Last year more than 350 scams or frauds were reported to Fredericton police and while the numbers sound high, Const. Alan Irvine believes they’re just the tip of the iceberg.
“The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre put out statistics saying that they believe only five to 10 per cent of people who fall victims to these types of frauds, whether it’s grandparent, IP address, etcetera, are actually making the report,” said Irvine.
“We’re probably only investigating a small segment of folks who are affected by this.”
There are several ongoing scams impacting New Brunswickers, one of which targets the social media accounts of users.
Kim Wilmot found the Instagram account for her business, Curryville House, a guest cottage on Albert Mines Road south of Moncton, taken over by a group of scammers who appeared to be working out of Nigeria.
They took over her Instagram after she clicked a link from someone posing as an acquaintance and then had her account taken away from her.
The scammers then implemented two-factor authentication with their own email and phone numbers, something Wilmot had previously neglected to do.
“When I was attempting to get back in my account through Instagram, they were sending a code — not to my email and phone number — but to the hackers,” said Wilmot.
While Wilmot got her account back within 72 hours, she said the downtime hurt her business because she was unable to seek promotion for an award she was nominated for.
“I can’t very well now go and pressure my followers to vote for me when hackers just all sent them all messages to, you know, vote for me for this bogus thing,” said Wilmot.
The scammers sent out a bogus text that said, ‘Hey, sorry to bother you. I’m contesting for an ambassador spot at an online influencer program. Can you please vote for me?'”
Wilmot said it was a “huge loss’ for her, having spent so much time building up followers of her business.
Missing goods
While Melanie Wood didn’t find herself the victim of a scam, she was confronted by a victim.
A man came to her house looking to pick up a washer and dryer set she posted on Facebook Marketplace and said he had already paid her a $30 deposit.
The only problem? Wood was not selling a washer or dryer and had not sought or received any money from the man.
She “100 per cent did not have that washer and dryer,” she said.
“Ours is apartment-size … and this was a brand new, very expensive washer and dryer, higher end,” Wood said.
While the address on the listing pointed to Wood’s home, the picture on the profile was obviously not her, and it had a U.S. flag in the background.
It didn’t take long for the man to realize he’d been had.
“He wasn’t upset with me but I could tell he was getting upset about the situation and, you know, felt embarrassed,” said Wood.
Irvine said police have received plenty of reports about these kinds of things and also adjacent scams, like those where people ask for rental deposit.
“They’re able to convince the buyer or renter that they require a down payment or a partial payment on whatever it is that they’re looking to buy or rent, but that item or rental doesn’t actually exist,” said Irvine.
Other scams
Several other scams are making their way through the province.
One of the more widespread is colloquially known as the grandparents scam, although victims aren’t limited to the elderly.
The way the scam goes is a call is made from someone claiming to be a loved one or close friend in trouble, often with the law, and needs money now.
These kind of scams work on someone’s good nature according to Irvine.
“These people are praying on the goodwill of others and they’re taking advantage of people’s trust and their kindness,” said Irvine, who said scammers generally get away with about $5,000.
Tips and tricks
David Shipley, who runs Beauceron Security, based in Fredericton, said these scams often aren’t about doing damage to the business owner, but to the owner’s clients.
“Now [they’re] going to send, ‘Hey, you, your reservation has been cancelled. You need to do this,’ and then they get access to their accounts,” said Shipley.
While scammers are active, Shipley said there are a couple easy things to do to make it more difficult for them.
One is to not use the same password for multiple accounts and this doesn’t just mean changing one or two characters, but having long complex passwords for everything.
He said the best way to accomplish this is by having a password manager.
Another is to keep software and operating systems updated and doing so as quickly as possible.
“Update your stuff as soon as possible. Don’t be the one that’s left to be fed on by the digital sharks.”
Information Morning – Fredericton13:44Scam series: Instagram and Facebook hacked
Hey, you’ve been hacked. That’s frustratingly common on social media. We hear how a woman in Albert County worked quickly to kick the hackers out and gain control of her Instagram account. Jeanne Armstrong spoke to Kim Wilmot.
Information Morning – Fredericton13:34Scam series: Warning signs
Fredericton police say they’re seeing a rise in grifts and cons and want more people to know the warning signs. Jeanne Armstrong spoke to Const. Alan Irvine about the reports they’re getting.
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