How many times have you received a text message from an unknown number, letting you know that you’ve won an all-expense-paid tropical vacation or expensive electronic and that all you need to do is click on a link in the message to claim the prize? Seems a little too good to be true, doesn’t it? For our final Fraud Prevention Month-related blog post, we’re putting texting and app scams in the spotlight.
In 2012, more than $7,700 in losses was reported to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre from these kinds of schemes – a 600 per cent increase over the previous year! To lessen your risk of being a target for texting and app fraud, here are some tips:
Forward the texts to 7726 (SPAM on most keypads). This will alert your cell phone carrier to block future texts from those numbers.
For more information about Fraud Prevention Month, visit www.competitionbureau.gc.ca.
If you feel that you may have been a victim of fraud, please report it to the Canadian Anti Fraud Centre (www.antifraudcentre.ca).