Edmonton police share fraud prevention tips with seniors

With the rise of artificial intelligence, Edmonton police and RCMP are reminding the public people of any age can be impacted by fraudsters.

With grandparent scams and other fraudulent activity on the rise, Edmonton police hosted an information session Wednesday to educate seniors on what they can do to protect themselves.

“The biggest message we’d like to get across in terms of fraud prevention is to always be alert,” said RCMP Cpl. Sean Milne at the event. “Do your research, share with others.”

He said two of commonly used tricks used in fraud schemes are urgency: getting people to act before they think, and secrecy: trying to get people to not ask questions or ask people around them.

“Fraud continues to evolve, with scammers using increasingly sophisticated tactics to exploit people’s trust and financial security,” said Milne. “Fraud is a very life-altering crime in some instances where people get really in deep and start investing life savings or remortgaging houses.”

Wednesday’s event was part of fraud prevention month where police speak to people of all ages about how they can prevent being targeted.

“We would love to prevent a fraud rather than investigate one,” said Milne. “Defense is our best offense.”

Speakers at the event encouraged seniors to speak with their families and loved ones about potential scams.

“Don’t hesitate to ask somebody, ask family, ask friends, call police and ask us,” said Milne. “We’re happy to answer questions even if the crime hasn’t yet occurred.”

The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre estimates that only about 10 to 20 per cent of fraud gets reported, and the amount that is reported runs into billions of dollars.

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Dave Mitchell