Police are warning that a new twist on an old type of scam has appeared in the Interior as scammers continue to evolve with technology and test new ways of stealing your money.
Email scams have been around just about as long as the electronic mailing service and over the past 20 years or so have continued to evolve along with it.
Nowadays, people can quickly send money to each other through their online banking service using what is known as an INTERAC e-Transfer.
Essentially, a message is sent from the sender’s online banking account to the recipient by email or text message, notifying them of the transfer and providing instructions on how to deposit the cash. The money never actually travels by email or text and no personal or financial information is exchanged.
Scammers are now attempting to exploit this service by sending fraudulent INTERAC e-Transfer emails, otherwise known as phishing emails. As with all email scams, the fraudulent email looks similar to the real thing but there are a few things to watch for:
• As real e-Transfers are system-generated, spelling errors are a dead giveaway that the message is not legitimate.
• The e-Transfer is anonymous. Real e-Transfers typically have the name of the sender in the subject line as well as the body of the message and may contain a personal message from them.
• The link is more than just INTERAC’s secure e-Transfer site. Always check the link and/or the browser bar before entering passwords or other personal and financial information.
• The e-Transfer is unexpected. An e-Transfer requires a security question to prevent unintended recipients from depositing the money and this should be set up between the sender and recipient prior to the transfer occurring.
If you receive an unexpected INTERAC e-Transfer or there is something not quite right about the message, it is probably a scam and clicking the link could compromise your personal or financial information.
For more information on phishing, frauds and scams, and how to report them, please go to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre website at www.antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca