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Saskatoon Police Service shining a light on fraud throughout March

Click to play video: 'Fraud prevention month with Anthony Nadon'
Fraud prevention month with Anthony Nadon
WATCH ABOVE: Saskatoon police on Fraud Prevention Month – Mar 4, 2020

The Saskatoon Police Service (SPS) is shining a light on fraud this month.

As part of Fraud Prevention Month, Det. Staff Sgt. Tony Nadon with the SPS economic crimes section highlighted some common scams that he thinks people in Saskatoon should be aware of.

He added seniors are typically targeted by fraudsters.

“Seniors have to be aware of some of the scams that are going on out there and the first one is a romance scam,” Nadon said on Wednesday.

“These fraudsters will befriend some seniors and have a quick relationship with them and they’ll want to meet up with them but they won’t be able to because they [say they] need money to get to the location… and by the time that the victims’ figured it out, they’ve lost a fair amount of money.
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“Fraudsters, they’re definitely unbiased and they go after the vulnerable.”

Click to play video: 'Saskatoon police continue investigation into city fraud case'
Saskatoon police continue investigation into city fraud case

Another group that’s targeted frequently is newcomers with immigration scams, according to Nadon.

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“Again, these are vulnerable individuals. They don’t know our system,” he said.

“These fraudsters will call and say that they’re some sort of government official from the [Canadian Revenue Agency], the RCMP, [SPS] and that an audit’s been done and you owe money and people will buy into this and then send money or gift cards to these individuals.”
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Nadon had the following advice for people to tell if someone thinks they are being taken advantage of by a scammer.

“Truly, if it sounds really good, it’s probably not true… ensure that those red flags are going up,” he said.

Over the course of Fraud Prevention Month, SPS said it will continue highlighting this criminal activity that it said resulted in Canadians losing $98 million in 2019.

In addition to stories on social media, police are also offering people an opportunity to drop off personal documents all March at a safe location to be shredded. Three locked bins are set up at the SPS headquarters’ lobby.

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