Protect yourself against fraud

• Phishing
  In this scam, fraudsters “fish” for your personal information by sending out mass e-mails that appear to be from a reputable company. Within the e-mail you may be encouraged to click a link to a fraudulent page that’s designed to either capture your personal information or to download unauthorized software onto your computer. An odd greeting in the subject line, spelling or grammar errors and an urgent tone (“you must act now!”) are hallmarks of the e-mail phishing scam. These messages are crafted to sound believable. For more information on phishing, click visit www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/scams/canadian_practical_guide_e.htm#phishing
• Smishing
  Also known as SMS phishing, this scam uses the text messaging technology of cellphones. The cellphone user will receive a text message that contains a hyperlink. If the user follows the link he or she will download a virus or worm. For more information on smishing, visit www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/scams/canadian_practical_guide_e.htm#smishing
• Vishing
  This is a relatively new scam that uses VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) technology to trick individuals into betraying their personal and financial information over the telephone. Typically, the individual will receive an urgent message that claims to be from a legitimate institution. When the victim calls the number, the individual is instructed to enter his/her personal numerical information on the telephone keypad in order to verify his or her identity. In this scam, the victim’s caller ID is often manipulated to look as though the scam artist has called from a bank or other legitimate institution, and the message is crafted to sound believable. For more information on vishing, visit www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/scams/canadian_practical_guide_e.htm#vishing
• Prize pitches
  You may come in contact with a prize pitch scam by e-mail, telephone or mail. This scam is usually couched in the form of a prize notification. You will be led to believe that you must pay a series of bogus taxes and fees in order to receive or collect the prize.
  
  A variation of this scam is the recovery pitch. If you have been a victim of a prize pitch scheme, you may receive an e-mail or a call from someone promising you that they can recover your prize or money for a small cost. The caller may pose as a police officer, government revenue employee, customs agent or legitimate Vancouver 2010 employee.
  
  If you are sent an e-mail or similar mailing which states you have won an "Olympic" lottery or anything similar, this will be a scam.
  
  As a general rule, if you have not entered a contest, you won't have won a prize and you should treat the e-mail with extreme caution. Furthermore, you’re not required to pay taxes or fees in order to receive a prize from a legitimate contest or lottery in Canada.

• Be suspicious of any email with urgent requests for personal financial information. 
• Never click on the link in the email to go to a web page. Type in the web address by hand into your web browser.
• If you are in any doubt about a possible phishing attack, contact the company that the email claims to be from at a number you already have (do not use any numbers given in the email).
• Never disclose personal information in response to an unsolicited email or over the phone

• Install anti-virus software on your computer
  When you connect to the Internet, your computer is exposed to the risk of infection from viruses. Viruses can attack via websites, e-mail attachments or by spreading from computer to computer.
• Use a firewall on your computer
  A firewall is a program that blocks unwanted traffic between your computer and the Internet. It’s designed to stop incoming viruses from attacking your computer and to block unauthorized programmes on your computer from accessing other machines over the Internet.
• Block spyware on your computer
  Spyware is a general term for hidden programs on your computer that invade your privacy. They gather data about you and send it over the Internet without your permission. Spyware can hijack your web browser and display unwanted pop-up advertising on your computer. There are several free anti-spyware programs available that you can find using your search engine of choice.

• CA www.ca.com
• Symantec www.symantec.com
• McAfee www.mcafeestore.com
• Sophos www.sophos.com

• www.trendmicro.com/vinfo/default.asp
• www.symantec.com/avcenter/global/vinfodb.html
• www.mcafee.com/us/security/home.asp

• Reporting Economic Fraud Online (RECOL): recol.ca
• Phone Busters – The Canadian Anti-fraud Call Centre: phonebusters.com