Don’t Get Scammed Online

Hey everyone – we recently received this important online security update and felt we needed to share.

The Canadian Anti Fraud Center warns that scammers are posing as businesses or known community sellers to scam people with fake online sales. So, if you see someone on Facebook claiming to be “BestBuy Wholesale” selling PS5’s for $500 it’s probably not real. It’s common for scammers to setup fake accounts trying to pass themselves off as legitimate companies or people.

We’re all aware of sketchy texts asking us to pay our taxes or offering rebates. We all know those are fake. In this case however, most people never suspect anything because YOU approach THEM asking to buy an item.

For YOUR protection:

Here are some great tips you can use to protect yourself. They apply to most online transactions:

  • Never send e-transfers or payment without confirming the transaction is legitimate.
    • Contact the company through official channels like their website, phone # or verified social media.
  • Check that email addresses are spelled correctly and match information publicly posted for that company.
    • Watch for ‘knockoff’ addresses like “[email protected]”.
    • Watch for clever mis-spellings using substitute letters like a 0 (zero) for an O (letter O) to spoof email addresses.
  • Ask yourself if the transaction makes sense:
    • Would the company actually sell the product on Kijiji, Craigslist, Facebook etc?
    • Is the price (or product availability) too good to be true?
    • If the company has an e-commerce website why are they selling elsewhere?
  • Don’t trust links embedded in emails – verify them yourself.

Here are some additional articles to help keep you safe:

Kamloops This Week: Don’t Get Caught In A Fishing Scam