SASKATOON — The Saskatoon Police Service continues its efforts in educating the public on fraud prevention. Throughout the month of March, designated as Fraud Prevention and Awareness month, the SPS issued some educational posts on their Facebook page.
SPS also held a Data Destruction Event on March 13 at their location on 25th Street East. This event was held in partnership with Electronic Recycling Association. Residents had the opportunity to bring in computers, laptops, hard drives, thumb drives, printers/scanners/fax machines, phone systems and other electronic equipment on their list, for destruction.
S/Sgt. Matthew Bradford, SPS Economic Crime Section, answered several inquiries for SASKTODAY.ca regarding their continued engagement and education with the public on fraud prevention and awareness.
Bradford says SPS attends community organizations throughout the year, presenting sessions on fraud prevention and awareness and has attended seniors’ centres and businesses, upon request.
“Our data destruction event began in 2019, then COVID-19 hit. It was reinstated in 2023, with this being our third consecutive year. We had a good response with the weather being less than pleasant, which may have curtailed some attendees,” adds Bradford.
This event is set to take place yearly in mid-March, in conjunction with Fraud Prevention Month.
The data destruction activity is held in partnership with the Electronic Recycling Association, which is a non-profit organization dedicated to reducing electronic waste through reuse and recycling, offering secure and accessible disposal options for individuals and businesses.
You can find out more details on this organization by checking out their website www.era.ca.
“In a digital world, there are more ways to contact each other, which opens up more avenues to people,” Bradford acknowledges. “There are so many methods of contact via text, phone, email, social media and messenger. The biggest thing for people to remember is common sense, patience, be vigilant and don’t be rushed by someone communicating with you for potentially fraudulent activity.”
If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
Big red flags are if the contractor asks you not to talk about it with anyone else. Always contact the relative that the suspected caller, texter or message says that they are. Scammers/fraudsters use fear and panic to elicit a quicker response, thus exposing victims to their fraudulent acts. They are targeting vulnerable people and using emotional tactics to get you to respond.
What to do if you suspect you have been targeted by fraudsters
“If you suspect fraudulent activity and it has anything to do with banking, reach out to your financial institution first to protect your bank accounts. The bank can help you freeze accounts and likely reverse the fraudulent transaction,” notes SPS.
If you have been victimized by fraudulent actions, contact your local authorities, or if you suspect fraud, you can also contact the Canada Anti-Fraud Centre, https://antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca/index-eng.htm.
Beware of public Wi-Fi networks as there are vulnerabilities for the users with this access. Virtual private networks can be a more secure option.
SPS includes a safe exchange location in their west public parking spot, where there are two designated spots to exchange items through online buy and sell groups. This has been offered since 2021.
“Fraudulent activity took a big spike during and after COVID-19, with more people being online. When demographics changed with older people communicating with family through digital means, it opened doors with those fraudsters,” says Bradford. “In the last two years, there have been 2,000 frauds reported to SPS, with a slight decrease in 2024.”
Bradford advises the public to check out the Canada Anti Fraud website as it lists all the current scams and it is a great resource. This webpage also issues alerts and with so many scams out there, they keep their finger on the pulse of what’s trending.
Something people may not know is that this website has what is called “Little Black Book of Scams” which can be printed for use, as well as offering viable trips and tricks to use to identify scammers.
Fraud Prevention Month releases remind residents that fraud can happen to anyone at any time, and that scammers use sophisticated methods to target individuals.
