The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) and the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre partners are launching their annual Fraud Prevention Month public awareness campaign.
Every year, thousands of Canadians fall victim to fraud amassing losses in the millions of dollars. Regardless of age, gender and location, everyone can take basic steps to better protect themselves from becoming victims of fraud. Some basic tips include never giving out personal information at your door, over the phone, through social media, or on dating websites.
During the month of March, the OPP and its partners — the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and the Competition Bureau of Canada – will join police services across the country to promote public awareness to help prevent all Canadians from becoming victims of fraud.
This year’s OPP Fraud Prevention Month media campaign will focus on five topics including:Emergency/Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) scams; Romance Scam; Microsoft/Computer scams; Phishing/Bank Web Site scams and Lottery scams.
The OPP will be posting tips and links to various resources online. The public is encouraged to engage in the conversation to help them recognize, reject and report fraud on social media by using the hashtags #FPM2016 #DontBeAVictim and #OPPtips.
If you or someone you know suspect they’ve been a victim of fraud, contact your local police service, the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS), or online at https://www.tipsubmit.com/start.htm
