I blogged about Nigerian letter scams about 2 years ago. At the time, I wondered whether it was worth posting such a story as I thought everyone, or at least most Canadians, were already aware of these types of scams and that few of us would continue to fall prey.

Wonders never cease to amaze!

We could sit back and wonder in amazement at how "those people" being touched by these crimes are not using their noodle but in an economic downturn, these stats are not that surprising.

With less certainty in the market, those seeking to make a profit can become desperate and often resort to either breaking the rules, or operating within a grey area between right and wrong. This has become a popular news topic as the economy in the US and that in Canada have suffered a departure from the climb we have seen for many years.

As unemployment rates climb and we hear of our friends who have lost jobs, we hear of those genuinely trying to help those in need. As genuine as the intent to help is, the recipient is not always an honest individual.

Canadians keep falling for Nigerian letter scam, experts say recession a factor
The Canadian Press - Saturday, July 4, 2009 11:24am

Fraud artists are finding it easier amid a battered economy to entrap marks with dubious offers once easily dismissed as scams, and are snaring a growing number of victims to the tune of millions of dollars a month, experts say.

The Competition Bureau is warning that recessions are "boom times for scammers" and predicts desperate Canadians will fall into traps offering easy cash online, by phone and mail.

Statistics provided by Phonebusters - the Canadian anti-fraud call centre run by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the Competition Bureau and Ontario Provincial Police - show Canadians are increasingly falling prey to scams of all types.

"Fraud does tend to increase in economic downturns," said Ian Nielsen-Jones, the Competition Bureau's assistant deputy commissioner.
Vulnerable people sometimes lower their defences and make bad decisions as times get tough, while others on the borderline of lawful society turn to crime, Nielsen-Jones said.

Scams involving promises of employment are on the rise, while other ploys that had virtually disappeared because the public had gotten wise to the ruse are now making a comeback, he added. [...]

Continue to the rest of the Canadian Press article.

Technorati Tags: Canada Counterfeit Fraud Prevention Identity Theft

I often think about what it would be like to leave the house with one card; the simplicity that one card would seem to offer. It could hold all my personal data in secure format, I could travel with it, use it to prove I was licensed to drive, even pay my bills with it.

With the advent of the iPhone and similar smartphone devices, we have seen the incorporation of a music player, a media storage device, a GPS, an e-mail client, a phone and other features included in one single device. What has been proposed for some time and what is now closer than ever to being implemented is a smartphone that would also offer payment capabilities. That is, it would serve as a payment card possibly containing a chip or RFID that would allow you to waive your phone past a reader at your local store.

With all the convenience this offers, the bundling of services all containing personal pieces of data presents new opportunities for security enhancements.

There's a delicate balance of spending ease vs. security to ensuring fraud prevention in these new devices. They have encouraged debate on privacy concerns in regards to monitoring spending patterns.

Check out the article below for more info.

Paying with the wave of a cellphone
thegGlobeandMail.com - Thursday, June 25, 2009 05:09AM EDT

It was late March when a crowd of Bay Street types gathered at a luncheon in Toronto to hear a rare public speech by Visa Canada chief executive Tim Wilson.

From behind the podium, Mr. Wilson pulled his wallet out of his pocket and waved it in the air.

"We hope that one day this ... will become this," he said, putting the wallet down and flashing his BlackBerry in his other hand.

That day is closer than most Canadians realize.[...]
Continue to the rest of the Globe and Mail article.

Technorati Tags: Communications Fraud Prevention

Follow FraudBlog.net on Twitter!

What's better than learning the how's and why's of fraud?

Why finding out about the newest and latest fraud trends as they happen, of course!

Keep on top of fraud trends, informative blogs and the best and most current info I can offer!

Check us out on Twitter!