on how to recognize, report, and stop fraud. Throughout the month, the Medicine Hat Police Service Community Support Unit will be sharing information on how to recognize and prevent citizens from becoming victims of common frauds and scams. This week’s focus is on mass marketing and phone scams.

Mass marketing and phone scams are currently one of the most common frauds.  Ultimately, the fraudster wants to obtain your personal information or be provided money from you in any method.  The difficulty in these types of frauds is that the targets believe they are dealing with a real company or someone they trust.  The fraudsters sound very convincing and work hard to manipulate the people they call.

Whether is it by phone or by email, if you are not certain you are talking to someone legitimate, end the conversation and contact the business directly to confirm.  Often fraudsters will use phone numbers that are “spoofed”, or copied, to look legitimate, or emails that look real but are not. A company will usually use its own name in the email address as a contact as opposed to an email ending in Gmail, Hotmail or Yahoo.  These are easy things to confirm when you contact the businesses directly yourself.

One type of phone scam is an emergency scam or grandparent scam.  The scammer contacts a person posing as their relative and they sound scared and quiet.  They will call the victim by a generic name or title such as “Grandma” or “Grandpa”.  When the victim calls them by the name of their grandchild, they will make up a story that they have been arrested for a crime, they are being held somewhere and need bail or money to pay a fine or legal fees. They will often request that the money is wire transferred to a certain place, and they cannot tell their parents. Remember to always check with your family members to determine if an emergency call is legitimate before transferring money. Slow down any timelines and do your own research about the legitimacy of these types of calls.

Another common scam involves people posing as professionals from the Canada Revenue Agency, Canada Border Services Agency, Microsoft or computer technical support, or government officials in hopes to gather personal information or have money sent to them.  They may request e-transfers, gift card codes, crypto currency, or credit card information.  Remember, no legitimate company or government agency will request gift cards codes or crypto currency as payment.

Always call the company/agency back at their phone number that you have researched and confirm if the situation is real.

In general, a good financially responsible rule is to always ask questions before transferring or investing.  A professional will have no problem answering your questions, showing credentials, and providing references to prove they are legitimate.

Media Contact:

Sgt Adam Gregory
Medicine Hat Police Service
Community Support Unit
PH: 403-529-8451