Online, telephone and mail scams are continuously evolving so knowing how to protect yourself is paramount. Year over year, incidents of fraud and identity theft continue to rise.
In 2016, online scams alone accounted for more than 20,000 complaints to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre and more than $40 million dollars in losses by Canadians. Surprisingly, it is estimated that only five percent of Canadians report the fraud to authorities. The US is seeing the amount of money lost to fraud increase - with US consumers losing $905 million in 2017.
Technology has made it easier for fraudsters to take advantage of us. New scams involving emails, texts, phone calls and fake websites are all made to seem legitimate. A recent RBC & Ipsos survey found that 77% of Canadians believed they were knowledgeable on cyber security but only 16% could identify the majority of cyber terms correctly. At Hayes Vickers Private Wealth we have seen family, friends and clients become the victim of these targeted scams. We want to help protect you and your financial information so we have compiled some resources to:
- Recognize a scam
- How you can protect yourself
- What to do if you think you are a victim of fraud
Recognize a scam
RBC has compiled some excellent information on this topic. Do you know what phishing, vishing or smishing is? Read How Cyber criminals make contact. You will learn how you can be tricked via email, phone or social media to share your financial information.
The government of Ontario has complied a list of scams found at https://www.ontario.ca/page/report-scam-or-fraud
Protect yourself
It is important to keep your information secure but how do you accomplish this in a world where online banking and shopping is the norm. The following sites provide tips to protect your financial data:
- Become your best defence against cyber criminals (RBC)
- Cybersecurity: How high-net-worth households can protect themselves (RBC) - updated December 12, 2018
- Protect yourself (Government of Canada's Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre)
Report fraud
If you are a victim of fraud you should:
- Contact your local police to file a report
- Report incident to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC)
- Contact your financial institution(s)
- Change all passwords
- Request a fraud warning be placed on your credit bureau
The RCMP has a Fraud Victim Assistance Guide that includes these suggestions plus others, along with important contact information for CAFC, the credit bureaus etc. This guide can be found at Identity Theft and Identity Fraud Victim Assistance Guide
RBC is doing it's best to protect your information. Through the RBC Digital Banking Security Guarantee you are protected should something happen if unauthorized transactions are made through the RBC mobile app or RBC Online Banking.
In order to protect your information, Hayes Vickers Private Wealth offers secure methods of communication when sending your private and confidential information. Secure Webmail allows you to receive a password protected email. Another option to protect your information is Secure 2 Way Messaging. With this method, a secure message is sent directly to your Dominion Securities online profile. DS Online has a 100% Security Guarantee.
Please be diligent in protecting your information and visit RBC's Be Cyber Aware website regularly to keep yourself informed.
Hayes Vickers Private Wealth