June Scam Advice Forum
Fraudsters posing as relatives in distress to steal money from unsuspecting seniors
Thursday, June 27th
Description:
The Ontario Provincial Police Serious Fraud Office along with the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, highlighted the rise of “grandparent scams and/or emergency frauds”, where fraudsters pose as relatives in distress to steal money from unsuspecting seniors.
To explore this fraud, the presentation outlined aspects of Project Sharp and the subsequent impacts.
Speakers:
Lisa Cruz, Crime Prevention Officer, Detective Constable, Serious Fraud Office, Ontario Provincial Police
Stephanie Senecal, Senior Support Unit Coordinator, Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, Royal Canadian Mounted Police and Ontario Provincial Police
Jenna Coates & Courtney Guiste, Victim Liaisons (Civilian), Serious Fraud Office, Ontario Provincial Police
Resources:
Who are these calls designed for? APS workers and others who regularly deal with victims of common “mass marketing” scams on the phone, through their computers or by mail where victims never meet the scammer in person.
Who will run these calls? Debbie Deem, a retired Victim Specialist for the FBI, and Steve Baker, who is retired from the FTC and now writing scam studies for the Better Business Bureau. Both are recognized nationally as experts in how scams operate. Debbie also brings decades of experience in working one on one with victims.
What kind of scams will be covered in this series of calls? We anticipate discussing COVID-19 scams, lottery/sweepstakes, online romance scams, grandparent, tech support, the use of victims as money mules, and government imposter scams pretending to be the IRS, Social Security or government grant opportunities will be the first topics. Later calls may cover investment fraud, other cyber crimes, identity theft and health care fraud.
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