Skip to content

People should always be aware of scams

Scams have been around for a while now, and unfortunately, some fall victim and can be out a lot of money.
31625906_web1_230124-RIM-Seniors-Scams-_1
It’s advised to never give out your personal information, including credit card information over the phone or email. If unsure, head to someone you trust.

Scams have been around for a while now, and unfortunately, some fall victim and can be out a lot of money.

One of the most common scams Joey Jensen, manager of Rimbey TV, has seen through customers, are what’s called love scams or romance scams. This is where people are often convinced into sending money or iTunes cards, Steam cards and such overseas for people to come over to them, but they are really just scamming them out of money and never end up meeting up in person.

Many people may think scams are mostly targeted to seniors, but this isn’t always the case.

Jensen said she thinks it can be targeted to those who may, for example, live a lonely life,.

“So, it doesn’t just affect seniors unfortunately,” said Jensen.

Some preventative ways to avoid scams are not clicking on any links in emails or text messages and taking the scam to somebody trustworthy, like a bank, who are aware of these issues.

Beyond the fake love scams are, of course, so many different ones out there that just about anyone can fall for. Many scams will have the names of big banks in the title of their email or phone, but Jensen said people should never give out a pre-paid credit card, whether that’s banking, an iTunes card, Amazon, etc.

“I think it’s that we’ve pushed technology on them (seniors), so that when they get a text message saved and it says from ATB or from Telus, they believe it, because they think that’s the way things are going, so it must be an okay thing, but it never is. They’re always fake.”