NEWS FOR NEWCOMERS
Frauds newcomers should watch out for
Image credit: MATTHEW HENRY from Burst.
Investigators from the Peel Regional Police Fraud Bureau would like to warn the public of the ongoing and common fraud schemes affecting communities on a regular basis.
The following themes continue to be utilized by fraud offenders and are aimed at the general public on a persistent and impactful basis:
Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) scam/police or bank employee scam/emergency scam. This type of scam involves the suspect calling a victim and pretending to be the CRA or the police warning of an arrest if payment is not received or, alternatively, a bank employee requesting assistance to solve an internal fraud or to “fix” an account problem. Another variation includes the caller pretending to be the lawyer of a relative of the victim who has caused a serious car accident and is subsequently in jail and requires bail money.
In these scenarios, the suspect directs the victim to deposit cash into a Bitcoin ABM or to purchase large amounts of gift cards and directs the victim to provide the numerical information on the card over the telephone.
Rental accommodation frauds. Members of the public in search of rental accommodation via buy-and-sell websites begin corresponding with unknown individuals posing as landlords. The “landlord” requests a deposit in order to “hold” the rental property and the victim complies by sending an Interac e-transfer as directed by the suspect. As it turns out, the purported rental property does not exist or was not for rent.
Company invoice/paycheque redirect. The victim company receives an email from an individual pretending to be a known customer or employee requesting that funds be paid to a new bank account in relation to an invoice or employee paycheque. The email address utilized by the suspect is slightly different than the authentic email address and this goes undetected by the victim company. In some instances, very large sums of money are sent to the “new”, but fraudulent bank account.
Employment scams. Members of the public utilizing online services to obtain employment engage in communication with a person they believe to be their new employer. The victim receives a cheque in the mail and is directed to deposit the cheque into their account and then send money via a Bitcoin ABM or to an account via Interac e-transfer. The victim is held accountable for the money sent to the unknown suspect when the bank determines that the initial cheque deposit was fraudulent.
Investigators would like to remind the public of the following:
• Never send Interac e-transfers prior to receiving a service, product or securing rental accommodation unless dealing with a reputable online service that provides a loss protection guarantee.
• Never deposit a cheque from an unknown source into your personal bank account and then transfer or cash the deposit.
• Never send money via a Bitcoin ABM if directed to do so by a company or person you don’t know or trust.
• Never send cash in the mail or by courier to any person or company you don’t know or trust.
To learn more, please visit the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre website at www.antifraudcentre.ca.
Canada is improving settlement services FOR NEWCOMERS
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) works with many partners in the delivery of services to newcomers to Canada, and supports their integration into Canadian communities.
IRCC is actively working to improve these settlement services through the Service Delivery Improvements (SDI) funding stream.
It provided funding of $1,690,940 to Kids Help Phone to help address the well-being and mental health of newcomer youth through free culturally responsive, immediate mental health services 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.
Counsellors received cultural competency training and interpretation services were available in the most in-demand language as part of the six-month trial. The project aimed to reduce barriers to health services, improve mental health outcomes and increase responsiveness to the needs of newcomers. The project also referred newcomer youth to trusted language and job training services to help them in their integration journey.
IRCC’s Service Delivery Improvement Fund is a dedicated funding stream of over $30 million per year, devoted to service delivery improvement, innovation and experimentation to continue to find better ways to deliver services to newcomers, meet the needs of newcomer clients and support the integration process.
There are seven funding streams under the SDI: language acquisition; employment; youth supports; harnessing volunteers and supporting capacity building in the settlement sector; pay for performance; newcomer well-being and programming to support vulnerable clients; and research and analysis to drive innovation and understand the user experience.