RCMP Provide Important Safety Tips For Local Seniors To Avoid Online And Phone Scams

Online and phone scams are becoming more and more prevalent and sophisticated. In order to arm residents of Charlotte County with important information to identify and avoid scams, the seniors activity group Spindrifters, headquartered in Saint Andrews, New Brunswick, organized for St. George RCMP Community Program Officer Lisa Williams to provide a presentation on tips on Internet safety, and how to stay safe from scams online and on the phone.

Officer Williams gave a Powerpoint presentation at the theatre at the WC O'Neill Arena, which was attended by a number of residents from the Saint Andrews and recorded by CHCO Television.

"How do we stop scams? I see different scams and think, 'I would be tricked by this too.' If you get an email that's a scam, most times it is from a different country where people used Google translate, and you can see spelling mistakes. That's one of the things to look for, for example," said Officer Williams.

"And now many of you get phone calls to say you have an issue with Microsoft Windows on your computer? They are trying to get you to click something on your computer to give them access to your computer and your information on it.

How many of you get phone calls saying one of your relatives in jail and needs to be bailed out? This is another new scam."

Williams' presentation was over an hour in length and detailed a number of current scams and how to identify them and also equip yourself to identify future scams.