Cpl. Kathe DeHeer of the Red Deer RCMP gave a presentation Wednesday night on the rising threat of cyber-crime in Alberta, which has a 42 per cent higher rate of fraud than the Canadian average.
DeHeer said a 2008 Government of Canada study showed Canadians lost $450 million in mass-marketing frauds and scams, with the average loss-per-victim being $557.
The scams often target victims through e-mail and social networking sites, such as Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter; and just like predators who use the sites to target children, the cyber-fraudsters often claim to be someone they’re not.
“It’s not just kids, many adults are falling victim to online crime,” DeHeer said. “I’ve seen cases where people in their fifties and sixties have sent hundreds of thousands of dollars overseas to someone they’ve never met, but claimed to have fallen in love with.”
DeHeer said victims of online fraud often don’t report the crime to local police out of embarrassment, which makes it harder for law enforcement to understand the size of the problem.
“Without accurate numbers on these crimes, we can’t allocate the proper resources to fight the fraudsters,” DeHeer said.
As reported property crimes have decreased in Alberta over the past few years, online and personal fraud levels have risen.
DeHeer attributes this to criminals seeing cyber-crime as a low-risk way to steal.
“Drug addicts used to have to break into homes or vehicles to find money, but now the statistics are showing that fraud is taking over as their chosen method of theft,” DeHeer said.
Identity fraud should be another big concern for anyone using social networking sites, the Mountie said.
Facebook, for example, has many privacy settings, but users are unaware they are switched off by default.
DeHeer also said users should refrain from posting their birth date, e-mail address, cell number, or home address anywhere online because it puts the user at a greater risk for identity fraud.
DeHeer said informational campaigns like the RCMP’s Fraud Prevention Month are a good way to equip the public with the knowledge needed to avoid being victimized by online fraud, but everyone needs to exercise a little common sense as well. “The only thing you can rely on is yourself, and I know it’s cliche, but if it sounds too good to be true, it is.”
syoung@www.reddeeradvocate.com