OPP are putting out another fraud prevention reminder after a woman in Prince Edward County lost $500.
She had received an email this week from who she thought was a friend, asking her to buy Google Play gift cards as a birthday present, because her friend was out of the country.
Investigators say the email address wasn’t hacked, but was a separate account with a very similar name her friend’s and that was how she got fooled.
Police have released some tips to protect yourself from online fraud including:
- Never reply to spam email, even to unsubscribe – often this just serves to “verify” your address to scammers. The best course of action is to delete any suspicious emails without opening them.
- Turn off “viewing pane” as just viewing the email may send a verification to the sender that yours is a valid email address.
- Legitimate banks and financial institutions will never ask for your account details in an email or ask you to click on a link in an email to access your account.
- Never call a telephone number or trust other contact details that you see in a spam email.
- Confirm with persons on contact list, by means other than email, if they are actual senders of information and if they are not, delete.
OPP say if you think you’ve spotted a scam or become a victim, you can use these resources to get more information, or to report them:
- Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre – www.antifraudcentre.ca (1-888-495-8501)
- The Competition Bureau’s Information Centre – www.competitionbureau.gc.ca (1-800-348-5353)
- Local consumer affairs office – www.consumerhandbook.ca