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Anti-fraud Centre, police thwart $212K fraudulant transfer

The United States Secret Service was also involved with the investigation. Police report that the business is in a good position to recover the money
MidlandToday Staff
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NEWS RELEASE
ONTARIO PROVINCIAL POLICE
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Members of the Southern Georgian Bay Detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) and the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC) are continuing to raise the awareness for North Simcoe residents of the various scams that they may encounter on the telephone or online. In this case an investigative success story!

This bulletin was prepared to share a success story with the public. On May 4, 2023 the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre and the United States Secret Service (USSS) along with a financial institution were able to freeze a $212,000 fraudulent transfer. The CAFC assisted victims in recovering $2.9M in 2022. The funds were frozen after a business reported to the CAFC that they were a victim of a Spear Phishing incident.

As a result, the business is well positioned to recover their funds. This success story illustrates one of the benefits of reporting to the CAFC as quickly as possible when targeted by fraud.

Spear Phishing is one of the most common and most dangerous attack methods currently used to conduct fraud, usually on businesses and organizations. Fraudsters take their time to collect information on their intended targets, so they can send convincing emails seemingly from a trusted source. Fraudsters will infiltrate or spoof a business or individual email account. They create a rule to send copies of incoming emails forwarded to one of their own accounts. They comb through these emails to:

  • study the sender's use of language
  • look for patterns linked to important contacts, payments, and dates

How to protect yourself

  • Remain current on frauds targeting businesses and educate all employees.
  • Include fraud training as part of new employee onboarding.
  • Put in place detailed payment procedures.
  • Encourage a verification step for unusual requests.
  • Establish fraud identifying, managing and reporting procedures.
  • Avoid opening unsolicited emails or clicking on suspicious links or attachments.
  • Take a few seconds to hover over an email address or link and confirm that they are correct.
  • Restrict the amount of information shared publicly and show caution with regards to social media.
  • Upgrade and update technical security software.
  • Learn more tips and tricks for protecting yourself from fraud.

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