There has been a new scam that has been occurring in Saskatchewan and the RCMP's F Division Economic Crime Program would like to inform the public and advise them on how to better protect themselves from falling victim to this new scam.
In this scam, the victim's e-mail account is compromised. The suspect(s) then use the information that is located within the various folders in the e-mail account to compose an e-mail to the victim's financial institution asking them to wire money from their account to another bank account. There have been incidents where the e-mail has been acted upon by the financial institution and money has been sent to the suspect(s) bank account.
The best way to protect yourself from this scam is to protect your e-mail account. You can do this by:
Creating strong passwords and changing your e-mail password every 6 months.
Be careful in clicking on links attached to e-mails you receive. If you don't know who sent the e-mail don't click on the link.
Make sure your anti-virus software is up to date.
Be cautious when logging into your e-mail account from untrusted computers. This is any computer that you don't maintain yourself. These computers could have keylogger technology installed on them which would give up your password to your e-mail account.
Be cautious of what personal and financial information you include in an e-mail.
Fraud Awareness is part of a national crime prevention campaign to increase Canadians' awareness of and knowledge about different types of fraud in order to help citizens to not become fraud victims. RCMP Saskatchewan's "F" Division Economic Crime Program has offices in Regina and Saskatoon. Their role is to reduce the impact of economic crime on Canadians by maintaining the integrity of our economy through public education, crime prevention, and enforcement.
To better educate yourself with this scam and others, please visit www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/scams or www.antifraudcentre.ca
