Prospera, Hospice team up to protect seniors from online banking scams in Chilliwack

Christensen touts the benefits of online banking due to the ability to transfer funds between accounts, transmit e-transfers instantly, and check account balances and transactions for unusual activity. Consumers can protect themselves by employing two-step authentication, ensuring passwords are a mix of numbers and letters, deleting suspicious emails commonly known as “phishing”, and always using their financial institution’s official website.

Despite people’s best efforts to deter swindlers, fraud lingers pervasively throughout Canada. In only five months this year, the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre has recorded 37,284 incidents of fraud, of which there were 23,653 victims of fraud, totaling an estimated $207 million lost to fraud as of May 31.

In some potential cases of fraud, Christensen reports, seniors have been persuaded by what she calls “social engineers” to come to one of their two Chilliwack branches to withdraw funds to send money. Credit union staff have been trained to be on the lookout for these scams.

“The front-line [staff] at Prospera takes the time to get to know our members so it is pretty easy for us to discover when something feels off, and we make sure to take every step possible to protect our members,” she said. “We make sure they are not taken advantage of. We have been able to stop the social engineers in their tracks on numerous occasions.”

Scammers calling from overseas locations will indiscriminately target anyone that responds to an email or picks up the phone. But vulnerable people who might have suffered a loss can become an easy target for crooks eager for a dime at someone else’s expense.

“Many of our clients will all of a sudden find themselves having to take over the finances and pay bills after their loved one has died,” said Laurie McNaught, Community Outreach and Education manager for Chilliwack Hospice. “Many of these clients are nervous about fraud and other online dangers.”

Overseas tricksters might phone an unsuspecting senior saying they have won a contest, or sound frantic as they impersonate a loved one and ask for money or an online banking username and password.

“If a loved one texts you in this case, always call them,” Christensen said. “Banks will never contact you to ask for your personal information. Their (fraud artists) whole goal is to frighten you. Sadly, it does happen. Be leery. They can take advantage of you.”

by Mike Vanden Bosch

Prospera, Hospice team up to protect seniors from online banking scams in Chilliwack

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