Be Aware of Cyberscams! (Part 2)

If you read part one of this blog post, you would know that there are a lot of very scary scams going on now. These scammers are ruthless, highly organized, and will drain your bank account dry without a hint of remorse. In the past scammers were laughably bad with poor grammar, awful spelling, and ridiculous subject lines in their emails (the Prince of Nigeria doesn’t need your help to move $4.6 million to your bank account for a $500 fee!) however times have changed. Today they can be virtually indistinguishable from legitimate businesses, which harms all of us who rely on doing business online to people we have usually never met in person. All is not hopeless however and here are some tools you can use to defend against cyberscams.

Scammer Tells
While it can be difficult to tell scammers apart from honest people, in my experience every scammer has some tells. By themselves they don't always mean a scam however if you encounter these, especially more than one proceed with extreme caution.
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Unsolicited Requests for Personal Information
Be wary of individuals or websites asking for sensitive, personal information such as passwords, SIN (or SSN) numbers, or bank account details without a valid reason. Even though I have completed PCI training (required to handle bank transactions) our business does NOT collect ANY financial information as all transactions are conducted through a trusted and established financial partner. I do not know anything besides the type of card used (i.e. Visa, Mastercard, Debit) nor do I want this information. We also have not, do not and will not accept or request payment in untraceable means such as Cryptocurrency or Gift Cards!

Too Good to Be True Offers
Scammers often lure victims with offers that seem too good to pass up, such as guaranteed large sums of money for little to no effort. In our case, we have great rates but will NEVER offer free or almost free inspections. Browsing this website will easily demonstrate to you how passionate I am about home inspections, but we do have bills to pay! 

Poor Grammar and Spelling
While scammers are getting very good at their English, there are always some things you can look out for: scammers frequently use the word “kindly” as it is used far more commonly in their countries (almost all cyber scammers targeting North Americans are in either India, Nigeria, or Ghana). They also tend to list phone numbers as “+1 (555) 555-5555” when most North Americans do not use the country code and if they do, I have never seen anyone raised in this continent use the “+1”.  

Scams Are Usually a Little Harder to Spot Than This!

Fake Profiles or Websites
Check for inconsistencies in profiles or websites, such as missing contact information, suspicious URLs, or copied content from legitimate sources. With the explosion in real estate prices, especially in Halifax, there were several fake websites created. Luckily, they seem to now be offline but new fake websites and advertisements are popping up every day.
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Requests for Money or Financial Assistance
Always be cautious if someone you've met online asks you for money, especially if it's for reasons like emergency medical bills, travel expenses, bail to be released from custody, or investment opportunities and even more so if the request is in the form of Gift Cards or Bitcoin. We, like most legitimate home inspectors NEVER charge more than quoted and will never ask for any money outside of a formal and traceable invoice.

Pressure Tactics
Scammers may use pressure tactics to rush you into deciding before you have time to think it through. They might claim the offer is limited or time sensitive. While we are offering a 15% off winter sale, this is about the extent of our “limited time” offers. We will still honour it for a few days past the expiry and since I personally detest them, we will never use high pressure tactics.

(Don’t) Fight Back Against Cyberscammers!
While there are plenty of videos online of people who take on scammers (known as scam baiters), and it feels good to see justice served it is important to note that like any television show there's a lot more to it than just humiliating scammers. Much like how home renovation TV programs never show the extensive mess, many permits required, frustration of dealing with contractors who ghost, and too-many-to-count unexpected delays involved in any major project, taking on scammers is a risky and often dangerous game to play.

These scammers are not just a few young adults overseas in a call centre: they are part of large organizations who get better at scamming every day.  Much like yelling at a fast-food cashier is not going to bring any type of positive change, trying to guilt someone who sees you as a number is a waste of time and energy. As well, these organizations, like anyone else do not like being attacked and baiters run the risk of harmful retaliation. If you run across someone who is a scammer don’t engage them, don't reply, don't try to reason with them and most importantly resist the urge to fight back! Ignore, block, and delete any messages from known or suspected scammers and if it is phone call, resist the Canadian urge to be polite and hang up immediately without comment. If they call back? Just hang up again. 

Just as your favourite home inspector does after every inspection, scammers use feedback to improve their skills. Baiting a scammer or pointing out their weaknesses is a great way to unknowingly provide them with knowledge of how to refine their grifting skills. I am intentionally withholding a major "tell" so no overseas scammer realizes it and corrects it. 

A Final Note
While I have mentioned that most of these scammers are in the nations of Nigeria and India these two countries have a combined population of over 1.6 BILLION (1600 million) compared to about 38 million in Canada. Contrary to popular belief, these countries are NOT havens for criminals and the reason these 2 countries are where most cyber scammers targeting North Americans reside is because English is widely spoken, and authorities are inconsistent at best. These scams are also very much illegal in those countries, which is where the term “419 scam” comes from (it's the section number in the Nigerian Criminal Code that covers scams). Remember our communities are full of people who proudly come from all over the world and are honest hard-working people who help shape Canada into such a great, diverse country. When I worked in retail it was emphasized over and over that there is no such thing as a “typical” shoplifter and the same applies for criminals in general. They look like anyone, can be anywhere and appear at any time and blending in is why so many are successful. Please use caution online so you don’t become the next victim of these scammers.