March Is Fraud Prevention Month Visit Your Local Library!

Prevent crooks from shopping on your tab. Know how to recognize counterfeit bills, forged cheques, telemarketing scams, and credit and debit card fraud.

MONTRÉAL — Fraud Prevention Month, which is observed in many parts of Canada and the world, offers various private and public organizations involved in the fight against fraud an opportunity to educate the public about this type of crime.

As part of Fraud Prevention Month, the Bank of Canada, in co-operation with the Competition Bureau Canada, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), the Sûreté du Québec (SQ), and the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM), is running an awareness campaign aimed at teaching the public how to avoid becoming a victim of fraud. This year, Les bibliothèques publiques du Québec and the Réseau Biblio du Québec, which count more than 900 municipal libraries, will be participating in this public prevention campaign.

Check out the display on fraud prevention at a participating library near you! There will also be kiosks and information sessions in certain libraries.

The Centre of Operations Linked to Telemarketing Fraud (COLT), a group of eight Canadian and American government agencies, including the Competition Bureau, the RCMP, the SQ, and the SPVM, is also conducting an awareness program to help fight mass marketing fraud.

For inquiries related to the information sessions at libraries, please contact the Bank of Canada, toll free, at 1-800-388-8991, or by email, at nburelle@bankofcanada.ca.

For inquiries related to telemarketing scams, please contact:

• COLT: 514-939-8304; toll free: 1-800-771-5401
  
  
• Competition Bureau: 1-800-348-5358; email: compbureau@cb-bc.gc.ca
  
  
• your local police department

Some activities will be reprised this year, such as “Opération déchiquetage,” a shredding event aimed at allowing consumers to securely destroy personal documents. This activity will be taking place on 28 March in a number of municipalities in the Montréal and Québec regions. Check the Sûreté du Québec website for exact locations.

For more security advice, as well as information on scheduled activities, consumers are invited to visit the websites of various organizations taking part in Fraud Prevention Month.

Bank of Canada: http://www.bankofcanada.ca/en/banknotes
Competition Bureau Canada: http://www.competitionbureau.gc.ca/fraud
RCMP: http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/qc/home_e.htm
SQ: www.suretequebec.gouv.qc.ca
SPVM: www.spvm.qc.ca

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Information for the media:
Bank of Canada: 514-496-4829
Competition Bureau Canada: 1-800-348-5358
Royal Canadian Mounted Police: 514-939-8308
Sûreté du Québec: 514-598-4848
Service de police de la Ville de Montréal: 514-280-2015

FRAUD: IDENTIFY IT. REPORT IT. STOP IT.