More about Protecting Yourself Against Fraud
Posted by Gail | Filed under Credit Wise
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After my blog last week on fraud prevention services, I promised more. So here we go…
You know the old saying, “There’s a sucker born every day.” I’m amazed at the number of people who will just hand over info about themselves to anyone who asks.
Anne commented on the Have Your Say page:
My place of business had a salesman from a Fraud Protection Agency come talk to us about how beneficial they could be for us. While he chattered away I read the fine print on the back of the application form. Then I asked him,”I t says on the back of the form that if any fraud was detected this company would have power of attorney over our finances. How long would you have this?” He said, “As long as it takes.” No sales were made that night and I was fortunate to have my Power Shield on because the salesman shot many daggers my way. Please tell your fans to read everything carefully and then read it again.
Consider yourselves told.
Fraudulent credit-report services are popping up all over the place in response to the rampant fear people now feel about having their IDs stolen. Talk about the fox in the hen house, eh? If you are approached by e-mail or phone, you need to be wary. And if you’re asked to do something with which you are not comfortable, you shouldn’t. Err on the side of caution when it comes to dealing with your personal security.
While it is a good idea to check over your credit report to ensure you haven’t unknowingly become a victim of identity theft, you don’t need someone to do this on your behalf. You’re entitled to review your own credit history for free once a year. And make sure you get ‘em all so you can see everything.
If you decide to order your report through the website, don’t use a public computer, and double-check the URL to make sure you don’t fall for an impostor site — there are lots of them. If you’re receiving a credit report by mail, have it sent to a secure address where curious eyes and sticky fingers can’t get at it.
You would think that in this day and age of rabid cynicism few people would fall for the “You’ve won a big prize” or “it’s a once-in-a-lifetime investment” or “this lottery ticket pool can’t lose,” but fall people do. In 2006, there were over 7700 reported cases of phone-fraud valued at over $16 million in Canada. Wow! People, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. If you get a call, and the guy on the other end of the phone is really excited, chances are you’re being suckered. If they claim to be a person of authority and want you to hand over personal information, you’re being suckered. And if they try to become your “friend”, you’re being suckered.
Elderly people and shut-ins are particularly susceptible to these kinds of calls. Because they are lonely or may not be thinking clearly, they can be deceived easily. Thieves know this, and so should you so you can protect the most vulnerable in your family. Watch for significant increases in the amount of mail with too-good-to-be-true offers since it may mean your loved-one is on a list. Listen for numerous calls for donations to unfamiliar charities. If your elder is suddenly unable to pay normal bills, it may be a clue that money is going to the wrong places. Scrutinize banking records that show cheques or withdrawals to see if any have been made to unfamiliar companies.
Please don’t criticize your lovey for being naïve. Encourage him or her to talk to you about unsolicited calls or any new charitable dealings. Encourage them to hang up on suspicious calls. Once a person has succumbed to fraud, their name and number goes on a “sucker list” and they will be hounded relentlessly, wearing down their resistance.
Phonebusters has a list of common scams and a wealth of info about protecting yourself and your loved ones from fraud. Here are some steps to consider:
- Invest in a shredder and shred all old bills, bank statements, credit cards, personal notes, anything that has your personal information or address on it.
- Watch for changes in your mail. If a stops arriving, someone may have changed your address.
- All check your credit card bills and bank statements thoroughly for suspicious activity. Sign up for online bills and bank statements so there is less paper with your identity printed on it.
- Make sure your computer is secure. Be careful about downloading free software since “free” sometimes comes with spyware to offset their costs. Install anti-virus and spyware protection.
- Pare down your wallet and carry only what you absolutely need. Don’t carry your SIN/SSC, birth certificate or passport in your wallet. While you need to have your provincial health card with you at all times, leave the original somewhere safe and carry a colour-photocopy.
- Leave your chequebook at home since your cheques have loads of information thieves can use to steal your ID. If you must carry cheques, replace your address with a P.O. box number use only your initials on your cheques.
- When using your debit or credit card make sure you can always see your card while the person swipes it. Charlatans can double swipe shoppers’ cards to capture a wealth of information in a single day of work at a grocery store, convenience store, or other retail outlet.
- Enter your PIN discretely. “Shoulder surfing” is a common way crooks get your private numbers.
- Never give your credit card number over the phone unless you initiated the call.
- Legitimate charities will be more than happy to send information rather than demanding a donation. Don’t give on the fly.
- Before making a purchase online, make sure the site is secure. The address bar should begin with the words “https”, meaning the page will encrypt your information when you send it. Internet Explorer will also have a lock icon on the bottom right of your browser window.
As I mentioned earlier, you should check your credit report regularly. Since you’re entitled to free report each year, if you check one bureau every four months, you’ll have covered all three in a year and you should have a good handle on what’s happening on your credit history throughout the year.
- Equifax 1/800/465-7166
- TransUnion Canada 1/866/525-0262
- Experian Canada 416/593-7906 ext. 225
February 2, 2009 at 8:50 am
Great information Gail. Thank you.
February 2, 2009 at 9:55 am
Also, regarding the charities – they have charitable registration numbers for a reason. If you are unsure, get the number and follow up. You can check a list of charities here: http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tx/chrts/menu-eng.html.
Below, this is also a great website with info about how to validate a charity – from the attorney general’s website.
http://www.attorneygeneral.jus.gov.on.ca/english/family/pgt/charbullet/bullet5.asp
February 2, 2009 at 10:32 am
My mail delivery has been so erractic these last 6 yrs I have the Canada Post depot supervisory on speed dial. My address has not been changed, and only through CP was it done when changed, and I notified all concerned parties. It just seems like CP’s mailing system doesn’t like me, and my credit report is clean, no surprizes.
February 2, 2009 at 11:04 am
By the way, does anyone have any thoughts on personal-finance blogging & privacy? Are we safe? I think talking about these issues are so important, but is there a risk with what we disclose?
February 2, 2009 at 12:43 pm
I got a call the other day with someone offering something “free”. They talked so darn quick it was hard to keep up! Somewhere in the middle I heard “only 49.99″. I interrupted and said I thought it was free. They did some back talking and then went forward with their rant again, so I said I wasn’t interested and hung up.
It’s a creepy creepy world out there.
Saver Queen: Personal finance blogs seem safe enough to me as long as no clues as to your account are there. Talking about interest rates and ways to save shouldn’t get people in trouble, I would think.
February 2, 2009 at 2:22 pm
As SaverQueen mentioned there are thousands and I mean thousands of charities who have lost their charitable status. She posted the link her email. The most recent and public loss (Toronto Star had an article)was the Little League of Canada (baseball).
One most also must be careful of simillar sounding charity names.
February 2, 2009 at 2:34 pm
Years ago, my husband heard a great spot on the radio and called the number to order a product to teach our child how to speak french and it only cost $45.oo. I quickly told him to cancel it and he did,but I did not know that I should have called visa and put a stop to the transaction. A few days later the product came to the house by courier and I sent it back.
The company charged $1500.00 to our card . We had to pay it back because my husband ordered the product. I asked the visa company what if they would have charged us $10,000.00 and they said that we would have been on the hook for it. Live and learn–no more buying stuff over the phone for us. To this day I am still rotted about it. Out all that money and we still didn’t have the stupid product!
please do not use my last name -thanks
February 2, 2009 at 3:17 pm
Another great set of tips! THANK YOU
February 2, 2009 at 6:03 pm
To the woman who’s card was charged for more than it should have been – I think you’re wrong about being on the hook for that. I’m no expert, but the trick is the language you use. Visa called it a civil case, because from there point of view, it’s a dispute between two parties not involving them. (You say 45, they say 1500, so it’s not Visa’s falut.) The trick is to imediatly ask to be put through to their fraud department. You authorized a charge of 45, they took 1500, that’s fraud.
It’s the same thing if you went to a restaurant and they charged you $8564.00 instead of $85.64; you don’t goto the restaurant for you money, you goto Visa – and _they_ get the money back from the restaurant.
Again, I’m no expert, but I think you should have been able to fight that. A more knowledgeable person feel free to correct me.
February 2, 2009 at 7:23 pm
I agree with Blane – and in addition to that, if you sent the product back they should have given you a refund. That situation does not sound right to me and I would follow up with it. Sometimes these things require persistence.
I am just wondering about the safety involving personal finance blogs because so many of us show exactly what is owing, what is saved, and to whom and with who we bank with. we give personal information about ourselves and all names and locations are easily found based on the ip signature of the computer. At some blogs I read, I know their first and last names, could easily know their address, I know the city, the last transaction they made (many bloggers list this info as a spending diary) how many credit cards they have, what they’ve just paid off, how much they have owing, and clues to personal interests & relationships. i love that blogging has cracked open the secretive nature of money.. just wonder if we are at risk.
February 2, 2009 at 7:25 pm
Then again Blane, I was once doubly charged by pizza pizza (they made the transaction go through twice) – called my cc company and they told me to go through pizza pizza instead.
but i think going to the fraud dept would be the right approach.
February 2, 2009 at 7:28 pm
I agree with Blane. Jo-anne Stacey should have indicated that they did not authorize a $1500 payment and therefore it would be fraud and would go through their fraud department because you did not authorize any payment over $45.00.
You should have been able to “dispute” the $1500.00 charge and then Visa would have had to go back to the Company and have them “produce” the documents that verified that a) you authorized the charge b) how much you authorized to have charged on your credit card and finally c) documentation ie; signature.
My husband runs a small business and has had “charge back” requests from Credit Card companies where we have had to produce the credit card slip with signature to verify that the charge was indeed valid.
It was fraud and the company should have had to prove that you authorized anything over $45. Jo-anne Stacey may not have thought it was fraud but it was unfortunately and shouldn’t have been held liable unless the company could prove that you did authorized the charges.
February 2, 2009 at 9:52 pm
you have to look at the fineprint for your credit card. I was looking at capital one as a choice and some of their cards provide $0 faud liability.
I have stated this following point on another post, but we recently had one of our cards used fraudulently and the company contacted us before we even received the bill enquiring about it.
It seems like the more technology that comes out and the easier it is to access our account information the easier it is for fraudsters to commit thier crimes. Like this new mobile banking thing. Yeh i just don’t trust it.
February 2, 2009 at 10:22 pm
Solicited sales:
Some provinces have rules about ‘door-to-door’ salespeople which gives the ‘purchaser’ one week to ten days to cancel a SOLICITED sale. I do not know whether this extends to phone solicitation or how many provinces have that rule. Anyone knows?
February 3, 2009 at 9:51 am
great advice Gail. I check ym credit with each bureau a minimal of three times a year. I have been fraud of ID theft so I am more careful than others. I only found about the ID fraud through the RCMP from Montreal. To make long story short someone stole my ID and received mothers allowance using my ID and my childs……..nice people out there……..but in the end got theirs…….were caught by RCMP and served time for it because was federal offense………irregardless it didnt clean up my credit I had to and even now which is some 8 yrs later I am still finding constant errors on my report……I get them fixed and then new ones creep up……..I have never been charged for my reports and no questions about the number of times I request it either in a calendar year.