Lunch was served at the Grand Forks Senior’s Centre, but on the menu was how to prevent falling for scams and the state of policing in Grand Forks.
The centre in City Park was packed with members on Thursday eager to listen to Detachment Commander Sgt, Darryl Peppler and Cpl. Breadon Thomas talk about how to deal with scammers, resources available to people if they become victims and other local policing concerns during a Lunch and Learn session.
This was one of a few sessions to let members meet to have a casual lunch while speaking to local experts on topics pertinent to seniors, explained Grand Forks Senior’s Society vice-president Juliana Chadwick.
“How these sessions go depends on the speaker, really,” she said. “Today, they wanted to just sit and talk casually. The next one could be a formal presentation, we really don’t know.”
While it was open to members, Chadwick said they wouldn’t turn anyone who wanted to join them away because of the importance of the topic, she said.
It was a casual event, with people asking questions and Sgt. Peppler and Cpl. Thomas answering. The main topic was scams, how to spot them, how to avoid them and if one is caught in a scam how to report it.
Scams are on the rise and seniors are a prime target, Sgt. Peppler said. Among some of the most prevalent are credit card fraud, online dating and social media scams, people posing as Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) staff, online shopping customer representatives and the common “grandparent scam,” where someone posing as a grandchild in trouble tries to get someone to send money to an account.
The technology is getting more sophisticated, using tools like AI and voice recognition, and the scams more believable, he said. However, there are common ways people can protect themselves from falling for scams.
“It falls back to if it doesn’t feel or sound right, it probably isn’t,” he said.
Fraud and credit card scams are particularly prevalent now, especially with tax season wrapping up. A frequently used tactic is a fraudster will pose as a tax agent, bank or credit card company representative, call a person to say there is a problem with their account and ask for information to verify their account.
These institutions will never ask for your personal information over the phone or in a text, Sgt. Peppler said, and if there actually is a problem it often comes in the form of an email.
Even then, it’s always best to contact the CRA or their banks to check accounts directly.
“I got something about needing more information from CRA, so I logged on and looked at it myself,” he said. “It was a legitimate request, but what people need to know is if the CRA wants more information, they will send an email, it will be marked and it will only say there’s an email in your CRA account you need to look at and that will have the request on it.”
It’s often a similar scenario with banking and online shopping accounts, he said. Some banks will flag financial activity they deem suspicious and send a notice. However, it’s still good practice to check accounts frequently for any suspicious activity.
Credit score agencies like Equifax can also help people monitor their financial history for unusual activity.
When bank accounts and credit cards are hacked, it’s often handled through the banking institution, but people still have legal resources, he said. They can report it to police and if it’s considered a large enough amount a file will be opened. If it’s a local case of fraud it can be investigated, but due to the international nature of a lot of financial scams, local police usually can’t take the case.
Many in attendance related instances where they thought they were being scammed, or did send money or use their banking information thinking the request was legitimate. Many of those who said they suspected it was fraud cut the conversation off, only to find the person on the other end become aggressive and insistent.
Some people offered their own solutions, including hanging up quickly and call blocking. A few more offered more creative ways to deal with scams, including air horns to drown them out and in the case of the grandparent scam, having a code system to throw off scammers.
In the case of the grandparent scam, no police agency will ask people to send money to bail out a person.
“We are not going to call anyone and say send us a gift card and we will let your grandchild out,” he said. “I get a few scams like this on the phone, I have my fun with them, then hang up.”
In terms of physical crime and state of policing in Grand Forks, Sgt. Peppler said the city has a very low crime rate and they are short-staffed, but he, the RCMP and city are doing everything they can to get the detachment fully staffed again.
There’s a lot of factors over why it’s been difficult to attract and retain recruits, including the cost of living, real estate prices, and convincing new officers to stay in small communities for more than a few years.
Grant funding helped pay for the lunch and there will be at least two more sessions, said Chadwick. They are considering possible talks on Medically Assisted Dying (MAiD) and care for caregivers. She explained right now it was open to members only, but in the future the Society will consider opening up Lunch and Learn sessions to the public.