Fraud Prevention Month
takes place every March and is an annual education and awareness campaign
encouraging Canadians to recognize, reject and report fraud. As information
becomes more widely available online, it’s important for Canadians to protect
themselves and their finances against potential fraud.
Capital One Canada
released a study for Fraud Prevention Month that found, while some consumers
are taking the steps to protect themselves from fraud, there is still much more
that can be done.
According to the Capital One Canada study,
younger generations are more open with sensitive information.
A quarter of Canadian millennials (25%) have shared their PIN with a friend,
more than double the rate of average Canadians (11%). One in ten Canadian
millennials have also shared their PIN with a co-worker (9%) and use personal
information such as a birthday, address, or phone number as their PIN (10%),
leaving them at higher risk of fraud.
When it comes to
identity theft protection, a large majority (87%) of Canadians are not
reviewing their credit report every year, which could help them uncover
potential fraudulent use of their personal information. Online, 40% of
Canadians suspect they have been a target of phishing in the last year alone.
For credit card and
PIN number protection, almost half of Canadians (49%) use the same PIN for
multiple cards, opening them up to potential account takeovers. Many Canadians
(47%) have also shared their credit card number over the phone, via email or
through the mail, which again leaves them open to potential fraud. Finally,
while most are protecting their PIN, 40% of Canadians have shared their PIN
with family members.
Consumers are the
first line of defense when it comes to protecting themselves against fraud. Capital One Canada's research shows that many Canadians - millennials in particular - aren’t doing
enough to protecting themselves.
Capital One Canada
offers the following tips to help consumers protect themselves from fraud:
1. Protect your personal information.
Whether it’s over the phone, through the mail or on the Internet, always
know who you are sharing your personal information with.
2. Select a strong PIN and protect it.
Never use personal information such as a birthday, address, SIN number
or telephone number as your PIN, and use a different PIN for each card. Cover
the keypad when you enter your PIN, and never store a copy of your PIN near
your card or share it with anyone.
3. Review and take advantage of the features your card offers.
Many credit cards have fraud detection features, like two-way fraud
alerts, that require users to opt-in. If these options are available to you,
take advantage of them.
4. Get a copy of your Credit Report.
Reviewing your credit report can alert you to possible fraud and
identity theft. Canadians can order a free copy of their credit report once per
year, from one of the credit reporting agencies in Canada by visiting their
website.
5. Watch out for Phishing E-mails.
Fraudsters frequently use email to find victims, if it seems too good to
be true, it probably is. Keep your eyes open for grammatical or spelling
errors, emails that demand an urgent response, and hover over any embedded links
to confirm the website is legitimate. If you have any concerns, contact the
company that it claims to be from to verify the email.
Visit capitalone.ca/fraudprevention to learn more about preventing fraud.
I liked your webpage as it tells in detail about what is grand larceny in Canada.
ReplyDelete