Reminders for this time of year ! It’s unfortunately the time of year when people like to take advantage of others! There are tons of Scams going on that take advantage of people!

• Don’t leave leave valuable where people can see them (if you are going to the mall, keep a few black garbage bags in your car – if they cannot see the stores they may not take the risk)
• Keep your vehicles locked even if its going to be a just a second.
• Lock your homes (even if you normally don’t)
• Put items away in your home that are valuable or could give access to valuable things such as keys) If someone breaks in you don’t want them to get your items
• Don’t panic if you get a phone call, I promise the RCMP, Revenue Canada is not going to cart you off to jail, they are not going to cart your family off to jail. They do not ask for gift cards of any kind. IF you owe money ALL companies allow banks to take payment.
• Try not to keep large sums of money on you and if you do try to keep it on your person instead of your purse or wallet
• Remove tap off your cards this time of year to stop you loosing money in case you loose your card
• Write down your credit card numbers/bank card numbers and the lost or stolen numbers to call and keep it in a secure place so if you loose your purse/wallet you can get the cards shut off quick
• Sending a $10 Gift Card to 5 people will NOT get you 500 of them in Return! This is an annual scam!
• Do not click links in emails saying you have a credit or owe a bill, or saying your credit card or billing information is out of date. If you need to check, log into your say Netflix account the way you normally do to check information, not in an email link as these are often scams.
• Be VERY careful of the “poor me, I have no money for Christmas and kids and this and that” There are MANY organizations to help for this very thing. Advise them of those options! Unless you personally know the family; it’s unfortunately normally a scam  People take advantage of your good heart this time of year ) Give to toy drives, local churches, etc if you want to help. The dead lines have not hit yet, they have time to get applications in!
• If you get items you don’t need such as canned goods, samples, etc remember homeless shelters, woman’s shelters, food banks, soup kitchens can all use these items.
• Try to remember the older lady or gentleman that may live alone. A random hot meal may be the only one they they get:) You can easily put on step and ring the bell to avoid Covid!

If you are victim of a scam please call the RCMP! If you work at a store where gift cards are sold and see people buying strange amounts, etc Please Ask questions!