Student Success Centre

Scammers may use job postings to trick job seekers, often with a position that seems just too good to be true (it might be!). Scam jobs may request money for training so that they get the account number to deposit wages, ask you to pay a vendor and reimburse you, and so on.

Protect yourself:

• Pay close attention to any unsolicited emails, including the “from” field. For example, make sure it is a legitimate business email, not Gmail, iCloud, Hotmail, etc.
• Keep your information private. Don’t give out your passport, social insurance number, driver’s license, health card or date of birth information. Also, don’t disclose your marital status.
• Never send cheques, gift cards or money during a job application, interview or recruiting process. In Canada, you don’t have to pay a company to be trained for the job.

Scammers will pose as financial institutions and send emails asking for money. They may even seem fairly legitimate and mention something about a security breach. Then, the scammer may ask you to click on a link to provide your information (don’t!).

Protect yourself:

• Banks and governments will never ask for your personal information through email.
• If you’re unsure if an email’s legitimate, search the message for strange email addresses or links (don’t click on them!).
• Don’t reply or open any links or attachments if you have doubts.

Get more information and support with email-related scams on the Office of the AVP & CTO website.

Believe it or not, pyramid schemes still exist today. As a student, you may be able to identify these scams as job postings that “could earn you hundreds of dollars a day!” by selling a product or service. Scams like these ask you to pay a membership fee to cover the product cost, meaning the only way to recoup the money is to sell off the product. Essentially, they use debt to motivate you to sell.

Protect yourself:

• Thoroughly research the company and postings.
• Be wary of companies offering compensation for recruiting new sales-people.
•  Don’t commit to anything at high-pressure meetings or seminars you might get invited to.

That contest you never entered just called and offered you a trip to the Caribbean! Must be legitimate, right? It’s not. This tactic is similar to phishing. The scammer will ask for personal or financial details in order for you to claim your prize.

Protect yourself:

• Legitimate lotteries and contests do not require you to pay a fee to collect winnings.
• You cannot win a contest you did not enter.
• Do not call or text the scammers to follow up. You could be charged up to $5 per minute/text!

This type of scam may appear to be the most legitimate. The scammer will ask you to purchase or upgrade a home service. You can encounter this scam in the form of a door-to-door “sales-person.” Most commonly, they’ll ask to view your water heater bill or to perform a routine check-up of your heater. Alternatively, you may get a phone call from a computer technician who claims they noticed a virus on your computer. They may ask you to buy antivirus software or, even worse, try to gain remote access to your computer.

Protect yourself:

• Do not discuss your services with a salesperson that represents a different service provider.
• Do not be fooled into letting the solicitors into your home because of “recent regulatory changes.”

These scams involve threatening and forceful messages to pay a fictitious debt. Scam callers often threaten that you’ll be arrested, have to go to court and even get deported. If you get a scam telephone call, hang up and report it to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (1-888-495-8501).

Protect yourself:

The Canadian Revenue Agency (CRA) will never:

• Call you to ask for credit card payment toward taxes.
• Call you to ask for any personal information like your SIN, passport or driver’s license number.

Learn more about phone scams on the CRA website.

Fraudsters are constantly inventing new schemes to take your information. In general, debit and credit card fraud occurs when your information is stolen and used to make a purchase without your authorization.

Protect yourself:

• Change your bank passwords on a regular basis.
• Don’t store your credit card information on the computer.
• Always review your bank and credit card statements for suspicious activity.
• Check your credit report through the Credit Bureaus, Trans Union and Equifax at least once a year.

Relationship scammers typically find and connect with individuals on social media or a dating website. The scammer will try to develop a relationship, even spending several months to make the other person feel like they’re dating. Be careful if your love interest moves too fast, avoids communication because they’re “out of town” or requests money.

Protect yourself:

• Stop communication with the person immediately.
• Talk to someone you trust, and pay attention if your friends or family are concerned about your new love interest.
• Do a search for the type of job the person has to find out if other people have experienced something similar.