Your Guide to Protecting Yourself from Fraud & Scams

Author: 1st Choice Savings & Credit Union | Published: June 24, 2025

Protecting your financial well-being should always be a top priority, and your awareness is your strongest defense. Fraudsters are becoming increasingly smart and sophisticated, making it difficult to identity when a situation is truly a fraud or scam, but that’s where we come in. We’re here to offer guidance and tools you need to stay informed and vigilant.

First, it’s important to be aware of common fraud and scams. Here is a list of the most common ones to be aware of:

Romance Scams

This type of scam involves fraudsters who create fake identities and profiles with the goal of building romantic relations with online victims to get money or financial information. Here’s how they typically work.

Scammer creates a fake profile with stolen photos.
They find a victim and begin building trust through communication, attention, and affection, usually professing their love.
If the idea of meeting up in person comes up, they will make excuses.
Once they have trust established with the victim, they will begin requesting money, often saying they need it urgently.

This cycle will continue until they feel they can’t get anything more from the victim, or the victim shuts them down enough times.

What to do if you think you've been scammed by a Romance Scam:

Stop any payments immediately. If you have already sent money, contact your financial institution to cancel any electronic transfers.
Contact your bank to let them know what happened, so they can be aware of any suspicious account activity.
Report the incident to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Center and your local police.

Phishing Scams

A phishing scam involves fraudsters who impersonate legitimate entities to trick victims into revealing personal or financial information. This is done through various methods, such as emails, text messages, and social media to get victims to click malicious links or providing sensitive data.

Here are some common phishing tactics to be aware of:

Impersonations. Scammers will pretend to be legitimate organizations like banks, government agencies (such as the Canada Revenue Agency), or businesses to gather personal information from victims.
Malicious Links. These links will appear in an email, text, or message on social media that redirects the individual to fake websites that are designed to steal information.
Attachments. This is another type that will appear in email or text messages that contain malware of viruses.

Ways to help protect yourself from phishing scams:

Be cautious of unexpected messages
Don't click on links or open attachments from unknown sources
Hover over links to verify them before clicking
Look for spelling errors

Grandparent/Emergency Scams

This is a scam that often targets seniors, and it involves a scammer pretending to be a family member or friend in an emergency, demanding immediate payment to help them. This typically occurs through phone calls, text messages, or email.

Here is how it works:

Scammers claim a family member or friend of the victim is in trouble. They often ask for the victim to not tell anyone, and they will ask for personal information or financial details to help get them out of the trouble they are in. They usually pressure the victim to send money quickly and urgently.

Fallen Victim To A Scam

If you feel you have fallen victim to a scam, here’s what to do:

#1: Don’t panic or feel embarrassed about what happened. Stay calm, collect your thoughts, and gather any information about the fraud including documents, receipts, and any communication with the fraudster or scammer.

#2: Contact your 1^st Choice Savings branch as soon as possible.

#3: Contact your local police

#4: Report the incident to incident to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre toll free at 1-88-495-8501or through the Fraud Reporting System.

Fraud And Scam Prevention Tips

In today’s digitally focused world, fraudsters are smarter than ever. At 1^st Choice Savings, your protection is our priority. Here are a few practical tips to help you protect your peace of mind.

#1 Be cautious of unexpected requests

Businesses won’t call or email you to request sensitive information like your social insurance number, driver’s license, passwords, or online banking credentials. It’s best to call the business to receive clarification.

#2 Enable security alerts

Stay informed on your accounts activity by setting up security alerts.

#3 Recognize common scams

After reading this blog post, you’ll already be one step ahead of fraudsters. Bookmark this page so you can refer to it.

#4 Strengthen your passwords

Use unique and complex passwords for each of your accounts. Avoid reusing passwords across multiple platforms.

Fraud can happen to anyone—but with awareness and the right precautions, you can significantly reduce your risk. At 1st Choice Savings, we’re committed to helping you protect what matters most. If you ever have concerns about your accounts or need assistance, don’t hesitate to contact us or visit your local branch. Together, we can stay one step ahead of fraud.