Many of us spend hours a day online — at work, at home and on the go. Unfortunately, so do Internet scammers who may be phishing for your personal information.
As part of Fraud Prevention Month — a month-long national initiative that helps Canadians recognize, prevent and report fraudulent activities. the Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection BC are teaming up to help British Columbians avoid being the victim of a phishing scam.
Phishing or brand spoofing is when scammers create web pages or e-mail messages from what appear to be well-known and trusted businesses like a bank or credit card company. The goal of these fraudsters is to trick you into submitting sensitive data, such as credit card numbers, bank account information, social insurance numbers and passwords that will be used to commit fraud. By simply clicking on one of these phishing e-mails and supplying your personal information, you could become a victim of this prevalent fraud.
Don’t be a target for phishing scams:
- Protect your computer with anti-virus software, spyware filters, e-mail filters and firewall programs.
- Do not reply to any e-mail that requests your personal information, even if it looks like your bank is asking for a payment because they claim your credit card bill is overdue.
- Look for misspelled words.
- Do not send personal data over public wireless networks as they may or may not be secure.
If you receive a suspicious e-mail, contact the real institution as well as the Canadian Anti- Fraud Centre at 1 888 495-8501 or at: info@antifraudcentre.ca
