Protect yourself from telephone and all attempts of theft, writes Peter Watson.
Attempts to steal from you are increasingly coming via a phone call.
The crooks have perfected their skills. They are very convincing. Unfortunately, they are often very successful.
Our best defence is to be on the lookout for suspicious phone calls. Many stories that I have heard are about calls from people claiming they are from the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA).
The first thing to do is determine if the person calling is legitimate. Before providing any information to the caller, find out their name, phone number and office location.
End the call and contact the CRA to confirm the identity of the person calling.
Look for signs that the call could be suspicious. This might include not providing any proof they work for the CRA. Perhaps they asked you to make a payment via credit card, gift cards, or some other unusual method of payment.
Be on the lookout if they ask for any information not normally provided to the CRA including requesting your credit card number. That is not a normal practice of the government.
These suggestions of how to avoid attempts of theft can be used on any suspicious phone call you receive. And yes, there is almost certainty that you will receive these types of calls.
Telephone fraud, email scams and other creative ways of theft are just an example of what is happening today.
Things are stolen from people on a regular basis. We recommend you exercise caution in order to protect yourself as best as possible.
Peter Watson, of Watson Investments MBA, CFP®, R.F.P., CIM®, FCSI offers a weekly financial planning column, Dollars & Sense. He can be contacted through www.watsoninvestments.com
