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Tag: financial scams

  • Warning to caregivers: Expect a scavenger hunt

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    We set up our wills and power of attorney documents with the same lawyer in Ottawa, so I knew where to access the documents, and even where in their house their copies were (our lawyer suggested a hack whereby we keep our legal documents zip-locked in the back of the freezer, where it would be protected from fire/water damage). When the realization set in that I would have to take a much more active role in managing both my parents’ financial and health-related affairs, I realized I would now need to access not just some of their tangible documents but all of it. 

    My parents were relatively organized in keeping track of their financial documents, meaning they were very good in combining a variety of documents and wrapping them in elastic bands and keeping them stored in a few rooms. Again, this is what I was aware of. As I started going down the rabbit hole, I realized that was not the case as I would randomly stumble upon documents from companies and for services I never knew they were using. 

    It’s hard enough to keep track of my own and my family’s budget; now I had to manage another set of books. Unless you love accounting and finance like I do, I can confidently say, based on my own investment coaching practice, that this exercise does not make my clients’ top 500 list of things they would prefer to be doing. If you’re up for scavenger hunts, and putting a financial puzzle together, then this could be somewhat more tolerable. 

    If you feel a sense of dread, by the way, that’s totally normal.

    Where to start? Look for relationships

    Before embarking on a search for invoices, annual statements, legal documents, and random illegible letters that seem important, it is important that you identify the people, companies, and institutions you will have to interact with who are either gatekeepers of information or references that could lead you to somebody else who can help you. Establishing those relationships will be crucial. The list is endless and will feel overwhelming. The best way to approach this is to break down these gatekeepers into logical circles or networks. These contact points can be broken into some groups involved with money that flows into your parents’ bank and investment accounts and money that goes out to pay living costs.  

    The first group of people will revolve around your parents’ social and family circle. This group may already be managing some activities or have some awareness of your parents’ activities. These include the parents (of course), your siblings, their own relatives, family friends, and their overall social circle. If you have siblings, it is very possible they may already be involved themselves. 

    The next group would be the gatekeepers of legal and professional documents. This would comprise accountants who may be preparing tax documents or financial reports for a business, as well as lawyers who would have prepared the will, trusts, and power of attorney documents. As we discussed in the previous article on power of attorney, securing these documents is critical when starting to reach out to various stakeholders. I can’t emphasize enough how many doors I was able unlock quickly and how much time and aggravation this saved me when managing my parents’ affairs. 

    The group after that would be government institutions at the municipal, provincial, and federal levels related to social programs and benefits that your parents may already be accessing or may need to access in the future. Most of these contact points are now mostly accessible online or over the phone, which will require an immense amount of time and patience as wait times could climb into the hours. These organizations will need to be tapped into for a variety of documents like income tax returns, tax receipts, property tax, building permits, social programs, government identification documents (passport, health card, citizenship card, handicap parking permits, driver’s license), and pension documents. Renewing some of these documents may be a common action item with one or both parents. 

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    We now reach the group where we get into the financial management circles. This group consists of representatives from your parents’ bank(s), insurance companies, financial advisors, and investment brokers. Some of these contact points you may be able to meet personally. If your parents are receiving a pension or annuity from a private company, then you need to establish contact points there, as well. 

    Have a personal finance question? Submit it here.

    Making sure the bills get paid

    Next we need to identify contact points on the expense side of their financial ledger. Below is good starting point of types of costs your parents may be paying on a regular basis:

    • Home/auto/property insurance
    • Communication (mobile phone/landline/internet)
    • Entertainment (cable, streaming services, subscriptions, memberships)
    • Utilities (electricity, heating, water)
    • Landlord/property management companies (rent)

    Your elderly relatives’ bank is the best place to begin because their bank account and credit card statements will itemize the payments they make regularly. Though some seniors are relatively tech savvy, it is highly likely that your parents will still be opting to receive their bills, invoices, and statements in hard copy. Both my parents were insistent on receiving paper copies. They did make an honest effort to access their accounts online, but at the end, old habits brought them back to paper. Don’t be surprised also to find receipts and statements going back 20 years when we only need to keep receipts for up to seven years. In that case, be prepared to invest in a shredder; just throwing out documents raises the risk of fraud and identity theft.

    The final group of people in your parents’ lives would be health-related contacts comprising of their family doctor, dentist and specific specialists (pharmacist, eye care, physiotherapist, and other medical specialists). Besides keeping tabs on their health, be prepared to coordinate a range of appointments and filling prescriptions.

    From my personal experience, all these organizations and gatekeepers will likely request some kind documentation to verify your identity and relationship to your parents, ranging from legal documents like the POAs to just a driver’s license or passport. Once you establish your contact points, the most important task is to get your name added to your parents’ respective accounts and files. That way, you start the process of documents and notifications flowing to you.

    It’s a never-ending process and if you look at it all as one big mass it will be overwhelming. Just when you think you’ve got everything, something else pops up. I thought I had all my parents’ bank accounts itemized, only to find out that as my father’s dementia progressed that he had walked into a bank and opened three bank accounts that had minimal cash in each of them (how the bank didn’t flag any of this is still beyond me). It feels like you’re running endlessly on a hamster wheel.

    I learned that the documents are secondary. The best way to have some control of the whole management process is to engage and build relationships with the various stakeholders that will help you better manage and deal with what you know… and what you don’t know.

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    About Aman Raina, MBA


    About Aman Raina, MBA

    Aman Raina is an Investment Coach at Sage Investors and the founder of Aging Parent Finances. He teaches and guides people how to make more successful investment decisions so that they can achieve financial freedom with confidence.

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  • How to protect yourself from identity fraud in Canada – MoneySense

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    What we do know, however, is the type of fraud reported most often in Canada: identity fraud. To pull this off, criminals use phishing scams and other ruses to trick Canadians into revealing personal and financial information. Depending on what they find out, scammers could impersonate you, charge purchases to your credit card, apply for a loan and/or mortgage in your name, drain your bank accounts, and more.

    It’s also becoming harder to identify scams. Some fraudsters now use artificial intelligence (AI) technology to create highly convincing audio and video “deepfakes” using Canadians’ voices and faces. AI tools are also helping criminals target exponentially more people at once, making scams harder to avoid.

    How to protect your identity

    To help you protect yourself against ID theft and fraud, we created a series of how-to articles with practical tips on prevention and what to do if you think your identity may have been stolen.

    We’ve also launched a column dedicated to helping you protect specific things and people in your life. Check back monthly for new installments.

    Videos about fraud and scams

    How fraud and scams affect Canadians

    Learn more about the various types of scams targeting Canadians today, and what you can do to protect yourself and recover from ID fraud.

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    Equifax Complete Protection is a credit and cybersecurity protection service designed to help Canadians spot the signs of identity fraud faster.

    • Provides daily credit monitoring and alerts
    • Scans for your personal data on the dark web
    • Social media monitoring by industry leader ZeroFox

    Subscription price: $34.95 per month

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    About MoneySense Editors


    About MoneySense Editors

    MoneySense editors and journalists work closely with leading personal finance experts in Canada. Since 1999, our award-winning magazine has helped Canadians navigate money matters.

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  • AI-fuelled scams on the rise as holiday shopping begins – MoneySense

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    New digital scams surge during peak shopping

    The list of newer scams includes AI-powered fraud, where scammers create fake retailer websites, along with phishing emails or deepfake videos to impersonate brands or influencers. Fraudsters can also embed malicious links in QR codes—a method that’s “extremely widespread,” Zelvin said. “When you scan that QR code, there really is a URL or a website link, but people don’t look at it because it’s small,” he said. 

    Other methods include counterfeit products on the TikTok Shop as well as digital pickpocketing, where criminals use contactless payment devices to skim data from phones—something that’s becoming more common. Zelvin said instances of digital pickpocketing can happen in places like a shopping mall or on transit, where there are crowds. “Where it used to be somebody stealing your wallet or your purse, now they’re stealing what’s on your phone,” he said. 

    He noted that 2.6% of online transactions in Canada between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday were flagged as fraudulent last year, a 51% annual increase. He noted that older consumers are disproportionately targeted.

    Zelvin said there is a vast increase in people online during the peak buying periods, and fraudsters are “following the opportunity.” 

    The majority of Canadian consumers are still planning to shop during Black Friday and Cyber Monday this year, despite a slight decline in planned participation, according to a report from Boston Consulting Group. 

    About 77 % of Canadian consumers indicated they are planning to shop for deals, down six percentage points from the previous year. On average, the report found consumers were planning to spend US$305 on year-end sales events, dipping from last year, reflecting a “cautious but steady sentiment.”

    How to avoid scams this season

    To help avoid falling victim to a scam while shopping, Zelvin pointed to several measures you can take. This includes not clicking links in emails or texts and instead going directly to retailer websites. Verifying links to websites and looking for relevant HTTPS security indicators can help protect consumers. 

    He also advises using credit cards rather than debit cards or payment apps because they tend to have stronger fraud protections in place. “Credit cards are a good way to pay just because they are not fast-moving, but instant payment systems, wires, gift cards, some of these payment apps, and cryptocurrency—that money is gone,” Zelvin said. 

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  • How to protect your bank account – MoneySense

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    Banking these days is something that increasingly leaves out the bank. “People don’t go to an ATM or into a bank a lot anymore, instead they mostly log in on our laptops or mobile devices,” says Octavia Howell, vice-president and chief information security officer for Equifax Canada.

    Banking from your phone or computer is convenient, but it leaves a lot of the security that used to be undertaken by the bank up to the customer. Financial institutions have whole departments dedicated to protecting customers from theft and fraud, and strong controls to secure online banking. Still, bad personal habits can leave users vulnerable.

    “Consumers have to be careful at all times and do their part to protect themselves and their families,” Howell says.

    How cyber criminals try to access your bank account

    Criminals may try to target individuals and withdraw money from consumers’ accounts, but there’s also a newer, faster-growing pattern of crime, which is trying to access the personal information of large numbers of people in order to commit fraud on a larger scale.

    “A lot of bank fraud starts with someone trying to get you to share your information,” Howell says. “What we’re seeing in the industry right now is criminals  gaining access to banking information directly from the account owners.”

    Here’s how it works: The criminal organization obtains partial information on a group of people through an artificial intelligence assisted internet search. Scammers then call or otherwise contact their targets, often claiming to be representatives from a financial institution. The fraudsters might say there’s been a security issue and they need the last four digits of the customer’s account number or other information relating to a recent transaction in order to “validate” the account. Victims sometimes co-operate under the false impression that the caller is being helpful to them—at least it may seem so.

    “No credible bank will ever call you and ask for banking information without you initiating the conversation,” Howell says. 

    If you receive a call of this sort, say you’ll call back, hang up, then call the organization directly using the customer service number published on its website or on the back of your card.

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    Best practices for protecting your bank account

    Here are some other things you should do daily to help secure your bank account:

    • Make sure your account PIN (personal identification number) is not something available online or that can be easily guessed, such as an anniversary or a child’s birthday.
    • Use a strong password that is unique from your other accounts.
    • Enable multi-factor authorization (which requires separately texted or emailed codes) or biometric logins that recognize your face or fingerprint. Biometrics is considered state-of-the-art in terms of digital security and can stop scams, says Howell “There’s only one you and scammers can’t easily fake that.”
    • Avoid accessing your bank account over public Wi-Fi networks, such as those in coffee shops and airport departure lounges where criminals can “sniff” for users entering login credentials or credit card numbers. Use a private network such as your home internet or your wireless provider to access your banking information. If you must use a public network, download a VPN (virtual private network) and use that to access your account.
    • Don’t share login credentials with anyone and make sure that your information is secure. Conceal credit or debit card codes you punch in at an ATM or a store checkout. “You never know who’s looking over your shoulder,” Howell says.
    • Make sure you have a way to recover your account should it get compromised. Set up code words and security questions that will enable you to access your account if it gets locked by your financial institution. “It’s important to take the time to set the code words,” says Howell. “Carefully selected security questions can also play an important role in helping to protect your bank account.”

    sponsored

    Equifax Complete Protection

    Go to site

    Equifax Complete Protection is a credit and cybersecurity protection service designed to help Canadians spot the signs of identity fraud faster.

    • Provides daily credit monitoring and alerts
    • Scans for your personal data on the dark web
    • Social media monitoring by industry leader ZeroFox

    Subscription price: $34.95 per month

    Go to site

    Extra reassurance from Equifax Complete Protection

    Most people know that they need to take extra care around financial transactions, says Howell. It’s the extra precautions they may not have considered that can leave them exposed to fraud and theft. 

    For a higher level of protection, consider Equifax CompleteTM Protection, a monthly subscription service that helps to keep your personal data and devices safe while alerting you to potential fraudulent credit accounts being opened in your name.

    Features of Equifax Complete Protection include:

    • Daily credit monitoring and alerts to notify you of key changes to your Equifax credit report, such as a new credit card or loan application
    • WebScan, which monitors the dark web (hidden websites where criminals like to hang out and trade data) to see if your personal information appears there
    • Social media monitoring provided by industry leader ZeroFox, to alert you to suspicious activity on your social media accounts
    • Online data encryption by NordVPN and online password generation and storage by NordPass
    • Parental controls from Bitdefender to restrict which websites and apps your kids can access
    • Device protection from Bitdefender to help stop phishing attempts and protect devices from viruses and malware.
    • Support from an Equifax identity restoration specialist, if your identity is stolen
    • Identity theft insurance up to $1 million for out-of-pocket expenses (not available in Quebec)

    Equifax Complete Protection costs $34.95 per month. To learn more, visit the Equifax website.

    “What is identity theft, and how is it impacting Canadians?”

    Read more about fraud and scams:



    About Michael McCullough


    About Michael McCullough

    Michael is a financial writer and editor in Duncan, B.C. He’s a former managing editor of Canadian Business and editorial director of Canada Wide Media. He also writes for The Globe and Mail and BCBusiness.

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  • How to protect your identity – MoneySense

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    It happens every day. People who would never dream of giving out their credit card number after receiving a random call, text, or email give away personal information on social media for free—including birthdates, home addresses, and details often used to answer website security questions. 

    The consequences can be dire. If fraudsters open a credit card, line of credit, or mortgage in your name, for example, you may be held financially liable. Your credit score may be affected, making it very hard for you to get credit—such as a mortgage or car loan—when you need it. 

    “Identity theft is not new, but we are seeing more and more of it,” says Octavia Howell, vice-president and chief information security officer at credit bureau Equifax Canada. “We are seeing more and more scams perpetrated that enable identity theft to happen.”

    In some cases, identity theft is out of your control. Fraudsters may steal personal information through a cyber-attack on a company or government database, for example, or buy it on the dark web (hidden websites where criminals traffic in stolen data). 

    What can Canadians do to protect themselves from identity theft—and, if it happens, minimize the damage?

    6 safety tips to reduce your risk of identity theft

    “You can’t really prevent it,” Howell says, but you can make identity theft more difficult for criminals, causing them to move on to easier targets. Here are some preventative measures:

    • Get to know your digital profile. Google yourself to get a sense of what information about you is readily available on the internet. Then focus on protecting what is not public, such as usernames, passwords, account numbers, and your social insurance number (SIN). If a company or government department you deal with gets hacked, be especially wary. Change your passwords on sensitive accounts.
    • Be vigilant about your financial standing. Check credit card statements and credit reports often for unfamiliar charges. One common tactic is the “salami attack,” where criminals test out a credit card or other account number with a small purchase or transfer, perhaps just for $2. If it works, they’ll take a thicker slice next time. “If you don’t catch it, if you don’t shut it down, it’s just going to continue and in larger amounts,” Howell says.
    • Don’t connect to public wifi, especially when accessing your bank account or inputting credit card information.
    • Be wary when someone asks for personal information. Don’t respond to requests from unfamiliar people, companies or institutions. If the request appears to come from, say, your bank, a friend, or the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), contact them using a different line to check the legitimacy of the request. (Also read: How to protect your CRA account from scams.)
    • Shut down inactive and underused accounts. For example, close a car loan that has been paid off. Untended accounts provide openings for fraudsters.
    • Enable two-factor or multi-factor authentication to access your accounts wherever you can. That way, even if criminals have some personal information on you, they get stopped at this second level of security. “That is the thing that can sometimes protect you,” Howell says.

    Video Social media scams

    A convincing new scam to watch out for

    One kind of scam that’s become common over the past year is the “bank investigator” scam, Howell says. Victims receive a call or a text message from a 1-800 number where the caller poses as an investigator from a financial institution or credit bureau, or even the police. They claim to have detected fraud on your account and ask for authentication codes to access your devices, or even to collect your cards in person at your home. Sometimes there’s a second call from someone pretending to be a lawyer, and they seem to have corroborating information.

    Once they have enough personal details, the fraudsters might use them to take out a car loan or open a cell phone plan, for example, and then never pay for it—and the victim is stuck with the bill. 

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    What to do if someone has obtained credit in your name

    If you discover someone has used your identity to commit fraud, contact your credit card issuer and both of Canada’s credit bureaus to scrub fraudulent charges from your credit history as soon as possible, Howell emphasizes. Try to determine exactly what information has been compromised. Put fraud monitoring and fraud alerts on the account. Notify the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC) and local police, especially if there’s a possibility of a visit to your home.

    If the fraud persists, it can ruin your credit rating. “That can be devastating,” Howell says. It can take months or even years to fully restore control over your identity.

    But the easiest course is prevention. The risk of identity theft is never zero, but you can reduce the odds it will happen to you.

    “You just don’t want to be an easy target,” Howell says. “You want to make it a little bit difficult for fraudsters, because there are easier targets out there.”

    Detect fraud earlier with Equifax’s credit monitoring 

    Equifax CompleteTM Protection is a subscription service that keeps a close on your credit report and can alert you if your identity has been compromised. Features of this service include:

    • Daily credit monitoring and alerts of key changes to your Equifax credit report, such as a new loan or credit card application
    • Social media monitoring by ZeroFox, to alert you to suspicious activity on your social media accounts
    • WebScan, which monitors the dark web for personal information you provide
    • Online data encryption by NordVPN and password management by NordPass
    • Parental controls from Bitdefender to restrict kids’ access to websites and apps
    • Device protection from Bitdefender to help stop phishing attempts and block viruses and malware
    • Support from an Equifax identity restoration specialist, if your identity is stolen
    • Identity theft insurance up to $1 million for out-of-pocket expenses (not available in Quebec)

    Equifax Complete Protection costs $34.95 per month. To learn more, visit the Equifax website.

    sponsored

    Equifax Complete Protection

    Go to site

    Equifax Complete Protection is a credit and cybersecurity protection service designed to help Canadians spot the signs of identity fraud faster.

    • Provides daily credit monitoring and alerts
    • Scans for your personal data on the dark web
    • Social media monitoring by industry leader ZeroFox

    Subscription price: $34.95 per month

    Go to site

    This article is sponsored.

    This is a paid post that is informative but also may feature a client’s product or service. These posts are written, edited and produced by MoneySense with assigned freelancers.

    Read more about fraud and scams:



    About Michael McCullough


    About Michael McCullough

    Michael is a financial writer and editor in Duncan, B.C. He’s a former managing editor of Canadian Business and editorial director of Canada Wide Media. He also writes for The Globe and Mail and BCBusiness.

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    Michael McCullough

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  • How to protect your passwords from fraud and identity theft – MoneySense

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    At least until we are a completely passwordless society, however, usernames and passwords and an additional authentication factor are the best defense we have against the spread of digital fraud and identity theft. It’s worth putting in the effort to come up with and keep track of different passwords for each of our accounts.

    “Enabling strong authentication methods is one thing that I fight with even my own family members about,” says Octavia Howell, vice-president and chief information security officer for credit bureau Equifax Canada.

    Think of usernames, passwords, and multi-factor authentication as more lines of defense for your identity online, she advises. Multi-factor authentication adds an extra layer of protection by combining different authentication factors, such as something you know, something you have, or something you are. If one of the organizations you deal with suffers a data breach, enabling this extra layer of protection for your online identity can help contain the damage and prevent it from spreading to the other sites and accounts you use. They may help keep you from becoming a victim of identity theft.

    “It’s not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when your information will be compromised. Most of your information is likely already compromised,” Howell says.

    Good authentication practices make it harder for fraudsters to obtain more information about you and assume your identity for the purposes of fraud. Here are Howell’s tips and dos and don’ts.

    Password practices to avoid

    Too many users simply reuse the same username and password across multiple accounts, Howell says. Say criminals gain access to your streaming service account. If you use the same password for an email account, it’s as good as compromised. That may expose more information on you, your friends and your associates.

    Another mistake is to use passwords that are easy to guess, such as your children’s name plus “123” and an exclamation point for a special character. Don’t include a pet’s name or a street address, either. Remember, hackers now get help from artificial intelligence (AI) to try thousands of combinations of these clues to gain access to your accounts. (Learn more about AI and identity theft.)

    Best password practices

    Howell recommends using multiple usernames and different passwords for all your online accounts. Here are some more tips to improve your password hygiene:

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    • Google yourself to get a sense of what information about you is readily available online—and don’t use any of it in your passwords.
    • Use phrases that are meaningful to you but no one else—for example, places, dates, or special numbers and activities that stick in your mind. Rearrange the words and numbers in ways that don’t repeat key phrases found online.
    • Consider using strong passwords provided by the platform, but only if you always access the site from the same device or if you use a password safe, also known as a password manager.
    • Use the strongest passwords for the sites containing the most sensitive information. An optometrist’s portal that just contains your eyeglass prescription need not be as complicated, but your online banking is a different matter. “You want to put the right level of security based on the information on each site,” Howell says.
    • If multi-factor authentication is available, take the time to enable it. This provides the extra layer of protection and can even serve as an early warning sign that your credentials have been compromised. 

    sponsored

    Equifax Complete Protection

    Go to site

    Equifax Complete Protection is a credit and cybersecurity protection service designed to help Canadians spot the signs of identity fraud faster.

    • Provides daily credit monitoring and alerts
    • Scans for your personal data on the dark web
    • Social media monitoring by industry leader ZeroFox

    Subscription price: $34.95 per month

    Go to site

    For extra password protection

    For added protection, consider subscribing to a broader suite of fraud prevention tools that includes a password manager. Equifax Complete™ Protection is a comprehensive identity protection service that includes credit monitoring, social media monitoring, device protection, and a password manager, among other features.

    Equifax Complete Protection’s password manager keeps track of your usernames and passwords in a safe place not tied to your email or browser. Each time you register a new account or change your password, simply load the keys into the password manager for future reference.

    A subscription to Equifax Complete Protection costs $34.95 per month.

    This article is sponsored.

    This is a paid post that is informative but also may feature a client’s product or service. These posts are written, edited and produced by MoneySense with assigned freelancers.

    Read more about fraud and scams:



    About Michael McCullough


    About Michael McCullough

    Michael is a financial writer and editor in Duncan, B.C. He’s a former managing editor of Canadian Business and editorial director of Canada Wide Media. He also writes for The Globe and Mail and BCBusiness.

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    Michael McCullough

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  • How to protect your small business from fraud – MoneySense

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    Last year, Jeff Brown, head of commercial solutions at Equifax Canada, saw a surge in digitally enabled scams in the construction industry. Criminals claiming to be a legitimate contractor would order supplies that could not be easily identified, such as lumber or plumbing parts, for delivery to a supposed job site — only there was no job site, and the orders were a scam. By the time the real contractor knew what was happening, the materials had been sold on the black market and the fraudsters had cleared out.

    “Business-to-business relationships tend to operate on net payment terms. What that means is you can have products delivered to a non-standard location and those products don’t have to be paid to the supplier for 30 days,” says Brown. “That buffer can operate as a getaway window for scammers.”

    Having worked a few times, the scam spreads. “When scammers see something they’re able to take advantage of, they double down and it becomes a trend that eventually can become a systemic issue,” says Brown.

    Why small companies are attractive targets for fraud

    Small businesses like contractors have particular attributes that can make them appealing targets for fraudsters, including:

    • They deal in bigger numbers than most consumers do. “The average working capital loan for a small business is around $40,000,” says Brown.
    • Small business owners are often unaware of their credit standing and may not be keeping track of their company’s credit reporting.
    • Business credit information is more readily available than personal credit information because it is less subject to privacy laws and businesses often want to demonstrate greater transparency to encourage others to work with them. “Businesses have to be spending money to make money. There needs to be an open network for businesses to be able to function,” Brown says. By looking at a company’s credit reports, fraudsters can find a company’s typical bank balance and who their largest suppliers are, for example.
    • Businesses usually have more points of egress than consumer accounts for criminals to attack. They can go through or impersonate not just the owner(s) but employees, too. “Businesses have a larger net of potential liabilities,” Brown says.

    Red flags for Canadian businesses to watch out for

    It’s hard to predict what form the next wave of small-business scams will take. Fraud constantly evolves and the tools that fraudsters use change often. Artificial intelligence (AI) has made the rapid collection and analysis of company information more accessible, while spoofing (creating fake) company images and videos can make it harder to spot what is real versus what is fake. Still, there are red flags for company owners and employees to watch out for:

    • Emails from organizations you don’t normally do business with, or emails that use unfamiliar or misspelled domain names.
    • Communications demanding quick approvals.
    • Callers saying they spoke to a named boss or colleague who approved a transaction that needs to be finalized. “A fraudster can easily obtain company managers’ names and titles online,” Brown notes.
    • Any offer that sounds too good to be true, and those with suspicious attachments, should be approached with caution.

    Larger businesses include anti-fraud protocols in their onboarding and ongoing training, something that small businesses can’t always offer. But it helps if employees are trusted and empowered to use their own common sense around potential threats.

    sponsored

    Equifax Complete Protection

    Go to site

    Equifax Complete Protection is a credit and cybersecurity protection service designed to help Canadians spot the signs of identity fraud faster.

    • Provides daily credit monitoring and alerts
    • Scans for your personal data on the dark web
    • Social media monitoring by industry leader ZeroFox

    Subscription price: $34.95 per month

    Go to site

    Keep an eye on your credit reports

    One line of defence is to frequently check your company’s credit profile. It’s not as simple as a consumer credit report; it isn’t boiled down to a single score. Instead, it includes a business failure risk score that tells suppliers and financial institutions whether or not a company is a viable partner. It also has a delinquency score that relates to the company’s history of paying bills on time, in full, or not at all.

    Business credit reports will also enumerate a company’s financial obligations. “If you see a transaction you do not recognize on your company’s credit report, you can investigate and potentially dispute it. Conversely, if there are any long-time business relationships not indicated on the report, it may be in your interest to add them,” says Brown. “If you’ve had a relationship with a business for 10 years, having that history of good payments is going to help get you the best rates possible and the best products,” Brown says.

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    What if your business has been defrauded?

    From the fraudster’s perspective, the beauty of the construction scam is that it’s not readily apparent who is liable: the company whose name was used, the supplier, or the financial institution conducting the transaction. While the parties sort that out, the criminals get away.

    That’s why it’s important to take steps as soon as possible if you think your business may have been defrauded, including:

    • Checking your company’s credit report to see if an unauthorized transaction has taken place
    • Contacting the other parties to the transaction as soon as you notice anything strange
    • Reporting it to your local police and the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre.

    This article is sponsored.

    This is a paid post that is informative but also may feature a client’s product or service. These posts are written, edited and produced by MoneySense with assigned freelancers.

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    About Michael McCullough


    About Michael McCullough

    Michael is a financial writer and editor in Duncan, B.C. He’s a former managing editor of Canadian Business and editorial director of Canada Wide Media. He also writes for The Globe and Mail and BCBusiness.

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    Michael McCullough

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  • What are the risks of trading crypto? – MoneySense

    What are the risks of trading crypto? – MoneySense

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    Dramatic gains are possible, but so are devastating losses, and investors should understand crypto’s wide-ranging risks. Here’s an overview of crypto volatility risk, technology risks, regulatory uncertainty and other issues that could affect the value of your investment.

    Price volatility

    Cryptocurrency prices can fluctuate wildly from week to week, or even within a single day. On May 19, 2021, for example, bitcoin’s price dropped 30%, after the Chinese government cracked down on bitcoin mining and trading.

    Crypto prices may also rise and fall based on diverse factors such as changing public sentiment, world news, mainstream adoption, protocol upgrades, impending regulation, hacks, scams and more. Plus, crypto is a relatively new asset class, and the market is still in the process of price discovery.

    Technology risks

    Cryptocurrencies’ underlying blockchain technology is built with numerous security measures, including decentralization, cryptography and consensus mechanisms to confirm that transactions are legitimate. However, no blockchain is immune to every threat.

    Backing up your crypto wallet regularly and storing it safely helps to protect you against computer failure, device theft and your own mistakes—such as accidentally uninstalling your digital crypto wallet. But it’s harder to guard against threats such as software bugs, data glitches and 51% attacks (when a group of crypto miners takes control of more than half of a network’s computing power).

    Crypto investors and developers are also concerned about advances in quantum computing, the next generation of computer technology. Its potential computing power could allow bad actors to hack crypto wallets, forge transactions or rewrite parts of a blockchain to alter transaction records. If that were to happen, crypto values would likely plunge—even get wiped out. That day is likely still several years away, but Ethereum and other crypto organizations are already working on post-quantum cryptography.

    Low liquidity

    Liquidity means how easily and quickly you can exchange an asset for cash. Cryptocurrencies—especially smaller, newer ones—tend to be less liquid than other investments like stocks and bonds. That means trading or cashing in your digital coins may not happen as quickly as you’d like, even though crypto markets around the world operate nearly around the clock.

    As a result, you might get “slippage”—a difference between the price you expect and the price you get once the trade has been executed. Slippage can happen if the bid/ask spread—the gap between what buyers are willing to pay and what sellers are willing to accept—changes while you’re waiting for your trade to be filled, perhaps even several times. When the actual price is lower than what’s expected, your buying power increases; this is called “positive slippage.” When the actual price is higher than expected, your buying power decreases; this is called “negative slippage.”

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    Jaclyn Law

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  • “Can I get scammed through an e-transfer?”—and other questions about protecting yourself from fraud – MoneySense

    “Can I get scammed through an e-transfer?”—and other questions about protecting yourself from fraud – MoneySense

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    Sometimes the fraud is sneakier—although who can be blamed for wanting to pay a bill? For Daria, she and six friends paid Bailey, a “travel hacker” for a trip to Thailand in January 2024. A had a Clubhouse group (remember the conversation app?) and Daria and the other members had got great tips from A and other co-mods in the space. (Names have been changed as the case has yet to be resolved.)

    The seven women paid Bailey for hotel rooms and flew the 20-hour trip from North America to Thailand, only to find out that Bailey wasn’t joining them until a few days later. Then to their horror, Bailey never showed up, canceled her trip two days before it ended and had never paid the hotel for their rooms with the money she was paid by the seven women. Just one received a refund. The others have issued credit card chargebacks and have even contacted the FBI. 

    It seems like scams and phishing attacks are everywhere. If they’re not calling or texting, they are messaging you. On every. Single. Platform. Just as writing this, I had two calls threatening me with the police and a text message asking me to verify my address. 

    It’s irritating at best and financially devastating at worst. According to the RCMP, the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC) received reports totalling $531 million in victim losses in 2022. That’s a 40% increase from 2021. In 2023, Canadians lost $554 million. Think those numbers are big? Know that the CAFC estimates that just five to 10% of people report fraud.

    Why do scams and phishing work on Canadians?

    Why do we fall for frauds, scams and phishing? Maggie Cheung, a spokesperson from the Canadian Bankers Association, says it’s because of deception, manipulation and pressure tactics.

    “Cyber criminals often use human psychology and the art of manipulation to scare, confuse or rush you into opening a malicious link or attachment or into providing personal information through a process known as social engineering,” she says.

    These social engineering tactics force us to respond quickly, through the use of fear (like, you owe the Canada Revenue Agency money that needs to be paid stat) and leveraging our urges to respond to authority. (The CEO really needs you to send that bank transfer now, and the email looks real). These pressure tactics are so sophisticated, they’re believable. That’s why the finance writer of The Cut found herself putting USD$50,000 in a cardboard box into the back of a car.

    The common types of scams

    Anyone can be a victim of a scam, says Cheung. That’s because the techniques to convince you are complex, and cyber criminals are adept at telling a believable story. Some of the more popular scams are:

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    Renée Sylvestre-Williams

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  • Bitcoin is surging—what’s the prediction for crypto in 2024? – MoneySense

    Bitcoin is surging—what’s the prediction for crypto in 2024? – MoneySense

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    In Canada, spot bitcoin ETFs were approved in 2021. (The first North American bitcoin ETF, the Purpose Bitcoin ETF, launched in February 2021.) However, approval of these funds in the U.S. holds greater significance due to the larger market size and broader investor accessibility. It would also signal crypto’s continued progress towards mainstream acceptance.

    Growing institutional interest in crypto

    Bitcoin is gaining mainstream acceptance, as institutional investors continue to warm up to cryptocurrencies, particularly BTC and ethereum (ETH). Bitcoin’s limited supply, its upcoming halving event (expected in April 2024), and the possibility of a spot bitcoin ETF have further added to the digital currency’s allure for institutional investors, which have poured more than $1 billion into BTC this year.

    Scarcity-seeking institutional investors are particularly enthused by the prospect of bitcoin halving, a process that halves the reward for mining, or validating, new blocks on bitcoin’s blockchain, thereby reducing the supply of the coin. A halving event happens once every four years and effectively makes the asset more attractive to investors.

    Falling bond yields

    Bitcoin’s fortunes are closely tied to U.S. bond yields. Bitcoin and bonds move in opposite directions due to their sensitivity to market sentiment regarding economic stability and inflation.

    The inverse relationship means that at a time when bond yields are trending lower, bitcoin prices are ticking higher. However, when yields are rising, as they did in the first half of the year, investors have less incentive to chase returns from other assets, including cryptocurrencies and equities.

    What to expect for bitcoin in 2024

    Looking forward, the consensus among analysts is overwhelmingly positive for bitcoin. However, their degrees of optimism and price forecasts vary widely. Some crypto watchers are expecting the digital currency to return to its 2021 all-time-high price of more than $69,000. Considerably wilder predictions for 2024 call for bitcoin to hit $120,000 and even $250,000.

    However, the usual warnings apply. Investors should proceed with cautious optimism. Any unforeseen geopolitical, financial or regulatory events could derail investor sentiment yet again and send bitcoin’s price tumbling, bringing with it the value of the broader crypto market. Crypto analysts remind investors that cryptocurrencies remain a risky bet.

    If the short history of bitcoin has proved anything, it is that the digital coin’s value tends to be highly volatile, and its fluctuations can wipe out millions of dollars in minutes. As a digital asset, bitcoin also continues to exhibit sharp sensitivity to a host of factors including, but not limited to, geopolitical events, regulatory oversight, high-profile lawsuits, crypto scams and cybercrime. Investors seeking to gain bitcoin exposure should invest only what they can afford to lose. To borrow from a universally acknowledged gambling caveat: know your limit, play within it.

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    Vikram Barhat

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  • 10 common crypto scams and how to avoid them – MoneySense

    10 common crypto scams and how to avoid them – MoneySense

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    In just the first half of this year, investment scams conned Canadians out of $161 million—most of it lost to cryptocurrency scams, according to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC). “Crypto investments are the top type of investment scams reported to CAFC,” says Jeff Horncastle, the organization’s acting client and communications outreach officer. He adds that fewer than 5% of scams are reported, so the actual numbers are likely much higher.

    Scammers often find victims on social media

    Cryptocurrency scams are often intertwined with other types of scams—and the criminals behind them cast a wide net. “Unfortunately, everyone is targeted,” Horncastle says.

    Con artists frequently find potential marks on social media. According to an analysis by TradingPlatforms based on FTC data, nearly one-third of social media crypto fraud happens on Instagram, and one-quarter on Facebook. 

    “In some cases, the scam starts as a romance scam and quickly turns into an ‘investment opportunity,’” says Horncastle. “Because suspects have gained the victim’s trust, it can lead to a high-dollar loss for the victim.”

    10 types of crypto scams

    There are many types of scams to watch out for, and unfortunately, as investors get savvier, the cons evolve and become trickier to spot. To protect yourself, always know where your money is going, understand the crypto advertising rules in Canada, and only use trusted and compliant crypto trading service providers. (As a starting point, see MoneySense’s picks for the top crypto platforms in Canada, which are all registered with Canadian securities regulators.) An exhaustive list of crypto scams is likely impossible, but to protect yourself, here are 10 to watch out for.

    1. Pump-and-dump, or rug pull

    In a “pump and dump” or “rug pull” scheme, promoters of a cryptocurrency hype it up to boost demand, and when the price soars, they sell all their coins for a quick profit. Because they sell in large volumes, other investors get nervous and sell their coins, too. As panic sets in and the selling spreads, the coin’s value plunges. The promoters get rich and small investors are left “holding the bag,” faced with huge losses. 

    A notorious example of an alleged crypto pump-and-dump scheme is a coin called Squid Game. Launched in October 2021, it rode the popularity of the Netflix series of the same name—despite having no affiliation. Less than two weeks later, Squid Game’s crypto developers suddenly sold their holdings when the coin’s price hit $2,800, making themselves $3.3 million richer (all figures in U.S. currency). Today, one Squid coin is worth about a tenth of a penny.

    The pump-and-dump scam is not unique to crypto, of course. It’s what high-flying stockbroker Jordan Belfort—the subject of the Hollywood film The Wolf of Wall Street, starring Leonardo DiCaprio—engaged in during the 1990s. His firm was accused of artificially inflating the price of penny stocks before selling their shares to make lots of fast money—costing investors up to $200 million. In the early 2000s, Belfort served 22 months in federal prison for securities fraud. He’s now marketing himself as an investment guru. 

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    Aditya Nain

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