You’re a Winner!
Posted by Christi | Filed under Christi
If you became a victim of fraud, would you report it? This week I attended a conference where the RCMP shared some shocking statistics about fraud. I want to share with you one of the numbers that had me picking my jaw up off the floor.
In my role, I feel that I have heard about every scam in the book. That was until a few weeks ago, when I heard a story from a gentleman who was recently divorced. Heartbroken and vulnerable, a religious charity guaranteed that with his financial help, they could use the power of prayer to get his ex-wife and him back together. $80,000 in credit card debt later, the charity is still “working on it.” Only once he explained to someone else what the charity promised to do for him, did he realize how silly it sounded.
But we’ve all been there. We’ve heard that we’ve won a prize, and for a split second we are hopeful that it’s really true. You might have had your phone ring, and answered to the sound of a ship horn announcing that you’ve won a Caribbean cruise. Or you may have received a letter from a Nigerian lottery, announcing your winnings from a lottery that you don’t even recall buying a ticket for. Every once in awhile, we may even get an email from a PRINCE who has $27 million of surplus funds and needs to urgently transfer these funds to a foreign bank account – but he promises to pay 25% to the person willing to help him. We have all been tempted by one form of financial scam or another.
I could have fallen prey a few years ago too, when I was looking for a puppy. I’d found the perfect little fuzzy baby on Kijiji. I inquired and was told that there were actually a lot of inquiries, and if I really wanted this puppy I would have to pay a deposit first. Well, a few emails later, I found out that these people lived out of the country. Part of their supposed plan was to ship me the puppy from overseas somewhere, if I paid them upfront. Yeah, no thanks. Those were enough red flags for me, and I backed away quickly. However, had I just lost my furry companion of 10 years, perhaps things would have been different. Perhaps I would have overlooked the red flags because I was in a vulnerable place.
Unfortunately, scams are everywhere. The majority of us have become aware of these common scams, but there are still countless people who are victims of fraud. You may (like me) assume that seniors have the highest dollar loss due to financial scams. However, Canadian victims between the ages of 50-59 reported the highest dollar loss in 2011. These were everyday people who were just caught at a vulnerable moment.
What stood out the most from this presentation at the conference was that only 1 in 20 victims of fraud report it. That’s 5%! So this begs the question – why?
The left side of my brain tells me that people should want their money back, and fight for justice. The right side tells me that people are likely embarrassed and ashamed that they could fall for such a silly scam. Either way, it happens all the time and over sixty million dollars were lost last year, never to be recovered again.
So I’ll put this Public Service Announcement out there: If you have been a victim of fraud, please report it to your local police. You are not alone, you were not the only one scammed, and you will help others by raising awareness. Your story might also be the piece that the police are missing in order to put an end to the scam.
Have you fallen victim to a scam? Share your stories below to raise awareness and help others avoid becoming the next victim!
Until next week,
Christi Posner (@ChristiPosner)
Christi Posner is a Credit Counsellor for the Credit Counselling Society, a non-profit, charitable organization. Born and raised in Winnipeg, Christi is a newlywed, a new homeowner, and with the exception of car loans and a mortgage, she is newly debt-free. Her goal is not merely to survive, but to financially thrive; and to do so with some passion, empathy, humour, and a smile.
June 16, 2012 at 12:17 pm
I just had an awful scam happen to one of my members at the credit union in April.
This elderly lady was at Safeway and she used her debit card for her
purchases and proceeded to head out to the parking lot to put her groceries in her car. Someone approached her in the parking lot and asked for directions (as they were new to the city ) and she turned her back on her cart, their partner came up and stole her purse from her cart. She came to me a few days later and was so upset that she couldn’t remember making these purchases and after I looked into her account and saw the unusual activity I concluded someone got a hold of her card. I cancelled her debit card ASAP, contacted the police right away but she was hesitant as she so embarassed that she fell victim to this scam.
The police informed me this is a new scam happening all over the city and they target older people in grocery stores etc. and they will stand behind them in line to watch their pin and then follow them out to their car, make up a story like asking for directions and their partner snatches the purse ( they had a name for them too but I can’t remember what he called them ). They now have the card and pin. They stole almost $7000 out of her account in a 3 day spending spree, most of which was spent at local Money Marts to purchase foreign currency money orders and then they flee. They knew what they were doing, they knew limits that are set on debit cards POS and ATM and they knew to do it ASAP. They also did it on a long weekend ( Good Friday, knowing the credit union would be closed and she wouldn’t be able to contact us right away)
It was an unforunate experience but she was protected as her debit card has insurance for fraudulent activity. The funds were given back to her after she reported it to the police. But to be completely honest if I hadn’t insisted on her reporting it I don’t think she would have as she was so embarassed. It makes me sick that seniors are targeted like this and are so vulnerable to falling for these scams as they dont know any better and trust everyone
June 16, 2012 at 6:02 pm
Aww, that’s crazy! But what shocks me the most is that she would have been part of the 95% of the people who don’t report fraud because they are embarrassed. Thankfully she spoke with you and you went the extra mile with her to report it, some people wouldn’t be so inclined to do anything more than cancel the card and inform her of the process.
June 16, 2012 at 12:26 pm
I always thought that I was smart enough not to fall for any of these scammers but I was scammed 6yrs ago when I got online to find a web designer to help me develop an online pet supply store. I talked to a guy named John who explained how they would help me even gave me some ideas for my website. Since I don’t know anything about computers or websites I listened to everything he had to offer. I loved his ideas and sent my $2500. At first things went well ( of course ) they sent my a draft of the cover page. I wanted to make some changes, so I called the company to talk to John that’s when things started falling apart. First I would get that he was helping someone else and he would call me back. When I didn’t hear back from him in a day or 2 I call them. The next excuse was he was out to lunch and would call me back. Then it was he had a family emergency, etc. Also when I called the ladies answering their English kept getting worse and worse until I could almost not understand them. They kept up the run around for 6 months, when I finally gave up on them told them I was suing for my $2500 back. I did report them to the police and the BBB but never got any money back. To this day I still have all the paper work just in case it’s needed.
June 16, 2012 at 6:09 pm
WOW! This is a scam that isn’t so common, I guess. I heard that $64 million was lost due to fraud last year and never recovered. Good on you for reporting them to the police and the BBB, you’re the 1 in 20! When you just don’t know about things like web design, it is easier to fall prey to scams. That’s the same with the scam where “Microsoft” calls and tells you that your computer is under attack and they need access to get rid of all of the viruses. If you don’t know computers, it’s easier to fall for it. How do these people sleep at night…
June 17, 2012 at 3:00 pm
My husband is a web developer and he always signs a contract with his clients before taking a deposit. Look for this next time, this way you have a legal agreement to enforce.
June 17, 2012 at 2:43 pm
I ordered a credit card to go to University but my Mother took it from the mailbox and ran it up, including raising the limit with the credit card company.
She wouldn’t give it back to me unless I agreed to pay the balance myself (maxed out at $700)
Is this fraud?
June 17, 2012 at 5:00 pm
that is theft.
June 19, 2012 at 4:39 pm
Unfortunately, the only way to “do anything about it” is by pressing charges against your Mother. Your first step would be to speak to the police.
July 10, 2012 at 10:05 pm
Yes, talk to the police ASAP. I worked at a police station and they will advise you on what to do next.
June 18, 2012 at 9:38 am
My husband fell for buying a cheap laptop though online classifieds. We’ve bought many things through the classifieds before, but always went in person to pay and pick up the item. This one was going to ship the laptop once he had received the money through an online transfer.
The seller kept dropping the price, and my husband thought it was too good to be true – because it was! If he had only run a couple names through google BEFORE sending the money instead of after!
It was a $200 lesson – but it could have been much worse.
He did report it – only to be told there is nothing the police could do. The seller is in a different area (called the police there too) and it was only $200.
June 19, 2012 at 4:41 pm
That’s really too bad! Sometimes you think “how can this possibly be a scam?” but sometimes, if you tell someone else about it (before you pay) it may sound worse when you say it out loud. Thanks for sharing so others are aware!
June 18, 2012 at 3:59 pm
My husband almost fell for the Microsoft call because he knows nothing about computers. Luckily we talk about all these types of purchases and I knew it was a scam.
A very good one fro those that don’t know anything about computers.
June 19, 2012 at 4:43 pm
You’re right. I’m sure many people fall for these scams. How do these scammers sleep at night!
June 19, 2012 at 2:45 pm
@ JJ,
Call the CC company and cancel the card. That’s theft AND blackmail.
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March 8, 2013 at 7:43 am
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