As part of a campaign for Fraud Prevention Month during March, SaskTel is encouraging customers to consider using digital self-defence methods to proactively protect themselves against falling victim to cyber scams.
Technology has seen a sharp rise in popularity this year as many Saskatchewan residents have turned to their devices to stay connected during the pandemic, which means the possibility of encountering a scam in cyberspace has also increased.
SaskTel president and CEO Doug Burnett offered a reminder to customers to be careful online, especially sharing personal information online, echoed by the RCMP.
“Cyber scams look very real and anyone can be victimized,” said Inspector Andrew Farquhar, Officer-in-Charge of Federal Operations for the Saskatchewan RCMP, in a press release. “If you are asked to share your identity information, ensure you have a full understanding of what it is going to be used for, how long it will be retained, and if it will be further disseminated.”
The Crown offered a handful of protection tips, to help customers better protect themselves overall while navigating the online sphere:
- use a strong and unique password for each online account;
- avoid sharing personal or sensitive information on social media or online;
- use strong anti-virus and anti-malware software programs on your devices;
- keep your device software up to date and install critical security patches as soon as they’re available.
The Crown also noted that it’s important to be wary if you receive any suspicious messages, and to know what to do when it happens.
If you receive a suspicious message or email, SaskTel advises that you do not open it. Some scams are set up to compromise the security of your device upon opening that message. Instead, report the message or email to complaint.abuse@sasktel.com and then delete it.
If you did open the message, SaskTel urges you not to reply to it or open any links or attachments that may be included.
A legitimate business will never ask you to confirm personal or account information in an unsolicited email, phone call or message, said the Crown. If you receive a message or email requesting this, contact the business that supposedly sent it through a method other than the received message — like visiting their website through a legitimate search engine or reaching out to them directly to confirm.
It can also be beneficial to quickly act to change your online passwords and even inform the involved businesses, such as your financial institution, that your information may have been compromised. By doing this, they can take steps to secure your accounts.
For anyone who thinks they may have fallen victim to a cyber scam, SaskTel and the Saskatchewan RCMP urge them to immediately report it to authorities.
“Cyber scams see no borders. We encourage anyone who may have fallen victim to a cyber scam to report these to us immediately because it may assist police in advancing our investigations and help us identify additional victims in Saskatchewan or across Canada,” said Farquhar.
Reporting a cyber scam can be done by contacting the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre at 1 (888) 495-8501 or the Saskatchewan RCMP at 1 (306) 310-RCMP (7267), or even by contacting your local police service.
For more information on how to protect yourself online, check out sasktel.com/support.
