TRUTH BE TOLD
WHEN SCAMMERS COME CALLING
When impacted by a scam one loses faith in people. Even though our natural instinct is to help, we become suspicious. Image credit: NEWS CANADA.
By DR VICKI BISMILLA
It is extremely disconcerting and infuriating to unexpectedly become a victim of a scam.
And once it happens we rightly become extra vigilant as in the case of my husband and I when we were scammed by a door-to-door “roof specialist”.
He came to the door and correctly identified that there were some pieces of brick corroded from our old defunct furnace chimney and said he could fix it for X amount of dollars which sounded reasonable. He actually had an official looking contract in duplicate!
He asked for a deposit and luckily we only gave him $100 cash. But when he left I looked up the name of the company and it did not exist. I googled masonry companies and lo and behold the pictures he used on his marketing materials were beautifully displayed by another legitimate company.
I phoned them and the gentleman said he became aware recently of the scam and is looking into how to deal with that young man.
We never saw the scammer again. And now we do not open our door to door-to-door trades people.
There are other more serious scams that cost innocent victims a lot more as you have all read in newspapers.
One of our young family members, an extremely kindhearted, caring person who is always willing to help anyone, was caught in a maddening scam.
While loading shopping in the parking lot this young professional person was approached by a teenage girl, a very young teenage girl!
The girl held out some cash and said, “My Mom gave me cash to pay for the taxi to go home but the taxi-driver does not accept cash.”
So the victim of this scam was asked by the taxi driver to insert a debit card to pay.
It was only after the driver and girl drove off that the helpful victim discovered that the debit card had been switched.
The bank is investigating but in the time between the crime and reporting to the bank $2000 had been stolen.
When impacted by these scams one loses faith in people. Even though our natural instinct is to help, we now are very suspicious. I am not ashamed to confess that now even when legitimate service technicians come on a prearranged appointment to our door, I first check their credentials and take a photo of it on their person.
So far these legitimate tradesmen have not objected to the photographing.
I have found newspaper articles over time that offer some excellent cautions for us all and especially to teach children and teenagers:
Never go near a motorist in a parking lot asking for directions. Even if they purportedly have children and family in the car.
Just ignore.
Never help anyone asking for help with their cell phones.
Never accept anything from anyone at a bus stop or train station, street, or other busy places.
Never accept anything at all from people you don’t know anywhere.
Never get interested in door-to-door sales reps. Just say we don’t do door-to-door and close the door.
Always be suspicious of phone calls purporting to be from your bank’s fraud department.
If you DO answer, tell them you will call the bank and then hang up. (We don’t answer calls from numbers we don’t know but I had a call from a number identifying as CIBC. I phoned my bank and it wasn’t them.)
In the schoolyard or other areas of a school never get involved in any activity that feels wrong; never give money; never join harassing pranks; never eat or drink anything offered; never accept gifts.
Never allow yourself to be distracted by loquacious strangers. Just ignore and keep walking.
Keep tabs on what you are paying for on a regular monthly basis on your credit card or autopay.
This is a different world now. Scamming has become a billion dollar industry.
It’s like the loss of innocence and is sad and quite scary.
Dr Vicki Bismilla is a retired Superintendent of Schools and retired college Vice-President, Academic, and Chief Learning Officer. She has authored two books.
VIRTUAL HANDS IN YOUR POCKET!
By SHAGORIKA EASWAR
Dr Vicki Bismilla’s column is an urgent reminder to be careful and alert to scams. All the time. In every situation. With our dependance on electronic devices, we are way more vulnerable that we realize. And with AI, gone are the days of the crude, misspelled communications promising us millions of dollars.
I recently awoke to an email from myself. Since I am in the habit of emailing reminders for everything from work related details to calling a friend to wish her on her birthday, I didn’t think much of it, until I opened it over my first cup of chai.
Addressed to me by name, it was from someone claiming to have all my details, from my SIN card number to banking info. Someone who demanded USD 600 in bitcoin within 24 hours. Or else.
They threatened to releases the info on the dark web where it could be used to purchase any number of items and services, leading to potential huge financial loss and /or making me liable for criminal activities.
I called the fraud department of the police and the lady officer who answered the call said, “Oh,” the second I mentioned the email from myself. “It’s a new phishing fraud that we’ve been hearing of for about a week now,” she said. She asked if I had sent any money and when I said no, she said, well, in that case, no actual fraud has taken place, just be careful. Don’t open any emails from yourself. She suggested getting our phones and devices checked to see if any malware had been installed by a tech expert.
So please be careful and don’t open emails from yourself.
And stop sending yourself emails!