Fraud targets homeowners
ACE also warns a couple of latest (starting January 2022) Ontario program that I have never heard of yet: the Cross-Ontario Mortgage & Notice Of Security Interest (NOSI) Scheme. This is a mortgage or lien recorded on the title of their home without the tenant’s knowledge or consent.
“The system targets particularly vulnerable older homeowners and often begins with exploitative, unfair door-to-door sales financed by high-interest loans secured by NOSIs or private mortgages.”
These scams often follow the same pattern: Elderly homeowners are tricked into signing unfair door-to-door service contracts for services they do not need and may’t afford. These are grossly overpriced and offer little or no value. The homeowner could also be approached by a “groomer” who repeatedly comes by and falsely guarantees to get them out of those unfair contracts at no cost. They could also be given false guarantees of “discounts” in the event that they sign documents that can allow them to pay for “free” renovations. Later, the homeowner discovers that their home has been taken out on a non-public mortgage with unfair terms, including rates of interest as high as 25%. There can also be high broker, conveyance and lender fees, in addition to prepayment of interest for a full one-year term (making it difficult to search out the mortgage until it comes due). Given how unaffordable these are for seniors with modest pensions, they often fall behind on mortgage payments and face legal proceedings to sell or foreclose on their homes.
Which seniors are victims of fraud in Canada?
An insightful link in regards to the enormous scale and number of the fraud is out there at Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre. It is reported that in 2023, nearly 64,000 scams occurred with nearly 40,000 victims, and in the primary quarter of 2024, nearly 11,000 more occurred with 7,900 victims. The website lists dozens of scams Alphabeticalstarting from air duct cleansing to fake business proposals, foreign lotteries, vacation scams, crypto initial coin offerings (ICOs), sextortion and far more.
The Toronto Police Service (TPS) says these crimes have change into so widespread that scams targeting seniors at the moment are “the crime of the 21st century.”st It covers the romance and grandparent scams mentioned above and in addition warns about home renovation scams where the scammer’s “sole intention is to get a signature on a contract, do little, poor or no work, and get as much money as possible.”
To avoid being scammed, TPS strongly advises seniors to never allow strangers into their homes (via web, phone or door) to acquire details about them and/or their assets. Read contracts rigorously and never sign contracts with blank lines as someone could later add clauses that harm you. Shred bank statements, financial records or receipts with bank card numbers. To report a criminal offense anonymously, call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS) or report it online at: www.222tips.com.
GetCyberSafe.com describes itself as a “national awareness campaign” to assist Canadians protect themselves online. It features a Get the Cyber Safe Checkup by the Government of Canada. The Get Cyber Safe campaign was launched by Public Safety Canada in 2011 as a part of Canada’s national cybersecurity strategy. According to media reports, the campaign was transferred to the jurisdiction of the Communications Security Establishment Canada (CSE) in 2018 following an update of the national cybersecurity strategy and the creation of the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security (Cyber Centre) inside the CSE. It also works closely with Canada’s international Five Eyes partners (US, UK, Australia and New Zealand) on all cybersecurity issues to assist construct a worldwide cybersecurity culture.
The Cyber Centre recommends having a novel password for every account. This will be made easier by utilizing a password manager, an app that stores and manages online login information and generates passwords. It also recommends using sentence-like occurnot only password protected. If available, use multi-factor authentication via app or SMS. Check the privacy settings. Usually it is a feature you’ll be able to easily enable.
