OR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Thursday, December 19, 2019 9:48am
(Ottawa) —The Ottawa Police Service Organized Fraud Unit arrested and charged a male following a complaint of fraud allegations.
In June 2019, an investigation began following complaints that an Ottawa-based Day Care, which is a non-profit charitable organization, had been defrauded of over $200,000.
The suspect, a former employee, in their role as the Financial Coordinator with the day care, had access to the company payroll, company cheques, and the company credit card. The suspect made unauthorized payments and transactions for personal gain between 2010-2016.
The Day Care was cooperative and assisted with the police investigation.
On December 5th, the Ottawa Police Service Organized Fraud Unit has charged Vasilios (Bill) POLYMENAKOS, 50 years old, of Gatineau with Fraud exceeding $5000
POLYMENAKOS is scheduled to appear in court on January 9th, 2020.
As shoppers gear up for the holiday season, police say fraudsters are also preparing to take advantage of those who aren't careful.
The holidays are ripe for fraudulent activity, with various types of scams appearing around this time of year, according to Jeff Thomson, a senior intelligence analyst with the RCMP's fraud unit.
Here are some of the most common scams Thomson said people should watch out for.
SIM swapping
Thomson said the RCMP has seen a recent spike in identity theft through what's known as SIM swapping.
Fraudsters will send a phishing email, which appears to be from your service provider, offering you free data or something similar — and a link for you to claim your "prize."
The link asks for personal information to update your cellular account profile. Fraudsters will then contact your service provider and, using that information, gain access to your phone.
"If you have your bank accounts, your social media accounts, email accounts — they can now start to gain access to the accounts you have on your mobile device," Thomson said.
If you receive an email from your service provider with an offer, Thomson recommends calling them to verify it's real.
Thomson said the RCMP are seeing a spike in these kinds of scams, but instead of the CRA, the fraudsters claim to be from Service Canada.
"The Service Canada scam I'm seeing as the evolution of the CRA scam," Thomson said.
Fraudsters tell victims their social insurance number (SIN) is compromised and then attempt a two-part scam.
First, they'll attempt to coax your name, date of birth, SIN and other personal information from you.
Then they'll say police or investigators need to follow up, which later turns into a demand for cash. Thomson said that usually takes the form of fraudsters telling victims to move money into a "safe account."
Like with the CRA scam, Thomson said Canadian agencies wouldn't call and ask for personal information.
Online shopping scams
As more and more shoppers turn to the internet to find that perfect holiday gift, fraudsters are taking notice.
Thomson said one scam comes in the form of an unbelievable offer for a wish-list item — but often it's counterfeit or of an inferior quality.
To avoid being duped, Thomson recommends only shopping at well-known websites, reading reviews on lesser-known ones first, and using payment programs that have credit card protection.
"If a deal seems too good to be true, it probably is," he said.
Loan scams
This scam typically preys on victims looking for extra cash during the holidays.
Fraudsters offer loans, Thomson said, and then either take personal information or begin to demand payments.
Thomson advises people to be cautious and only seek loans from credible providers.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Thursday, December 5, 2019 1:30pm
(Ottawa) — The Ottawa Police Service Fraud Unit is advising the community of recent scams involving “SIM card swapping.” This is a scam that is affecting consumers all over North America.
What is it?
A fraudster, armed with personal information about a targeted victim, will call the victim’s cell phone provider. They will have enough information about the victim to convince the cell phone provider that they are the targeted victim. They will then ask to cancel the victim’s cell phone account and have the number transferred to another cell phone provider (this is a process called porting).
They will then set up an account with the new service provider and be able to use the victim’s cell phone number with that new provider. As many online apps and accounts use a text message to re-set passwords, the fraudster will then attempt to re-set the victim’s password on their email, bank accounts, store accounts, rewards accounts and social media accounts. They will then proceed to access whatever funds and goods are available. This will generally happen very quickly.
How to protect yourself:
Speak to your cell phone service provider about extra security measures you can put on your cell phone account
Don’t respond to “phishing” emails that ask you personal information or ask for passwords to your accounts
Avoid posting personal information on line such as your SIN, date of birth, address, family tree information, pet’s name, etc.
Don’t use the same password for every online account you have
If you lose cell phone service, call your service provider and your bank immediately
The Canadian Bankers Association has an excellent article aboutSIM swapping.
For more information on this and other frauds, please follow @FraudOttawa on twitter or visit ourwebsite for more tips.
