Canadians love their computers. Unfortunately, our passion for e-living comes with some serious risks.
There are millions of tech-savvy thieves out there. They hide behind electronic screens, bringing misery to the lives of honest people who are online paying bills, shopping and otherwise living their lives.
Jodie L. Wolkoff, CA, CA∙IFA, CBV, is a director with Wintrip Wolkoff Shin Inc., a forensic accounting firm in Toronto. She has advised many clients about avoiding fraud at the hands of cyber-thieves, online scammers and website burglars. Her best advice? Don’t let it happen.
1. If it sounds too good to be true…
We all know this one. Yet, every day, some naive soul – sadly, often, a senior on a pension – falls for the lure of fast, easy money, and someone with a bogus make-a-fortune scheme cons them out of their life’s savings.
2. Protect your identity… even if you offend someone
Never tell anyone online anything that you wouldn’t want printed on a billboard and seen by millions of people. Your address, date-of-birth and other data can be used to find out a lot of personal information about you.
3. Be wary of e-mails from mystery senders
Don’t open attachments unless you know what they are and who they’re from. They can contain viruses that damage or destroy your computer, or programs that steal information about your identity, your bank accounts, and more. Delete it. If it was important, it can be resent.
4. Be suspicious of e-mails from financial institutions
Don’t click on e-mailed links to connect with a bank’s website or even the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) – browse for it or type it in yourself. Bonafide banks don’t communicate with clients that way and the CRA never e-mails people about their taxes. Fraudsters do, and then collect your data and passwords and use them to access the funds in your accounts.
5. Install good anti-virus software and keep it up-to-date
Most reliable programs are constantly being updated to battle new viruses or threats. Make sure your computer accepts the revisions and downloads them automatically.
6 Block spyware
Get a program that prevents you from inadvertently downloading spyware – software that steals information from your computer and sends it back to its source.
7. Vary your passwords
Use different user-ID and password combinations for different transactions. Do NOT use the same password for everything, and don’t give cyber thieves an easy guess like your daughter’s name or birth date. Memorize passwords and never share them.
8. Cover your tracks after browsing
Before shutting down, delete temporary files, cache files and your browser history. Always, always, always follow those procedures after using a public computer.
9. Never provide your credit card number for a transaction you didn’t personally initiate
Tell them to put that pledge form in the mail, thank you.
10. Don’t talk to strangers
All this goes double for online chat rooms, social networking sites and other places that offer to hook you up with people you don’t know.
Inst. of Chartered Accountants——
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The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario is the qualifying and regulatory body of Ontario’s 33,000 Chartered Accountants and 5,000 CA students. Since 1879, the Institute has protected the public interest through the CA profession’s high standards of qualification and the enforcement of its rules of professional conduct. The Institute works in partnership with the other provincial Institutes of Chartered Accountants and the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants to provide national standards and programs that are used as examples around the world. </em>
