Watch Out For These Money Scams
Welcome to our Hoyes Michalos Debt Free Digest where we round up personal finance topics from around the web to help you live, and remain, debt free.
Did you know that last year, Canadians lost over $379 million to fraud? Fraud can lead to identity theft and unwanted financial problems. As March is Fraud Prevention Month, we want to raise awareness of up and coming money scams to help you stay safe and secure.
Don’t Fall For E-Transfer Fraud
While e-transfer is a fast and easy way to pay, in most cases, once the money is sent, it’s hard to recover. Fraudsters know this and have created elaborate scams to get you to wire them money.
We are sharing this podcast again with Rachel Jolicoeur – fraud expert at Interac – to shed light on common ways people become victims of e-transfer fraud and how to avoid the scams.
Good Reads From Around the Web
Impersonation Fraud Is On The Rise
Impersonation scams are when a fraudster acts like an authority or trusted figure in order to steal your money or personal data.
Here are the top impersonation scams, according to The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC):
- Crypto Investment Scams – Fraudsters pose as friends or family or other figures and make you think you’ll get rich on crypto investments, in an effort to steal your hard-earned money.
- Extortion – These scams involve fake emails/calls/texts from fraudsters posing as the police, government or a bank in an effort to take your personal data.
- Emergency/Grandparent Scams – These involve lying to you or a senior in your family about a family emergency that has not taken place in an effort to steal your money.
- Phishing – These scams often involve mass emails that contain a malicious link or attachment for you to open, which then infects your computer with a virus/malware.
All of these scams can take on different variations so they’re harder to spot. You can learn more about the different variations of these scams and how to protect yourself in this post by CAFC.
10 Signs of a Loan Scam
We’ve been contacted by individuals asking us if certain loan agreements are legitimate. Loan scams, unfortunately, are very common.
So we are sharing the 10 signs to help you spot a loan scam:
- You have to make a payment up-front
- The lender accepts payment in the form of gift cards
- The company is not accredited with the Better Business Bureau (BBB)
- You get an unsolicited call offering an easy loan
- The lender is not registered in your province
- The lender’s website can’t be found
- You can’t confirm the lender’s physical location
- The loan offer has a quick expiry date
- No credit check is required
- Approval is guaranteed
If it sounds too good to be true, it very likely is. One type of loan scam we frequently hear about is an advance fee loan, which is actually illegal in Canada. Learn more about advance fee loan scams here.
$50 Sobeys Gift Card Giveaway
Enter for your chance to WIN 1 of 10 free $50 Sobeys gift cards!
Once again, we want to help you save on rising grocery expenses. This month, we’re giving away 10 free gift cards to Sobeys.
Enter soon. Giveaway ends on March 24, 2022 at 11:59 p.m.
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