How to report email scams
Don’t know whether an email is real or a scam? Want to report all those annoying emails scams being sent to you? Here’s how.
If email scams and fraud didn’t exist, I would be one of the richest people on earth after helping all those poor souls overseas transfer their dead relative’s money into a bank account over here so their government wouldn’t take it and after receiving the millions and billions from all the lottos I won (thanks to how lucky and fortunate I was at having my email selected from a random generator). Indeed, I would be a billion…heck, trillionaire but, perhaps, not the richest person on earth, as I’m sure nearly every single Sync reader would be just as wealthy as I.
It’s not just the email scams that seem way obvious that they’re a hoax that float into your inbox. Some email scams, or phishing attempts, are a little more tricky to spot, such as the convincingly legit newsletter from Rogers which Marc blogged about a couple days ago, or the Oscar-related phishing threats Simon warned us about yesterday.
So, what can you do about it? Whether you’re unsure about the authenticity of an email, or you want to report a fraudulent email scam, the Canadian Government Competition Bureau provides you with a list of organizations you can contact to enquire about and report fraudulent scams:
- Competition Bureau
http://www.competitionbureau.gc.ca/
1–800–348–5358 - Canadian Anti–Fraud Centre (formerly Phonebusters)
http://www.antifraudcentre.ca/
1–888–495–8501 - Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP)
http://www.recol.ca/ - Better Business Bureau
http://www.bbb.org/canada/ - Canada Revenue Agency – Charities Directorate
http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/
1–800–267–2384
The site also offers tips on how to recognize and protect yourself from such scams. You can check it out here.
As far as scams and Phishing e-mails are concerned– in my case, I won’t open an e-mail, unless I recognize the sender. If I am sure it is legitimate, then (and only then), do I open it. I may have missed some real messages, but so far, have not been a victim of a scam!!
See my comment below yours.
Just few days ago, I received an e-mail from the legitimate known address of one of my friends stating that he travelled to London, UK suddenly on business and his wallet was stolen with his credit cards and is asking for help by transferring money to his address at Western Union and that he would refund it to me on his return. It was obviously a phishing scheme as he was still here in Canada. Following the above advice of not opening e-mails except from known addresses would not have shown me this scheme. My friend, whom I and many others contacted him by phone, knew then about it and took the proper action by contacting Yahoo phone number and they changed his password so the fraudster cannot use his e-mail again and he is back to normal.
But the real lesson was that he replied to an e-mail asking to check on his e-mail that was “compromised” and he replied stating his correct password. Then whoever sent him the e-mail changed his passsword,so he could not access it, and they only receive his e-mails, and sent to all addresses in his address book.
The real lesson would be NEVER REPLY TO ANY E-MAIL ASKING FOR YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION SPECIALLY YOUR PASSWORDS.
If I may add to the comments above: I had a similar email from an aquaintance. It said she had to go to England for a funeral and needed money. It sounded quite sincere, however I knew my friend was in Cuba with her husband at the time. I played along and told her I would be happy to help out. A few back and forth emails and I had an address to send the money to. At this point the local police were contacted. They said to contact Canadian Anti-Fraud (phone busters). And that’s as far as it went. No one seemed the slightest bit interested in dealing with it. With an address, a possible sting operation could have been set up, but no. Dropped like a lead balloon. Also, I did contact hotmail (the mail provider my friend uses) and informed them that my friend was in Cuba and would have no idea what was going on. She had not access to a computer and I had no idea where she was staying. I wanted hotmail to, at least, disable the account until they got back from vacation. I knew she had quite a few friends that would be in her address book and did not want anyone to fall for the scam. Hotmail were not helpful in the least. They would do nothing because I wasn’t the holder of the account. I wasn’t asking for access to anything, just for them to disable it for the week.
Thankfull my serve Sympatico,does have great anti-virus and antispam software, and most of the scams and phishing are relegated to the Junk bin.I just look through for ligitimate senders who get tossed there because of not being entered as a contact yet.
we really should report them but that takes time and energy and looking through all these sites to find the appropriate one … it’s just easier to delete and block them… they occur so frequently.
No what you suggest is never useful. My experience is that these scammers CHANGE THEIR APPARENT SENDING E-MAIL ADDRESSES ALMOST DAILY! I get the same message few times exactly the same, but from different addresses.
My experience is that GMAIL is the most successful in catching them and I get a lot from “me”!!!! imagine sent from my own e-mail address! to others including myself but Gmail shows that as from “me” and they explained that this means it is a phised e-mail.
It’s amazing what lengths people will go to for money. I read read about thw new top ten scams of 2010 at http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2698673/top_10_online_scams_of_2010.html Very informative.
Common sense is in uncommon use. Why do more people not use Outlook or Outlook Express or another PC home/notebook)based software, where all e-mail can reside safely? Having on-line e-mail addresses might be convenient for people who travel, but why else. As one who does travel extensively, all contact information is on an encrypted Blackberry, and on an encrypted notebook when travelling and home. Encryption is easy to do, just never forget the pass phrase. One irresponsible act can cause many headaches, using BCC keeps everyone privacy a little more secure.
This all is all bunch bally hoo about nothing. I have addresses on every site there is. Sure I get plished and scammmers love me but it is so simple to spot. Delete delete block block. Anyone who ever fell for the Nigerian/Ghana Bank scam from the West Africans or the Russian Lover who is just 300$ short for her ticket to you, the big Microsoft lottery win, ot the BillGates will send you money scam to mine addresses for more more widely based scams????? Anyone who lost money this way deserved what they got because they are already not living in a real world if they believe any of this bally hoo crap.
Hi Eric,
While many of these Nigerian scams are quite obvious and silly, there are also many that are more subtle and don’t play on the person’s “greed”, but rather, on their sympathy (eg. widow dying of cancer asking you to receive her money and raise her kids). You or I may not fall for these types of things, but you would be surprised at how many people do while only meaning to do well.
I have seen virtually every type of Nigerian 419 scam, and some of them can be quite convincing to say the least. I remember getting scams right after the tsunami hit Thailand from a young fellow (fake identity) whose parents were killed and he needed someone to help him retrieve his fathers investments and help him along with his education. People’s emotions were high after that disaster, and many fell for this theme.
Go over to West Africa and you will find that many of their citizens live in absolute poverty while the more successful of the scammers are among the wealthier class in their societies. Their authorities turn a blind eye to it, as they are often in on the action. It’s not uncommon to see a police officer or two hanging around a Western Union or MoneyGram office and take their share of the “proceeds.”
It’s no wonder that more and more of their population turn to scamming. The internet cafes over there are full of them. And it’s not just restricted to West Africa. Places like Holland, England, Canada and the USA have hotbeds of this sort of activity too.
On a brighter note, there are people called “scambaiters” who fight back at them, however ( have been doing this for four years now). If anyone reading this would like an entertaining and enlightening read, go to http://www.419eater.com and browse through the various forums.
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