March is Fraud Prevention Month.
“The Surrey Board of Trade reminds businesses, organizations, and residents to focus on fraud prevention,” said Anita Huberman, CEO, Surrey Board of Trade. “Especially during the pandemic with an increase in online transactions we must be vigilant in preventing cybercrime.”
Fraudsters are using increasingly sophisticated methods to target people of all ages. More and more of these schemes, especially during the pandemic, are being attributed to organized crime. The impact on individuals, families and businesses is devastating – retirement savings, homes, businesses and in some cases, lives have all been lost.
Information is needed to know how to keep our money and our personal information safe. Terms like ‘identity theft’, ‘debit card fraud’ and ‘phishing’ are scary. Many don’t know where to turn to get clear information about what these terms mean and how we can protect ourselves. The more we know about a fraud, the less likely we are to fall for it. Through awareness, we can avoid becoming victims.
The Surrey Board of Trade continues to advocate for cybercrime prevention action by asking the Federal Government to:
- Increase integration amongst governments and policing agencies on cybercrime to effectively punish cyber criminals
- Promote digital literacy by establishing best practices for cyber resilience, including education on more sophisticated and specialized crime
- Invest additional financial and skilled human resources to the national cyber-security centre set up by government, industry and policing agencies to help investigate and warn the public about new and emerging cyber-threats
For Fraud Prevention Month, the Surrey Board of Trade will be hosting a digital Business Fraud Forum on March 12 at 11:00 a.m. called: Protecting Your Business from Threats.
Speakers: Jeff Thomson, Senior RCMP Intelligence Analyst, Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre and Kaleigh Milinazzo, Associate, Fasken
Register at businessinsurrey.com
To report fraud: antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca
