Online romance scams have been prevalent since the dawn of the internet age. Each year, hundreds of thousands of individuals from all walks of life fall victim to online dating scams. In fact, the U.S. alone recently reported that their annual tally on online romance scams reached $230 million.
You’ve met that perfect person online ? they make you laugh, they’re charming and you feel really connected to them. The problem is, they say they live in another country. Not only that, but they have also been asking you for small amounts of money, or gifts, over the time you have known them. You send the money and gifts because they are… perfect. What you don’t know is that this person may not be the dream come true you think they are.
Frauds targeting businesses and organizations are rampant. The reliance on electronic transactions, e-transfers, electronic communications and other modern day business systems eases the processing of corporate transactions, however, these same systems can be quite vulnerable to manipulation by professional fraudsters. Your organization has to take steps to thwart these online criminals. Just as having a fire alarm or burglar alarm, organizations must evaluate their fraud risks and take steps to mitigate these risks.
A Toronto bureaucrat was fired following a fraud probe concerning $11M in COVID-19 funds. The probe?s court documents state that Sanjay Madan took tens of thousands of dollars to India. According to court documents, Madan worked as a computer specialist in Toronto for the Ontario government prior to allegedly flying to India together with tens of thousands of dollars in cash after he was confronted about the missing money.
A new year is a time for new beginnings, but unfortunately, it is also a new year for fraudsters to ramp up their cybercrime acts and commit online scams. Senior officials from top scam detection and cybersecurity agencies in Canada have banded together to warn Canadians about an impending rise in online scams especially for the first part of 2021.
Fraudsters and scammers do not rest during the holidays and so officials of the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre are working with the police overtime to warn Canadians about the 12 common types of holiday fraud in Canada.
Fraud has become increasingly difficult to avoid these days. According to the 2020 Fraud Survey by CPA Canada, with better access to technology, it seems that we are falling victim to fraud due to unsafe and outdated techniques that are used to protect personal information and other sensitive data.
Have you ever been the victim of employee fraud or theft? If so, you are not alone. A significant percentage of business revenue is lost yearly to employee theft. This loss is more significant in smaller organizations and should be addressed as soon as possible to mitigate losses. A working environment that discourages fraud and theft is key, and can easily be achieved by following the 8 tips below:
Almost everyone has heard about cases of identity theft. The disturbing thing is that you may hear more instances of it in the coming weeks as criminals and fraudsters are getting more creative in order to cheat honest people out of their hard-earned money in this trying time. Just a quick look at news about fraud and you?ll see cases of government program abuse, forgery, and financial fraud.
A man from Ontario was left with just $9 after he was scammed of his life savings which are worth more than $8,200. Ganesh Khatry of Brampton Ontario was tricked into handing over his savings to scammers. He has been saving since he moved to Canada from Nepal 3 years ago in search of a better future.
