Have you booked your Fraud Talk?
Crime Stoppers Guelph Wellington (CSGW) partnered with Victim Services Wellington and Wellington County OPP to create Fraud Talk, designed to help victims of this crime, and reduce the chance of being targeted by this crime. CSGW applied for and received funding from the Ministry of the Solicitor General to increase awareness of Fraud in the County of Wellington.
This campaign, launching March 1 in time for Fraud Prevention Month, features an in person or online presentation, and supplemented by social media, print advertising and radio advertising. The logic, according to CSGW Program Coordinator Sarah Bowers-Peter, is to give the community the tools to reduce the chance of being a victim of this crime, as well is eliminating the stigma.
“Fraud Talk means just that, we need to talk about Fraud; about the tactics fraudsters use, the experience of the victim and the need to share information in the community to protect each other,” she said. “The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre states that less than 5% of victims report to police or CAFC, and that’s believed to be as result of shame and embarrassment. What people don’t realize is that by failing to report fraud, you allow it to continue and target others in the community.”
Bowers-Peter points out that it’s the staggering $530 million + lost to victims in Canada in 2022 that tells authorities that this crime is more common than people believe – and notes this is an under reported crime.
By partnering with Victim Services Wellington, Bowers-Peter states the victim is put in the centre of Fraud Talk messaging. The roles of Wellington County OPP and Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre are of investigative and documenting agencies, while CSGW once again offers the anonymous and confidential method of reporting crime, if a Tipster knows who is responsible for committing it.
“Crime Stoppers Guelph Wellington has supported education and crime awareness for quite some time now,” said Bowers-Peter. “We believe the best possible outcome is to prevent a crime from happening in the first place.
If you would like to book your free Fraud Talk presentation, go to www.csgw.tips “Contact Us” and request a date.
