Nova Scotians lose millions to scams in 2022

RCMP stats show an increase of 1.1 million dollars lost over 2021

CITYNEWS HALIFAX \ Dan Ahlstrand

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Shocking new data from the RCMP show that people living in Nova Scotia lost a whopping $3.6 million to scams in 2023.

“Fraudsters continue to steal hard-earned money from people in every corner of our province,” says Sgt Andrew Joyce of the RCMP Financial Crime unit.

Investment scams lead the top 10 for dollar loss, followed by romance and prize-winning scams:

• Investments – $1,823,133.29
• Romance – $616,051.58 Prize – $318,187.51
• Phishing – $276,512.30
• Vendor fraud – $164,807.19
• Job – $134,132.13
• Service – $118,342.45
• Extortion – $104,128.00
• Merchandise – $67,547.96
• Emergency (jail, accident, hospital, help) – $60,616.00

The RCMP say there are several ways to protect yourself from falling victim to one of these or other kinds of scams:

• Don’t give personal or financial information to unknown callers, texters or emailers
• Resist acting immediately when being pressured to hand money over
• Never send cryptocurrency or gift cards for payment
• Know that government agencies and police don’t request payment via gift cards or cryptocurrency and don’t show up at your door to collect money

“With March being Fraud Prevention Month, we’re taking this opportunity to remind Nova Scotians to be alert to scam activity,” says Sgt. Joyce. “It’s rampant. And it can be devastatingly costly.”

Police stats show Nova Scotians lost $2.5M to scams in 2021.

The Mounties are encouraging anyone who believed they may have been a victim of a scam to get in contact with them or with local police immediately.