Every year, the month of March is dedicated to fraud prevention. With scams and fraud on the rise, the need to detect, counter and report fraud is as relevant as ever. That’s why Demers Beaulne is keen to stress the importance of fraud prevention, and will be publishing a series of articles on the subject.
What is the significance of Fraud Prevention Month?
Fraud Prevention Month aims to help people and businesses detect, counter and report fraud. This annual awareness campaign is run by the Fraud Prevention Forum. The Forum, co-chaired by the Competition Bureau, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (hereinafter “CAFC”), brings together more than 60 organizations from the private sector, consumer and volunteer groups, public agencies and law enforcement organizations committed to preventing Canadians from becoming victims of fraud.
Who does fraud target?
Fraudsters target consumers and businesses alike. Whether it’s identity or personal information theft, phishing or internal corporate fraud, scammers use a variety of fraudulent schemes.
In 2022, losses associated with all types of scams reached over $42 million in Quebec and $530 million in Canada, up 40% on 2021. According to the CAFC, Quebec will rank first in 2022 in terms of identity fraud, for the 2nd year running.
How do you prevent fraud?
Vigilance, awareness-raising and training are good ways to guard against fraud. This prevention can be deployed by companies using a structured anti-fraud program to proactively limit, in particular, the potential for internal fraud. It is important that this program is supported by senior management, who set the tone at the top of the organization to create a culture of fraud prevention. What’s more, implementing effective internal controls helps de-motivate and counter attempts, as well as increasing management’s chances of uncovering cases more quickly.
Actions to take in March, Fraud Prevention Month
Despite the rise in fraud cases and the ever-increasing losses resulting from all types of scams, the reporting of these criminal acts to local or provincial police forces, or to the CAFC, remains all too infrequent. In fact, the CAFC estimates that only 5-10% of people report fraud.
The best way to prevent fraud is to be aware of the schemes. The strongest action that can be taken to contribute to this fight is to report scams to the appropriate authorities, i.e. the police and CAFC professionals. Even if March isn’t usually the month of resolutions, getting involved by making a commitment to alert the appropriate authorities when a company or citizen is a victim could help reduce the collective likelihood of being the target of a scam. If not for yourself, do it for the greater good.
