In an effort to reduce the number of people who fall victim to frauds and scams, the North Bay police are introducing Grade 12 high school students to the various schemes they will encounter once they leave high school.
Special Constable John Schultz says the students will be taken to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre located in North Bay for a one-day workshop on scams.
“We’re in a unique situation in North Bay because the national mass marketing fraud centre is right here,” said Schultz who worked at the centre before joining the city police.
Schultz says the goal is to explain to students the nature of mass-marketing fraud and how to avoid becoming a victim.
“Then they would take that information back to their respective schools and explain it to their classmates,” he said.
Schultz says the students will soon be susceptible to fraud whether they go on to post-secondary education or enter the workforce.
“We want to teach them about the fraud hitting their age bracket because scammers profile us,” he said.
“They have scams for doctors, lawyers, seniors and youth.”
Schultz says fraudsters have a variety of scams that target young people, like those heading off to university or college.
One scam is the rental scam where false information is put out on available rental units and an unsuspecting student pays for the unit only to learn the promoter never had access to it and the student has lost their money.
Schultz says another scam that targets young people is the low-interest loan program.
He says these are legitimate in the United States but not in Canada.
Under the program, a student pays an upfront fee to get a low-interest loan.
Schultz says this is not allowed in Canada.
In Canada, the cost or the interest of the loan is worked into it.
Schultz says Canadian students have fallen for this scam by putting up money for trying to get something that never materializes.
Schultz says the workshops will also talk about identity theft.
From the standpoint of the police, Schultz says “if we can do prevention, then the crime never happens.”
Schultz says the goal is to have about 20 students a day at the anti-fraud centre either from the student union of each school or the law classes.
Afterward, he and a manager from the centre would accompany the students back to their school and instruct the other students about the scams that target them.
Schultz says the education workshops may be undertaken in December or January.
He’s reached out to the high schools in North Bay and Mattawa and the idea is being well received.
Schultz says another scam people need to watch out for regardless of age is the CRA scam.
“We’ve had young teenagers who call us about this and they’re scared,” Schultz said.
“They’re 13 or 14 years old and someone calls to say you owe taxes and we’re coming to arrest you.”
Schultz says CRA does not send the police to arrest someone who has not paid taxes.
Schultz says if the high school program works well, it’s something he says the police would like to repeat each year with new Grade 12 students.
He adds all people can also educate themselves with the types of frauds the scammers use.
Schultz says information is available at www.antifraudcentre.ca and he encourages people to visit the site for how to avoid becoming a fraud victim.
