With today’s technological advancements, there is always something newer to seemingly make our lives easier.
Unfortunately, things that make our lives easier can also make the lives of fraudsters and identity thieves easier too.
With the continued discussion of National Senior’s Safety Week from November 6th-12th, The Canada Safety Council is aiming to shed light on how seniors can keep themselves and their information safe, and out of the hands of criminals.
The Competition Bureau of Canada estimates that seniors between the ages of 60-79 were scammed out of $94 million between January 2014 and December 2017.
Earlier this year, a Kitchener man was charged locally with identity theft.
“Criminals tend to look for the path of least resistance, and too often that passes through our most vulnerable sections of society,” said Jack Smith, president of the Canada Safety Council. “Seniors seem to be easy targets for a lot of scammers, which is why it’s crucial that we do our part to keep the elderly as informed and prepared as possible to avoid being victimized.”
When it comes to email scams, fortunately, there are some indicators that point to whether a message is legitimate or an attempted scam. Unlike professional emails, scam emails are often littered with spelling and/ or grammatical errors. These messages frequently come from unknown email addresses. They often do not address you by name or feature low-quality images.
Malicious messages may encourage recipients to take urgent action by clicking on links, opening attachments providing specific information or calling a specific phone number.
Unless you are absolutely certain of an email’s origins, do not download attachments or click on links as they may contain viruses, spyware or malware.
Further, refrain from using any method of contact shared in the message. Instead, contact the organization using the phone number or email listed on their website and inquire about the message’s legitimacy. Messages that appear malicious in nature should be reported to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre and subsequently deleted.
Here are some useful tips on keeping your information out of the wrong hands:
- Limit what you share online; do not give out your social insurance number online under any circumstances.
- Don’t share personal information online, including credit card numbers and your address unless you are on a secure website. To check, make sure there is a padlock icon next to the site’s address.
- Keep your digital household clean- ensure your software is up to date and deactivate or delete accounts or apps that are no longer in use.