 By Staff
October 18th, 2021
BURLINGTON, ON
The Halton Regional Police Service (HRPS) is warning residents of a fake taxi scam that is occurring in the region.
 The fraud typically involves two suspects – one acting as taxi driver and the other acting as a customer. The fake taxi driver will refuse to accept cash from the fake customer for a fare. The suspect playing the role of customer will then prey on unsuspecting individuals nearby, asking them to use their debit card to pay the fare in exchange for cash (which will be given to the victim at the time).
The intent is to draw the victim to the taxi, where the fake taxi driver presents a point of sale machine to the victim. The debit card is swiped/inserted into the machine and the PIN number covertly obtained by the suspects. The victim is then distracted by the suspect playing the role of customer, at which point the driver switches the debit card (retaining the victim’s card and giving them a different one back).
The stolen debit card is then used by the suspects to withdraw money and/or make purchases.
The HRPS is investigating three such occurrences that took place in Oakville over the weekend; however this scam has been occurring across the province for some time.
HRPS investigators also issued a similar warning about this scam in November, 2020.
The HRPS would like to remind the public of the following tips:
• Taxis DO and WILL accept cash;
• Never give your debit/credit card to someone else;
• When making a purchase attempt to conceal your PIN;
• Be mindful of the point of sale machine when making a purchase and if you suspect it has been tampered with, choose another payment method; and
• If you believe you are the victim of a scam, contact police immediately.
  Anyone with information in regards to these incidents, or anyone who has information about similar incidents, is asked to contact the Fraud Intake Line at 905-825-4777 ext. 8741.
Tips can also be submitted anonymously to Crime Stoppers. “See something? Hear something? Know something? Contact Crime Stoppers” at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS) or through the web at www.haltoncrimestoppers.ca.
 By Staff
January 7th, 2019
BURLINGTON, ON
Part two Facebook patents
Facebook is everywhere – even though the enthusiasm for the service is waning in some sectors.
Hugely popular it is now getting a much closer look due to the impact Facebook is believed to have had on the US 2016 Presidential election ans the decision in the United Kingdom to leave the European Union.
The depth of the data Facebook has collected and their ability and willingness to package that data to meet the needs of corporate and political interests is now so rampant that Congress is considering some form of regulation on how Facebook collects data, often without the permission of the Facebook user.
Facebook recently applied for a number of patents. We described four in part 1 of this two part series. Here are three other patent applications
Listening to your environment
This patent application explores using your phone microphone to identify the television shows you watched and whether ads were muted.
It also proposes using the electrical interference pattern created by your television power cable to guess which show is playing.
It wants to correlate media consumption data with user profiles. U.S. PATENT APPLICATION NO. 14/985,089
Tracking your routine
Another patent application discusses tracking your weekly routine and sending notifications to other users of deviations from the routine. In addition, it describes using your phone’s location in the middle of the night to establish where you live.
The focus would appear to be on routine deviation notification and inferring your habits based on the data they collect.
Think about that for a moment – is this what you want social media doing with the data you let them collect? U.S. PATENT APPLICATION NO. 15/203,063
Inferring your habits
This patent proposes correlating the location of your phone to locations of your friends’ phones to deduce whom you socialize with most often.
It also proposes monitoring when your phone is stationary to track how many hours you sleep. The objective would appear to be to gather statistics for continuous location tracking. U.S. PATENT NO. 9,369,983
In some cases, companies file patents defensively, to beat their rivals to a new technology, even if they have no intention of using it.
While that could be the case for some of Facebook’s patents, many of them imagine new ways to collect, analyze and use personal information and package it for advertisers — a process that is essential to the company’s business model.
In the first quarter of 2018, almost 99 percent of Facebook’s revenue came from advertising.
As long as Facebook keeps collecting personal information, we should be wary that it could be used for purposes more insidious than targeted advertising, including swaying elections or manipulating users’ emotions, said Jennifer King, the director of consumer privacy at the Center for Internet and Society at Stanford Law School. “There could be real consequences,” she said.
Other technology companies have filed unsettling patent applications, too. They include Amazon’s wristbands for tracking warehouse employees and the Google teddy bear equipped with a camera and a microphone.
But with more than two billion monthly active users, most of whom share their thoughts and feelings on the platform, Facebook is amassing our personal details on an unprecedented scale. That isn’t likely to change, said Siva Vaidhyanathan, a professor of media studies at the University of Virginia. “I’ve seen no indication that Facebook has changed its commitment to watch everything we do, record everything we do and exploit everything we do,” he said.
There are people who no longer use Facebook as a platform. The Gazette posts every story it publishes to its own Facebook page. The comments that appear on the Facebook page have nowhere near the clarity and depth that those made by involved readers in the Gazette comments section.
A significant number of people follow the Gazette via Facebook
Each story the Gazette publishes is also sent out as a tweet.
Part 1 of this two part series.
By Staff
January 6th, 2019
BURLINGTON, ON
If you thought that your personal life was private – let us dissuade you of that fairy tale. Have a look at some of the patents Facebook has applied for in the recent past. The data we use comes from the New York Times.
One of the ways that the public can get some sense as to the direction a company might be going in terms of new product development is to keep an eye on the patents they apply for.
A patent sets out an idea for a product a company wants to produce and protects their idea from use by anyone else. In the past year Facebook executives have had to appear before Congressional committees in the United States and Parliamentary committees in the United Kingdom and asked to explain why they have made private information available to corporations who then mined that data and attempt to sway opinions.
There is a lot of evidence to suggest that the 2016 American presidential election and the decision made in the United Kingdom to leave the European Union was swayed by computer applications and “false” news stories on Facebook.
Many expect both Facebook and Google to come under some form of regulation that limits the information they collect and what they can do with information they do collect. Few people have any idea just how much information they have on us.
In a two part series the Gazette will be publishing a brief description of each patent and outlining what the impact of that patent might be.
Facebook has filed thousands of patent applications since it went public in 2012. One of them describes using forward-facing cameras to analyze your expressions and detect whether you’re bored or surprised by what you see on your feed.
Another contemplates using your phone’s microphone to determine which TV show you’re watching. Others imagine systems to guess whether you’re getting married soon, predict your socioeconomic status and track how much you’re sleeping.
 A review of hundreds of Facebook’s patent applications reveals that the company has considered tracking almost every aspect of its users’ lives: where you are, who you spend time with, whether you’re in a romantic relationship, which brands and politicians you’re talking about. The company has even attempted to patent a method for predicting when your friends will die.
 Mark-Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook, appears before Congress – says he wasn’t aware of how much data they were making available to private corporations. Facebook has said repeatedly that its patent applications should not be taken as indications of future product plans. “Most of the technology outlined in these patents has not been included in any of our products, and never will be,” Allen Lo, a Facebook vice president and deputy general counsel, and the company’s head of intellectual property, said in an email.
Taken together, Facebook’s patents show a commitment to collecting personal information, despite widespread public criticism of the company’s privacy policies and a promise from its chief executive to “do better.”
“A patent portfolio is a map of how a company thinks about where its technology is going,” said Jason M. Schultz, a law professor at New York University.
Reading your relationships
One patent application discusses predicting whether you’re in a romantic relationship using information such as how many times you visit another user’s page, the number of people in your profile picture and the percentage of your friends of a different gender. The application would infer relationship statuses of users of a social networking system
If you are into this kind of stuff you can look at the complete patent application on the US government patent site. This one is U.S. PATENT APPLICATION NO. 14/295,543
Classifying your personality
 This one proposes using your posts and messages to infer personality traits. It describes judging your degree of extroversion, openness or emotional stability, then using those characteristics to select which news stories or ads to display. It is U.S. PATENT NO. 9,740,752 and intended to determine user personality characteristics from social networking system communications and characteristics.
Predicting your future
This patent application describes using your posts and messages, in addition to your credit card transactions and location, to predict when a major life event, such as a birth, death or graduation, is likely to occur. They appear to want to predict life changes of members of a social networking system. U.S. PATENT APPLICATION NO. 12/839,350
Identifying your camera
This patent considers analyzing pictures to create a unique camera “signature” using faulty pixels or lens scratches. That signature could be used to figure out that you know someone who uploads pictures taken on your device, even if you weren’t previously connected.
Or it might be used to guess the “affinity” between you and a friend based on how frequently you use the same camera. Patent US 20120072493A1 and U.S. PATENT NO. 8,472,662
Part two of this series will be published tomorrow.
 By Staff
August 14th, 2108
BURLINGTON, ON
They are at it again.
The email was said to come from our bank – advising us that we needed to do something with the password set up we have.
It didn’t come from our bank – but it looked like it could have.
The message said:
You will only able to use your existing security device passcode until 15 August 2018. Effective 16 August 2018, you will be required to log on to your BMO Direct Line for Business with the new synchronized master key.
To avoid any disruption to your BMO Direct Line for Business service, we encourage you to synchronize your security device immediately.
Your online security is our priority, for more detailed information please see the attached PDF document enclosed.
Your new Security Device document is pin-protected and will provide you with an additional level of protection.
Open your document with this PIN Password: 266260
All BMO Direct Line for Business users who do not upgrade there Security Devices in due time will be deactivated and unable to authorize transactions.
The document the sender wanted us to look at was a PDF file. Inside that file was a collection of problems no one who banks on-line wants to go near. If you see something like this – be very cautious.
The rule that matter is: If in doubt – don’t
 By Staff
August 8th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
The Performing Arts Centre has been putting on this program for at least three years. One of the better programs they offer and the price is right – FREE.
The event starts early in the evening with chairs set out on the patio and people sitting at the edges of the Performing Arts Centre taking in the music.
At some point the people who run the Performing Arts Centre will wonder why the part of Locust south of Elgin can’t be shut down to traffic and set chairs out on the street.
This years the Jazz on the Patio runs on two different dates: August 11th and 12th with performances in the afternoons and the evenings.
 The show moves indoors when it rains – still great performances.  There is usually a cash bar. The show goes on no matter what the weather – if it rains the event moves inside.
Great music and a great setting.
If you attend, take a few moment to look at the Spiral Stella – there is a lot of Burlington history in that sculpture.
 By Staff
April 22nd, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
This one is particularly nasty.
 It looked Ok.
It isn’t
You respond – and the process of sealing your identity begins.
Nasty because you think that a trusted service provider (even if the fees are a little on the steep side) is protecting you.
Dear Customer,
We just wanted to confirm that you’ve changed your password. If you didn’t make this change, please login to your PayPal account now.
It’s important that you let us know because it helps us prevent unauthorised persons from accessing the PayPal network and your account information.
Tips to help protect your password:
• Never share your password with anyone.
• Create passwords that are hard to guess and don’t use personal information. Be sure to include uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers and symbols.
• Use different passwords for each of your online accounts.
Yours sincerely – Pay Pal
When we saw the message we check our Pay Pal account – the log in and the password had not been changed. Remember – if in doubt – don’t. And when it comes to your financial affairs – doubt everything.
 By Staff
February 27th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
Not sure how getting free personal credit reports and assuring the public they will have improved access to elevators are related – they were both in a recent provincial government media release.
If passed, the legislation would give consumers easier access to their credit profile.
 Consumers would have online access to their current consumer score at least two times per year, free of charge
That access would include consumer report information about any consumer scores given to third parties in the past 12 months
Implement a credit freeze, at the request of a consumer to help reduce identity theft.
 By Pepper Parr
February 16th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
Was it fake news?
Was it legitimate comment?
Or was it a mischievous cat that had eaten too much catnip and is now out of control?
We published a piece on just how the city found itself before the Ontario Municipal Board on the original ADI Development Group application to put up a high rise tower on the corner of Martha and Lakeshore road in 2015.
That article included a link to a story that had Ward 2 Councillor Marianne Meed Ward exchanging views with Tom Muir who had challenged the explanation Meed Ward had given as to why the city missed the 180 timeline for processing development applications.
 Pat Westbury, a Gazette reader took that link and posted it on the ECoB web site. Nothing wrong with that.
But then we got a note via Facebook from the reader who identified himseslf/herself as Pat Westbury who at 11:04am on Friday sent us the following:
Interesting, this same 2015 article from the Gazette was posted on the ECOB Facebook page. They marked it as spam and despite being informed it wasn’t, they deleted the article. Very telling actions from a group that aspires to represent residents. Just another special interest group ?
Was EcoB deleting material we had published from their web site? We sent them a note asking what the message meant? Any truth to this we asked?
Our EcoB contact got back to us and said:
I am the only one with access to the Facebook page and have no idea what you are talking about. Give me a call if you want, maybe it was a visitor post and that person took it down?
A few minutes later the ECoB contact added:
So I just looked it up and the comment was posted 2 hours ago by a person under the name of Pat Westbury. It looks like Pat has made the comment only visible to her/him and me (ECoB Facebook admin). I haven’t been on Facebook all day so it was most definitely “Pat” who hid the comment unless someone else can mark it as spam but it certainly wasn’t me and there is no notification of someone else marking it as spam. I think I would be notified if someone else marked a comment on my page as spam.
This Pat Westbury has been a mystery to us….no friends on Facebook, opened account in November I believe and has over the top privacy settings.
An hour after the initial link was posted (not sure when it was made private) someone using the name John Was posted the link again. Very smelly indeed.
The Gazette has had dealings with Mr. Was in the past. We had to ask that he no longer comment on the Gazette web site.
At 10:20 pm on Friday we heard from Pat again:
This is visible only to me and ECOB. “Your comment was marked as spam. Show comment” When I click on “Show comment” it tells me comment deleted. Shenanigans, or just censoring comments? Either way not very credible.
Pat wasn’t giving up.
We now knew who was behind the shenanigans
It was an attempt at fake news – is it a sign on how the municipal election is going to be played out.
Civil civic comments only please. Let’s always hold each other accountable.
 By Pepper Parr
January 23rd, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
Why is it that a person supporting the view that council has usually get to speak last?
 Glen Wellings, a planner in private practice, told council that the public comments about the planners was “reprehensible”. He added that he thought the expected Meed Ward motions should be sent to the planners for consideration.
Wellings objected to the “special interests” trying to control the agenda yet when he spoke in Georgetown in 2016, encouraging spectators to voice their opinions in front of Halton Hills council during the public meeting on March 1.
“Go to the meeting on March 1 and let [council] know how you feel,” he said.
 Glenn Wellings – planner. He assured council that the sky was not going to fall and that they should get on with the job they were elected to do.
The objective is to get the damn things off the table so that they don’t have to be voted on.
Council appears determined to rush the draft Official Plan through – to what end is not at all clear. Perhaps because they can.
The citizens have done their best – and there were some exceptionally good delegations. Debby Morrison and Gary Scobie plus Catherine Crozier deserve to be nominated as Burlington’s Best. If you’re reading Catherine – please send us that delegation – it deserves a wider audience.
A rough calculation would be that 250 people attended the public meeting.
The prospect of the Meed Ward motions making it are dim but there was a point when keep Central high school open looked dim – remember how that worked out.
 By David Goodings
January 10th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
We live in an age of misinformation and partisan grandstanding. The latest examples—and there are many—have to do with raising the minimum wage in Ontario to $14.00 per hour at the beginning of this year and to $15.00 a year from now.
Articles on the minimum wage hike tend to be either pity-the-poor-workers or pity-the-small-businessperson. In the first category the authors stress fairness to workers and criticize businesses that can survive only by paying poverty wages to their employees. The second category emphasizes the likelihood of huge job losses and sympathizes with small businesses trying to survive in a highly competitive economy.
 How does one navigate through these troubled waters? Let’s start by trying to find answers to a few key questions. First, does the overall economy suffer? Secondly, who benefits and who loses? Thirdly, have the media been responsible in reporting the situation?
To answer the question about the overall economy and potential job losses it is necessary to look at employment data gathered by Statistics Canada or its counterpart in other countries. Fortunately, economists have not been idle in doing this. Numerous studies [1] [2] have found that increases in the minimum wage have had no measurable effect (after a few months) on the level of employment. This finding is not something that can be altered or fudged according to one’s political bias; employment data are as factual as the data on graduation rates from high schools.
Regarding who benefits and who loses, the minimum wage earners—more than a million in Ontario—have much to gain, though they will still be below the official poverty line, even working 40 hours a week. The economy also gains because people with low incomes spend any extra money right away, benefitting the local economy. The losers are small business owners who, for whatever reasons, are unable to raise their prices. (Tim Horton’s franchise holders are forbidden by their parent company, Restaurant Brands International, from raising prices.)
 Of course, if they find it necessary to raise their prices, so will their competitors, so they are not at a competitive disadvantage. Nevertheless, some small businesses may close or reduce the number of employees or reduce their hours and benefits. While that is regrettable, it may indicate that those businesses were operating unsuccessfully in a competitive market. The minimum wage increase may have the effect of eliminating some businesses that are not viable.
Finally, with regard to the media, it appears that many newspapers and other sources have tried to report both sides of this contentious issue, though I believe they have given more coverage to the plight of small businesses because the business community makes by far the most noise.
There is another aspect of the media response, however, that is troubling, namely, that news reports and headlines are sometimes alarming and lacking in context. An example is a recent research report from the Bank of Canada that predicted a slowdown in job growth amounting to 60,000 jobs across the country. This is a predicted loss of jobs being created in the future, not a loss of existing jobs. How was this reported? From the CBC: “Minimum wage hikes could cost Canada’s economy 60,000 jobs by 2019.” And from the front page of the Toronto Star: “Wage hike could cost 60,000 jobs, Bank of Canada says.”
These look like bad news stories, but what is missing is the fact that the Bank’s overall conclusion is positive, because “the 0.7 per cent increase in the level of aggregate real wages more than offsets the 0.3 per cent decrease in total hours worked.” An illuminating analysis of the Bank of Canada’s report has been given by Michal Rozworski of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. [3]
 The above example shows the importance of context. There is also, of course, the “spin” that editors put on news stories or opinion pieces. For some, Kathleen Wynne and the Ontario Liberal government are, finally, doing the right thing by helping the working poor in a meaningful way. For others they are simply opportunists with an election coming in five months’ time.
My opinion, for what it’s worth? One should weigh the benefits for over a million workers—less worry about paying the rent and feeding the kids, less reliance on food banks and unhealthy food, greater ability to pay for prescription drugs, afford transit, and see the dentist about a painful tooth—against the difficulty faced by a relatively small number of business people unable or unwilling to adapt through raising prices. It’s definitely time for a change.
 David Goodings David Goodings was born in Toronto and studied mathematics and physics at University of Toronto and Cambridge. He was a Professor of physics at McMaster University for thirty years and has been a resident of Burlington since 2001. He is an active member of Poverty Free Halton and Living Wage Halton. Married to Judy for 37 years which may be why his favourite piano piece is: Ain’t Misbehavin’ by Fats Waller.
Sources:
[1] Minimum wage hike won’t bring ‘doom and gloom’, economists say. Open letter by 40 Canadian economists endorses proposed provincial wage increase. Sara Mojtehedzadeh, Toronto Star, July 4, 2017.
[2] Wage Mythology. The minimum wage and the impact on jobs in Canada, 1983-2012, by Jordan Brennan and Jim Stanford. Report from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, October 2014
[3] Media get it wrong on Bank of Canada minimum wage study. Michal Rozworski of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives in Behind the Numbers:
https://behindthenumbers.ca/2018/01/05/media-get-it-wrong-on-minimum-wage/#.Wk_CMOZvTts.facebook
Previous article.
 By Staff
November 20th, 2017
BURLINGTON, ON
When you see a notice like this in your electronic mail box you are at first startled and you want to do something immediately to ensure that there is not a problem with your email.
The instinct is to respond.
 Look at the email address the message came from. If you didn’t have a problem before you saw the email notice – you will most certainly have one if you do respond. You will have unwittingly given them access to your email.
This is what Identify Theft is all about.
By Staff
November 2, 2017
BURLINGTON, ON
This from people who claimed to be the TD Bank – anyone who opened that pdf would have invited all kinds of grief into their lives.
Whenever you see something you are not absolutely certain about – take a pass on it.
To ensure uninterrupted processing of payments after November 1st, 2017, please refer to the document available thru this communication.
For more detailed information please open the attached PDF below. You will need a password to open the secure document.
YOUR DOCUMENT PASSWORD: wbb71dx4
You are now required by law to review these document(s) immediately or your commercial banking account will be suspended until further notice due to new regulations.
We thank you for your cooperation and appreciate your business.
TD Business Banking Management,
TD BANK GROUP – Web Business Banking
The biggest red flag is the sender – this email came from an offshore location.
‘TD Commercial Banking <relationshipmanager01@birch.net
Banks do not contact you this way. These thieves prey on stupid greedy people – don’t prove that you are one of them. If in doubt – don’t.
By Staff
October 5th, 2017
BURLINGTON, ON
Most of us read about the Ancaster resident who was arrested for being the mind behind the hack into the Yahoo site.
Karim Baratov, a dual national of Kazakhstan and Canada, was arrested at his home in Ancaster, Ont. by Toronto Police and handed over to the RCMP.
 Fast cars – fast women – those days have come to an end for Karim Baratov He hasn’t seen anything outside a jail cell since.
The size of the computer hack was massive – billions of people had personal data compromised. We will be dealing with the fallout from that hack for decades.
Probably well after Baratov get out of an American prion, assuming he is convicted.\
Governments and police forces around the world are struggling to get at least a bit of a grip on the identity thefts taking place.
Baratov is accused of being paid by two Russian spies to break into the email accounts of targeted individuals, according to an early release from the U.S. Department of Justice.
He and his lawyers put up a fight to prevent him from being extradited to the United States where he was to stand trial.
When it became evident that the extradition was going to take place the Canadian lawyers threw in the towel and off he went to California where the full force of their criminal justice system will be thrown at Baratov who is a dual national of Kazakhstan and Canada.
 The massive compute hack lowered the price shareholders got. Yahoo was in the process of being sold to a large American telecommunications firm (Verizon) who ended up paying a lot less for Yahoo once the hack was made public.
Corporations that get hacked have in the recent past been slow to inform the public. That is beginning to change.
 Karim Baratov with one of the several cars he owned. Yahoo recently released instructions for people who have a Yahoo email account on what to do to protect themselves.
If I had a Yahoo account I would be moving out of that site quick, quick, quick.
If you decide to stay with Yahoo – here is the link to the instructions issued.
By Pepper Parr
September 9th, 2019
BURLINGTON, ON
He is in the process of becoming a media star, the “go to guy” if you want a comment on how municipalities are going to handle the demand for housing.
 Mayor’s 2015 Christmas card picture. The Mayor was on CBC twice this week- once with Anna Maria Tremonti on The Current, where we learned that the Mayor was one of the Regional Council members who voted for a program that would have the Region paying for a large part of the cost of a back flow valve, that prevents water from your home’s sewer line from flowing back into the plumbing when there is heavy rains. On August 4th 2014 there were heavy rains.
The Mayor told Tremonti that he as one of the Regional Council members who put his hand up and voted yes.
Unfortunately for the Mayor he was not one of the people who took advantage of that opportunity and when the city was severely flood on August 4th, 2014 he got five feet of water in his basement while his next door neighbour, who had a back flow valve was reported to have been dry.
 Having told the The Current audience (the program is broadcast nationally) the Mayor was then heard on CBC’s Metro Morning with Matt Galloway where he explained what the city manager meant when he said Burlington was not going to be able to build any more single family dwellings because the city has run out of land.
Land use in Burlington is made up of 50% rural, 34% traditional suburban housing, 11% employment lands and the 5% of the city that is not going to have any high rise structures.
The Mayor told the world that a decision was made in 2006 to protect the escarpment and not allow the creation of sub-divisions north of the Hwy 407 – Dundas roadways.
The full interview is HERE
During his conversation with Galloway the Mayor said there was a range of views on the change that is taking place in the city. He used the phrase “bubble wrapped” to describe those who did not want to see any change in the structure of the city.
Interesting interview – worth listening to. You can arrive at your own conclusions as to whether this Mayor reflects your view of your city.
 In one of his tweets the Mayor appears to be telling his followers that he is going to run for mayor in 2018. Why else would he put quote marks around the word “running” The Mayor is clearly upping his game and doing everything he can to get a bit of a leg up on the race for the Office of Mayor that will be decided in October of 2018. Expect at least two people to run against him.
 Sometime ago he wanted the citizens of the city to know that he was a transit advocate and once rode the bus to work – and posted a selfie so that people would know he was actually on the bus.
The releasing of this picture to the public is something the Mayor might have run by his communications adviser.
By Staff
July 7th, 2017
BURLINGTON, ON
You can almost set an alarm clock by the rate at which these bank scams come along.
People tend to trust their banks; when they see an email with a bank logo included it is natural to assume the message is from your bank.
You need to check the content of the email – and if there is any doubt – delete the message.
The banks are as overwhelmed as the bank customers are over ID theft and email scams – it is a problem that is out of control and won’t get any better until internet traffic security is improved.
What is it about the mail below that tells you it is fraudulent? First banks don’t use email to advise their clients – they will call you.
Second look at the address the email came from. It wasn’t’ a bank.
 It isn’t real. It is an attempt to get at your bank account.
By Staff
May 14, 2017
BURLINGTON, ON
What is wrong with this email? It says it is from Apple – I am not an Apple user – so why would I respond to it?
Also – it is not from Apple.
The clues – and you need to learn to look for them.
 Emails like this are flooding the internet – doing a lot of damage to the finances of individuals and costing the banks and the credit card companies a small fortune – billions.
The address it came from – does have the word apple in it – but it isn’t from the Apple organization.
The mis-spelling of the word security is the biggest clue. Major corporations don’t make that kind of mistake – should it happen they would correct it in second.
Should you click on any of the places they ask you to – you have started the process that could well end up with you losing your identity to someone else – who can do you a lot of harm. How much damage can they do – check out this story we published.
Be careful, be cautious. when you cross the street you look both ways – do the same with email. The internet has brought us huge changes – and with those changes come some problems. If the email you get looks to good to be true – that’s because it isn’t. The thieves are relying on your gullibility and your greed.
By Staff
April 27, 2107
BURLINGTON, ON
This bank scam is pretty raw and direct.
 The message looks pretty official but the fact is that Scotia bank does not send emails like this.
If you are a Scotia Bank customer and bank on line you will see the following message. They don’t do what the email at the top of this story does.
How do you know the message is not from the bank – look at the address of the people it came from. The sender of this message has created and used a name that looks like it could be from Scotia Bank –
ScotiaBank <Secure.eMail@scotiabanksecure.com
But it isn’t – they have included the word secure to lull you into thinking it is real. Many Scotia customers might get lured in by this.
Pay careful attention to the address an email came from – and if in doubt – don’t!
By Pepper Parr
April 12th, 2017
BURLINGTON, ON
They are relentless.
Millions, tens of millions of email like the one below get sent out to lists of email addresses.
When you get one – read the address it came from very very carefully – they are all false, phony messages sent to you in the hope that you just might click on the message.
 Read the address this phony email came from. The name between the < > is the sender – not the Royal Bank. If you don’t recognize the name of the sender – don’t open the email. When you do that they have got a bit of a hook in you and they will slowly try and reel you in to the point where they have enough information to begin stealing your money.
The recipient of this message does not have an account with the Royal Bank
Dear (name erased to protect the recipient)
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By Staff
March 1, 2017
BURLINGTON, ON
The Halton Regional Police Service (HRPS), is one of 80 law enforcement agencies and public and private sector organizations nationwide, hat will be involved in Fraud Prevention Month 2017. The hashtag is #FPM2017.
Each year, thousands of Canadians of all ages and backgrounds become victims of fraud. Fraud victims not only suffer direct financial loss but may endure the stressful process of reversing its damaging effects such as identity theft and negative credit/credit history.
The Gazette reports on some very sad situations where a senior has lost tens of thousands of dollars in some cases to people who have preyed on them
Halton Regional Police Staff Sergeant Chris Lawson of the Regional Fraud Unit points out that” “The reality is fraud is a moving target – no sooner does word spread about one scam then it’s on to another. While the specifics surrounding a scam may differ, they are all rooted in deceit. The key is to know what to look for.”
Now in its 13th year, the aim of Fraud Prevention Month is to educate Canadians about fraud and on how best to protect themselves from it through the 3Rs: Recognition, Rejection, and Reporting. The central theme for 2017 is ‘Don’t buy into fraud.’
To accomplish this, agencies including the HRPS will carry out a number of activities and initiatives specific to their jurisdiction. In Halton, these will include:
• Weekly ‘Fraud of the Week’ press releases detailing current/popular schemes
• Increased promotion of fraud-related arrests to members of the press and through social media (Twitter (@HaltonPolice and District accounts) and Facebook)
• Live Fraud Q&A on Twitter (@HaltonPolice) on Friday, March 17 from 11:00 a.m. – noon
• Fraud information sessions for seniors offered at retirement homes throughout Halton
More information about fraud, including a number of useful links and resources, is available at www.haltonpolice.ca/about/specializedunits/fraud.php or by following the hash tag #FPM2017 on Twitter through @HaltonPolice.
By Staff
February 21, 2017
BURLINGTON, ON
The Halton Regional Police, 3 District Criminal Investigations Bureau – Vulnerable Persons Unit have identified and arrested two males who are alleged to have targeted an elderly female resident in the City of Burlington and subjecting her to prolonged financial abuse spanning between 2011 through to 2016.
The two accused have worked as high pressure door-to-door salesman, specializing in the installation of water and air filtration systems. The accused individuals rendered services to the elderly victim and subsequently gained access to her banking, credit card and other financial information. Presently, the financial loss to the victim exceeds $210 000.
Accused # 1: Derek CALVIN (38 years) of Hamilton is associated with a number of businesses: Pure Air Clean, Worldwide Industries, Eagle Water and Indoor Air Care Products. He has been charged with three counts of Theft Over $5000 and two counts of Theft Under $5000 contrary to the Criminal Code, in relation to the elderly female victim. He was released on a Promise to Appear in Milton Court on March 15th 2017.
Accused # 2: Edgordo CASTRO (41 yrs-old) of Brantford is associated to his company, Universal Water Technologies has been charged with Fraud Over $5000 and Unauthorized use of Credit Card Data, Contrary to the Criminal Code, in relation to the same elderly female victim in the City of Burlington. He was released on a Promise to Appear in Milton Court on March 8th 2017.
Citizens are reminded to be vigilant when engaging with any high pressure door-to-door salespeople. and to protect their financial data and identity information, especially when entering into contracts for products and services.
Citizens should ask questions, review and receive a written contract for products and services, control access to their financial information and only deal with contractors they have sought out to complete work in their home.
If citizens of Halton Region have concerns with these individuals and/or the identified businesses, you are encouraged to contact Detective Constable’s Nadine Clarke or Derek Gray – 3 District Criminal Investigations Bureau – Vulnerable Persons Unit – Elder Abuse and Frauds @905-825-4747, Ext 5345 or Ext 2344.
Tips can also be submitted to Crime Stoppers “See something, Hear something, Say something” at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS), through the web at www.haltoncrimestoppers.ca, or by texting “Tip201” with your message to 274637 (crimes).
For any other Fraud related matters please contact the Halton Police Fraud Intake Unit at: 1-905-465-8741 or on-line at:
https://www.haltonpolice.ca/about/specializedunits/fraud.php
For information about Contracts and Consumer Rights please contact, The Ontario Ministry of Government and Consumer Protection at 1-877-666-6545, or on-line at:
https://www.sse.gov.on.ca/mcs/en/pages/default.aspx
For more information about Consumer Protection and to search Ontario businesses complaints please contact, Consumer Protection Ontario at 1-800-889-9768, or on-line at:
https://www.ontario.ca/page/consumer-protection-ontario
For more information about Frauds, Scams and Counterfeit merchandise, please contact: The Canadian Anti-Fraud Center at 1-888-495-8501, or on-line at:
https://www.antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca/index-eng.htm
March is Fraud Prevention Month – Recognize It! Report It! Stop It!
March is National Fraud Prevention month and the Halton Regional Police, along with numerous government, law enforcement, consumer and volunteer groups and private sector firms will be sharing fraud prevention information to raise public awareness and educate the public to prevent them from becoming victims of this increasing crime.
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