Can you spot a scam?

This is a scam

This is one of the most common scams in Canada since the beginning of 2023.

The scheme is always the same: scammers posing as your landlord ask you to quickly make an Interac e-transfer to pay your rent which would be late, or unpaid.

Beware of messages that urgently demand money or ask for payments by Interac e-transfer: once the transfer is made, obtaining a refund is very difficult, if not impossible. The transaction is almost instantaneous and considered final by banking institutions once it has been accepted by the recipient.

This is a scam

Fraudsters have been trying for several years to impersonate government agencies or Crown corporations to steal your personal information. In this case, the bait is an amount of money supposedly owed to you by the Société de l'assurance automobile du Québec (SAAQ), but the creativity of these scammers knows no bounds. Canada Revenue Agency, Hydro-Québec, Régie de l'assurance maladie du Québec (RAMQ): all means are good to extract money from you.

Until recently, the general rule was that the government and government agencies never communicate by text message. It was enough to ignore any supposed government communication by text message. This is still true... with one exception.

Revenu Québec has recently started offering notifications regarding citizens' files by text message. However, these text messages never contain links or personal information: they simply alert you to changes in your file. In addition, only people who consent to receive these text messages in their tax return will receive them.

Keep in mind that fraudsters often bounce off the latest news to make their scams seem more credible, and always be wary of text messages that direct you to sites asking for personal information such as your credit card number or password.

This is a scam

Although Microsoft's visual signature is well reproduced, several red flags can be detected.

First, email providers or employers generally do not send messages to encourage you to keep the same password. Several phishing attempts use this strategy, which serves to collect your personal information and password.

Otherwise, always remember to validate the sender's email address by doing a quick search. In this case, it is 'account-security-noreply@m365-microsoft.com', which seems perfectly legitimate at first glance, but the domain 'm365-microsoft.com' does not belong to Microsoft: the official website is actually microsoft.com.

It is theoretically possible for a malicious actor to falsify an email domain, but major email providers (Gmail, Outlook) employ security protocols that should automatically block this type of message.

However, these security measures are not infallible as malicious actors are constantly trying to develop techniques to circumvent them. Vigilance therefore remains essential: do not click on links or attachments from unverified sources and beware of emails that direct you to sites asking for personal information such as your credit card number or password.

This may be a scam (unless your first name is Éric)

And even if your name is Éric, beware of messages from an unknown sender: several scams have as their starting point a random text message, supposedly sent to the wrong person by mistake, like this one. The goal of scammers is to gain your trust and then extract money from you.

The authors of this type of scam, nicknamed 'pig butchering', use all means to gain the victim's trust: fake social media profiles, sending photos, sending voice messages... They will try to befriend you or become your lover to better manipulate and rob you.

The ultimate goal is often to directly ask for sums of money, or to enlist the victim in an investment scam.

This is a scam

This is a very common scam on sales platforms like Kijiji or Facebook Marketplace. The seller is put at ease because the proposal involves money being handed over in person, but this is only the first step of the scam. If you accept the offer, the scammer will send you a message like this:

English translation:
Could I get your name, address and email? UPS needs it for the insurance. It costs $150 but I’ll add this amount to the total in the envelope the delivery person is bringing you so that it costs you nothing.

The amount and means of collection may vary (prepaid credit card, Interac e-transfer, etc.), but the scheme is always the same: convince you to pay 'insurance fees' and steal your money without a delivery person picking up the package from your home.

The scammer will sometimes ask for a direct transfer, but usually, they will use a fake email with the delivery service's branding.

Always be wary of buyers offering any purchase method that is not an exchange of the item and cash in hand. Scams based on Interac e-transfers are rare, but it is possible that someone uses a hacked account to send you funds and the transaction is then cancelled by the bank.

This is a scam

This technical support scam has been circulating for several years and can take several forms, including the famous blue screen error on Windows computers. It usually appears as a pop-up window.

In any case, fraudsters want you to call the number on the screen, with the aim of performing one or more malicious acts: remote control of your computer, costly subscriptions, installation of spyware...

Don't worry and especially don't call the number that appears on the screen. It is possible that the malicious website does not want to close or disappear. In such a case, right-click on your Start menu, click on Task Manager and end the task that does not correspond to your open software.

This scam can also take the form of an unsolicited call from someone claiming to be a Microsoft representative.

Keep in mind that Microsoft 'does not send unsolicited emails or make unsolicited phone calls asking for personal or financial information, or to provide technical support to fix your computer,' according to its website.