Police Partners Need You To Recognize, Reject And Report Fraud! March is Fraud Prevention Month

 

Mar 9, 2017 @ 06:24

The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) and its Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre partners are launching their annual Fraud Prevention Month campaign to prevent thousands of Canadians from falling victim to fraud.

During the month of March, the OPP, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and the Competition Bureau of Canada are joining police services across the country to promote public awareness to help prevent all Canadians from becoming victims of fraud.

This year, the OPP’s Fraud Prevention Month education campaign will highlight three mass marketing fraud priorities including:

• Emergency Scam and Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) Scam;
• Romance Scam; and,
• Microsoft/Computer Service Scams.

Fraud-related crimes take a destructive toll on victims while amassing millions of dollars to further criminal enterprises. Sadly, 95% of fraud victims never report the crime to police. Regardless of age, gender and location, everyone can take basic steps to better protect themselves from becoming victims of fraud. Some basic tips include never giving out personal or financial information at the door, over the phone, by e-mail or through social media, or on to unsecured retail or dating websites.

The OPP will be posting tips and links to various resources online. The public is encouraged to engage in the conversation to help them recognize, reject and report fraud” on social media by using the hashtags #FPM2017 #DontBeAVictim and #OPPtips.

If you or someone you know suspect they’ve been a victim of fraud, contact your local police service or the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre through a new, easy to use Fraud Reporting System (FRS). To report fraud or any crime anonymously, contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (1-800-222-TIPS) or online at https://www.tipsubmit.com/start.htm