Fraud prevention month series

Toronto Police Service News Release

#Fraudchat: Fraud prevention month series

Thursday, March 6, 2014 - 10:46 AM
Financial Crimes:  416-808-7300

In recognition of Fraud Prevention Month, #Fraudchat is running a four-week series on how to recognize, report and avoid fraud and scams, featuring various guest experts. These chats will cover the following topics:

- March 6: How and why people fall for scams, featuring Ellen Roseman, personal finance columnist, Toronto Star

- March 13: How to spot a scammer, featuring Dave Bellamy, Superintendent and Officer in Charge, GTA Financial Crime, RCMP

- March 20: What to do if you're a victim of fraud, featuring Jessica Gunson, Crime Analyst, Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, and Dave Bellamy, Superintendent and Officer in Charge, GTA Financial Crime, RCMP

- March 27: What's in your fraud prevention toolbox, featuring Rob Cairns, Web Designer, Social Media Consultant and Internet Security Specialist, RobertBcairns.com.

This Fraud Prevention Month series kicks off at 9 p.m. EST this evening with a chat on how and why people fall for scams. The guest expert for this chat is Ellen Roseman, personal finance columnist for the Toronto Star and author of "Fight Back: 81 Ways to Help You Save Money and Protect Yourself from Corporate Trickery." You can follow Ellen on Twitter at @ellenroseman.

To follow #fraudchat, members of the public simply need to log on to Twitter from 9 p.m. to 10 p.m. EST on Thursday nights and follow the #Fraudchat hashtag. An application such as Tweetdeck, which allows users to separately view tweets containing this hashtag, is also helpful in following the chat.

About #Fraudchat

#Fraudchat is a weekly Twitter chat that takes place every Thursday from 9 p.m. to 10 p.m. EST on Twitter. Launched in November 2012, this program seeks to educate and exchange ideas with the public about financial crimes and fraud. The moderators for this program are Kristen Rose, Senior Communications Officer at the Financial Services Commission of Ontario, and Detective Sergeant Cameron Field of TPS Financial Crimes.

Since November 2012, TPS Financial Crimes has partnered with the Financial Service Commission of Ontario to educate the public about financial crimes and fraud through the use of social media.

For more information about #fraudchat, please contact TPS Financial Crimes at 416-808-7300 or Kristen Rose, Senior Communications Officer at the Financial Services Commission of Ontario at 416-226-7803.

Constable David Hopkinson, Corporate Communications, for Staff Inspector Mary Lee Metcalfe, Financial Crimes