GUEST SPEAKER – Detective Martin Franssen Durham Regional Police Service - Fraud and Awareness: David Andrews introduced Martin. Martin is a member of the Rotary Club of Oshawa and a 20-year Detective with DRPS. In 2019, he was the recipient of the Public Heroes Award from the Intercultural Dialogue Institute and at the 2019 PADAN Awards Night, he was again recognized by the DRPS when he received the Mike Ewles Community Builder Award for his outstanding and selfless work with major Crime Fraud Unit to support seniors. He does over 50 forums and workshops every year, many in his own time (like ours tonight) to help educate people about fraud prevention. He is back with us tonight to talk to us about some things to watch for and be so careful as we guide our way through life as we do more and more online (banking, purchasing goods, watching Netflix) from our various electronic devices and are home more and more as we work from home. He was an officer in Jordan and Afghanistan training police officers. At any one time, there are over 100 Canadian police officers training abroad. Martin is a proud member of the Rotary Club of Oshawa. If you have been to a Rotary bottle drive or Christmas Tree Sale, you know Martin. Martin noted that during the pandemic, fraud has drastically increased. In 2021, over 104,000 incidents received by The Canadian Anti-fraud Centre valued at over $379 million. And only 5% of the cases are even reported. Scammers are now knocking at your door. 65 cases in the last 2 months in Durham Region. Grandparent scam still going on. Someone calls claiming to be your grandson. In an accident or in jail. Lawyer calls seeking bail funds asking you to pay with Home Depot gift cards. Tax time is coming. Be careful. CRA always sends a letter first. Not a phone call. More people are doing everything online: banking, purchasing groceries, take out meals, all sort of items. They are using their computers, cell phones and note pads. BE CAREFUL. THE FIRST LINE OF DEFENCE IS YOU. Identity theft, investment fraud romance scams, and cell phone use are most popular scams. A call from someone with the “V” in their number is computer generated VOIP. Don’t answer. Your cell phone is an extension of you. They control us. If you answer a call from someone you do not know, they now know you number is active, they know the best time of day to get you on the phone, your voice identifies your gender and likely your age. Filter as many calls as you can. Use your voicemail. Don’t say “I can’t come to the phone” say “We can’t come to the phone.” Make your password as strong as possible. Martin changes his password often. Even your bank pin should be changed often too. Some banks going to 5 characters . It is taking hackers 43 seconds to breech any 4 digit pin. Martin changes his pin every 6 months too. Use a PASSPHRASE instead of numbers. Even misspell a word. Only YOU know that. Change it often. Have one password for each account. Keep the passwords off your devise. Store them at home somewhere. An 8 digit password with numbers and characters takes less than 39 minutes to hack. A Passphrase with 18 characters takes 438 trillion years to hack. Debit and credit cards allow access to your account but they do not belong to you. When you use them , it is not your money, you are using the bank’s money. The agreement you signed, says that you agree to protect the card and its security. Don’t give it out to your kids and grandkids to use. That is a breech of contract and the bank does not have to protect you when you do that. Buy a gift card instead with a limit . When you pay with your credit card, you do NOT have to give them the CIV number on the back. That makes the bank feel good that it is really YOU they are making the transaction with. Consider a credit card with a small limit that you use for just buying things on line. Telephone calls, email communications, and text message from companies demanding urgent payment, offering financial relief or offering assistance ? Delete or hang up. Be careful of text messages from your local Utility company. Another scam. Duct cleaners, water tank, or furnace sale staff or roofers will try to offer their service either door to door or over the phone. They may or may not be fraudulent. But don’t let them come in to your house. Once in, they may try to upsell you on items you do not need. Check out all companies first. He still sees the “You Won Money” scams via the phone or email. Hang up or delete the emails. There are lots of false lotteries out there. If they are not from Ontario, you can’t win. They want your identity. Always remember ...... - If it sounds to good to be true, IT IS! - Internet - Always use a secure Internet. If its not available, use the cellphone towers. - Turn off Bluetooth in your car when the car is off and delete it when you sell your car . - This scam which can also be with Bluetooth on your cell phone, is called blue snarfing and can steal your info in seconds. - Use a “safety word” with your family and don’t give it up even when kids have grown up. - Do not engage unsolicited callers - Get a credit card strictly for on-line purchases. Every company out there can be hacked. - Do not share your P.I.N. or password. Use a PASSPHRASE instead - Do NOT open your door to an unsolicited visitor - The answer machine is your “executive assistant”. If female, change to a male voice or use the on from your phone company. The DRPS website is still a good place to get info. Don’t ever use Kijiji. You don’t want strangers at your door. Available Resources: - Durham Regional Police website “drps.ca” - Fraud Awareness : https://www.drps.ca/community-safety-and-support/crime-prevention/fraud-and-financial-crimes/ - DRPS video’s - The Canadian Anti-fraud Centre https://www.antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca/index-eng.htm - The Internet BE SMART. Past President Sue MacKinnon, thanked Martin with a certificate of our appreciation. Meeting adjourned Approx 8:30 PM UPCOMING MEETINGS: MAR 15 - Regular Meeting - 6:30 PM to 8:00 PM . Oshawa Golf Club Speaker: St Patrick’s Day Party at The Golf Club. Spouses invited. Sign up with Sue MacKinnon MAR 22 - Regular Weekly Meeting – 6:30 PM to 8:00 PM . Oshawa Golf Club Speaker: Yves Gadler, Chief Executive Officer, Lakeridge Health Foundation For more info see: https://lhfoundation.ca/ MORE ROTARY INFORMATION: OUR REGULAR WEEKLY ARE NOW AT THE OSHAWA GOLF CLUB MAR 8-14 – World Rotaract Week . MAR 9, 16 & 23 – Rotary Leadership Institute – (3 nights) 6 to 8 pm - Rotary Leadership Institute - Part TWO – Spring 2022 - Join us for an engaging session to learn and grow your knowledge of Rotary. RLI is a three part course and each part consists of three 2 hour sessions. When registering here for part 2, you are registering for all three sessions. Register here: https://rotary7070.org/event/rli---part-2---spring/ MAR 15 - Regular Meeting - 6:30 PM to 8:00 PM . Oshawa Golf Club Speaker: St Patrick’s Day Party at The Golf Club. Spouses invited. Sign up with Sue MacKinnon MAR 22 – World Water Day MAR 22 - Regular Weekly Meeting – 6:30 PM to 8:00 PM . Oshawa Golf Club Speaker: Yves Gadler, Chief Executive Officer, Lakeridge Health Foundation For more info see: https://lhfoundation.ca/ MAR 26 – BINGO – RED BARN – Matinee – 11 AM – Team – Sue MacKinnon, Bill Creamer, Larry and Kay Hurren MAR 29 - Regular Weekly Meeting – 6:30 PM to 8:00 PM . Oshawa Golf Club Speaker: Pastors David & April McNeilly, Salvation Army, Oshawa For more info see: https://saoshawa.ca/ IF YOU CAN’T MAKE IT, MAKE UP: Go online at www.rotary.org go to the club locator and find a club or clubs near your destination. Or you can add the free App Rotary Club Locator to your phone for instant look up of any club in the world. Please mail or fax your make-ups to Secretary Robbie Larocque, or give your make-up card to the attendance/registration officer at the next club meeting.
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