Beware of Scammers

Scamming is hurting Canadians. Scamming is a lucrative business conducted by greedy firms and fraudulent individuals. But what is scamming and how it is conducted? According to one definition, “A scam is a deceptive scheme or trick used to cheat someone out of something, especially money. A person who commits fraud or participates in a dishonest scheme.”

Picture by New York Post
Picture by New York Post

Scamming is not confined to one thing but comes in various forms. It ranges from rental services to money transfers to loan payments to love issues. Scammers are adept at their particular fields, and they know what they want. They also know how and when to strike their potential victims.

They promise cheap services and true and everlasting love or they threaten that you go to jail if you do not pay owing money.  The scammers have the skill and expertise to lure their potential victims. So beware of them and keep your distance.

The scammers alternate between persuasive and threatening tones and methods.  At times, they persuade you, and they threaten you at other times. They know what works for them. Driven by greed and gutlessness, they maximize their efforts to get their goals. So beware of them.

They offer you cheap rental services and swindle money from you if you do not take precautions. They promise something too good to be true. For instance, they present you with a rental service that is below the market price. But when you ask for a meet-up, they decline to meet with you because of many excuses. This is a red flag hinting at the falsehood of their statements and available units.

Instead of coming to a meeting, they ask you to deposit an apartment’s damage deposit into an account number. Do not do that. Stay away from the scam.

Some scammers portray themselves as individuals in search of love. They target lonely, middle-aged Canadian women.  They say they love the women and would like to share a life with them, and do whatever it takes to make them trust such a   dubious romantic relationship. Eventually, the scammers strike when the time is ripe.

Canadian women in their fifties and sixties tell all kinds of horrendous stories about how they have been defrauded of huge amounts of money. “An Alberta widow says she lost over $800,000 in an online romance.” False romance is a profitable business and has already devastated the lives of many Canadian women.

The scammers also threaten you and scare you off to the point you capitulate. For example, they call you and pretend they are calling from a Canadian agency responsible for a certain service. They may claim they are from Canada Revenue Agency and tell you to pay an amount of money you owe to the system, or else they take you to prison. They ask for vital personal information. Do not give them. Do not believe them. They are lethal scammers. Stay away from them.

Scammers from many regions of the world are bent on stealing money from unwary individuals. And Canadians have had their share of the fraudulent trick. Be careful and do not fall prey to the scammers and their sordid business