Scam Alert - Beware of This Canada Revenue Agency Letter

Scam Alert - Beware of This Canada Revenue Agency Letter

Canada Revenue Agency recently issued a warning asking taxpayers to beware of a scam letter asking Canadians for personal information. CRA has not sent any such letters asking for any personal information whatsoever. Be extremely careful when you receive this type of mail. Feel free to view the attached picture of this scam letter.

This letter claims that there is "insufficient information" for your tax return and you have to update your records to receive any claims. It does not stop here. There is an attached form asking to fax or email your personal information. This letter is not from CRA. You should be vigilant when anyone (even CRA) asking you to release personal information. If you ever receive any such letters asking personal information, call the institution to verify first. Visit CRA Web site for more info.

If you ever believe you have been a victim or someone has tried to scam you, here is what you can do:

- Call your local RCMP detachment or your Police Department

- Report your situation online through Reporting Economic Crime Online

- Visit PhoneBusters, send an email to info@phonebusters.com, or call 1-888-495-8501

Remember, common sense and vigilance are your best defence.

More ATM Tips To Protect Yourself From ATM Scams

How To Protect Yourself From ATM Scams

Ever since I wrote Beware of No Name ATMs, this article has become very popular and I have been contemplating writing on this subject more. Today, I will discuss some more tips you can use to protect yourself from con artists – whether you are in a low-crime country like Canada or travelling in a high-crime foreign country.

Be Always on Alert

While using an ATM machine, always use extra caution and be on alert. If someone bumps into you or tries to talk to you while you are in the middle of a transaction, you need to be careful. Scammers use various techniques to distract you and get away with your bank card – which might be still inside the ATM machine. Let’s look at these scenarios:

Scenario One – Someone Bumps Into You: Con Artist 1 bumps into you and leaves the spot right away. Con Artist 2 appears on the scene and tells you that Con Artist 1 got away with your bank card. Naturally, you will panic and try to pursue Con Artist 1 to recover your card. This is exactly what the Con Artists are hoping for. Your card is still in the machine and once you start chasing Con Artist 1, Con Artist 2 will withdraw all your money easily as you already inputted your password on the machine.

In the above situation, you should remain calm and take out your card from the machine first before chasing anyone. Whenever someone tries to distract you, make sure you have your bank card first before doing anything else.

Scenario Two – Your Card Gets Stuck Inside The ATM: If your card get stuck inside an ATM and a stranger walks up to help you, be very careful. This Con Artist may have tampered with the ATM to make your card get stuck and watched you with a video camera to get your pin. Once you leave the spot to make a phone call to your bank, the Con Artist will withdraw your money as the card is still inside the machine and your password is known to him/her.

Con Artists can play the same game a little differently. Once your card is trapped, a nice person shows up and tries to help you recover your card. He may even give you a few tips to get your card out while entering your PIN. Once you can’t get it out and leave the scene, he will withdraw your money as he has already seen you entering your password.

In a situation like the one above, never accept help from any strangers. Before using any ATM, always make sure the machine is not tampered with in any way. Look for any residue in the card slot, any unusual signs asking to use a different slot or asking you to re-enter your password several times, or anything that does not make sense. If your card gets stuck, try not to leave the machine and call from your cell phone to cancel your card. However, this may not always be possible. Use some common sense-let it be your guideline.

Here is a tip:

Save all the bank and credit card (those you carry) companies’ phone number on your cell phone. This is a very simple thing to do, but regrettably most of us never do it. If you have your bank card provider’s phone number on your cell phone, in the above example, you can just notify them without leaving the ATM machine.

Scammers Empty out Personal Finance Author’s Bank Account

Scam Alert – Beware of Bank/Credit Card Skimming at Gas Station

First Published: December 15, 2008 ADawnJournal.com

As you know, I always talk about how to protect yourself from various scams and ask you to be extremely cautious. This implies that I am a person who is always cautious when I am exposed to banking and online transactions; however, there are times when you are unable to protect yourself from these scams, regardless of how careful you are. My bank account was recently emptied out by scammers and I will tell you what happened with a screenshot of my bank transactions.

On November 19, 2008, I went to a Chapters Indigo bookstore and attempted to pay with my bank card at the checkout. Instantly, to my surprise, my bank card was declined. This was simply impossible to me, as I always have some cash and overdraft protection on my checking account. I called my bank right away and was told that there were four withdrawals of about $200 each on November 17. Once the bank’s system found out that it was a possible scam, my account was blocked to prevent any further withdrawals.

I did not have any access to my bank account for about seven days. In the meantime, my bank performed an investigation and returned the money that the scammers took from my account. I got a new bank card in the mail and my account was operational again.

I am posting a screen shot to show you how things went:

·   Nov 17 – I paid at a Petro Canada gas station with my bank card

·   Nov 17 – Someone somehow got a hold of my personal information and withdrew money four times. Notice these amounts scammers withdrew. A regular bank machine in Canada lets you withdraw amounts in multiples of $20 such as $20, $40, $60, etc. I am not sure how they possibly withdrew amounts like $201.50, $202, etc.

·   Nov 27 – Bank completed investigation and returned $812.50

Although my bank did not tell me if the hackers got my banking info from the Petro-Canada electronic terminal, I will never use a bank card or credit card at a gas station again. In turn, I would ask you to be extremely cautious using a bank or credit card, especially at a gas station.

Scammers Are Personalizing Emails

Scammers Emails

Internet scams are on the rise and it will get worse in coming years. I take Internet scams, or any kind of consumer fraud, seriously and always try to update my readers with new findings. Today, I am going to post an email I received in my Gmail inbox. I always get tons of these - but why this particular email is so important? Because the scammer did not send it just bluntly.  He took his time and did his research to find my email from a Press Release which I issued some time ago. Why would he do that? He is trying to sound real by making a personal connection (mentioning he read your press release). He is going that extra mile to intimidate you. The letter you will receive in your inbox may not look like the one I am posting. However, you will have an idea what these scam letters look like. Remember, common sense and vigilance are your best defense. Here is what I have received:

"frank williams" (frank002williams@gmail.com) has contacted you from your profile on biz.PRLog.Org.

frank williams said -
From:frank williams
Rue 2 plateaux les perles Abidjan,
Cote D' Ivoire.

My name is frank williams, 24 years from Sierra Leone. My father and I escaped from our country at the heat of the civil war after loosing my mother and two of my senior brothers in the war.
He was in Buake, a northern city to  negotiate for the purchase of a cocoa plantation when he was shot and killed by the rebel troupes fighting to take over the Government of the country on the 22nd September, 2002.

Before the unfortunate death, my late father had in his personal account with a bank here the sum of $18.4m. As a result of the present insecurity of lives and property in this country,
I need you also to assist me with a letter of invitation as come down and complete my education while you mind the investment.

I will give you 15% while 5% is made for expenses. E-mail: me frank002williams@gmail.comso that we can discuss further.
frank williams
First Published: Sep 12, 2008 ADawnJournal.com

Massive Equifax Data Breach & My 3 Hacked Credit Cards

Equifax Data Breach

In my last post, I talked about my CIBC AC Vonversion Visa Travel credit card that was hacked. Since then, there were 2 other credit cards that were compromised.

One of these two cards had one fraudulent charge and then their fraud detection system shut off the account. The other credit card had about 20 attempted fraudulent charges that were coming from all across the globe, but none of them was successful.

I was puzzled, as there was no connection between these three cards. I never had them together in my wallet or purchased online, one card had only one transaction 4 months ago and the other card had only 2-3 charges at an electronic store and groceries.

The connection became clear to me when Equifax declared that there was a huge data breach that affected 143 million customers. I have plausible reasons to believe that all my affected cards were scammed because of the Equifax breach; the time frame matches and it makes so much sense because that’s the only connection I can see linking these 3 cards together.

Credit card reporting companies like Equifax will never tell you the real story. They won’t tell you up to what level or exactly what sort of information from your files was leaked, or how many credit cards or clients were leaked. They are vague providing any information and I do not trust them with the information they are providing. Also, how can you trust someone who broke your trust in the first place by failing to protect your valuable information?

I have posted a video and in this video, I will discuss all this and will tell you what you should do because of this data breach. The link is here: Massive Equifax Data Breach & What To Do