There’s an email in your inbox urging you to click an attachment to claim a prize. A long lost friend contacts you on social media and needs a few bucks to get her head above water. You receive an unsolicited email offering advice on how to apply for the Canada Emergency Response Benefit.

Sound familiar to you? Scams. The lot of them.

Hustles aren’t a new phenomenon. As long as money’s been around, there’s always been someone looking to dip their fingers into someone else’s pocketbook. The Internet has just made it that much easier to trick more people more often.

Sadly, but perhaps unsurprisingly, swindles have risen during the COVID-19 pandemic. Criminals have exploited the environment of fear and uncertainty—as well as lockdown loneliness—to develop new cons and re-invent old ones.

“That’s why each March we enthusiastically lend our support and participate in Fraud Prevention Month,” says Raynier Ramasra, CIBC Senior Director, Fraud Risk Management. “Knowledge and vigilance are the keys to keeping your portfolio safe and the fraudsters at bay.”

Recognize the red flags 

Being on guard for the following will help keep you—and your savings—protected:

• Unexpected calls, emails or mailings offering crypto currency investment opportunities, lottery tickets, free vacations and the like.
• Offers and promotions that are “too good to be true”. For example, you receive an email letting you know that you’ve inherited a vast fortune but to claim it you must first make a deposit into a foreign account.
• Looking for love? Is that special someone you met online moving the relationship along too quickly? Thinking it’s just too perfect a match? It may be a shakedown. Avoiding opportunities to meet you in person and asking for financial help to get out of a jam are also tell tale signs of a scam.
• You receive an email that appears to be from a senior executive of your firm with an urgent request to transfer cash to a third party. Before jumping to conclusions, perform the necessary due diligence and confirm the request is legitimate.

Learn more about email fraud and how to avoid it (video | transcript).

Keep your money and information safe online 

In addition to being vigilant, CIBC Fraud Risk Management recommends the following digital best practices to prevent being taken advantage of:

• Keep your passwords and PINs secret and change your passwords regularly.
• Set transaction alerts and review your account statements frequently.
• Use direct deposit and autodeposits to prevent lost and stolen cheques.
• Keep your personal information or banking information private.
• Don’t automatically respond to urgent requests. Slow down, do an online search, consult an expert, or just tell a friend.
• Be cautious opening email attachments from senders you don’t know. They might contain malicious software.

Partners in fraud prevention

CIBC is dedicated to giving you the tools and tips needed to spot the signs of fraud and keep your wealth and privacy secure. Visit our Privacy and Security resource centre and learn more about the many ways you can fortify your finances. With thoughts and advice on such things as how to set up alerts and check your credit score instantly, it has most everything you need to recognize unusual activity and prevent financial damage.