On December 6, 2007, I was very fortunate to have as guests on “Strictly Legal,” Graham McWaters and Gary Ford.  Graham and Gary are the co-authors of a new book called “The Canadian Guide to Protecting Yourself from Identity Theft and Other Frauds.”  It is published by Insomniac Press, and I can tell you from my own personal reading of the book that it is a winner.  It is very easy to read and provides very practical advice on what is becoming a dangerous threat to privacy in the lives of Canadians.

Graham McWaters has worked within the financial services industry for over a decade and Gary Ford is the Vice-President of Sales and Marketing for a national insurer in the area of title insurance, so they know of what they speak.

We began the programme with a brief overview of the nightmare experienced by Alicia McAteer.  When she was eighteen years old and attending college in British Columbia, she became the victim of identity theft.  Her purse was stolen from a bowling alley.  Two years later, she was still trying to sort out various frauds that had been committed under her identity, including car accidents, video store charges, snowboard thefts and a draining of her bank account while she was away on a trip to Mexico. 

This kind of fraud is happening and Canadians need to be proactive in protecting themselves.I have already heard from many viewers of “Strictly Legal” who – in the middle of the show – went and picked up their wallets and purses and removed their social insurance cards and birth certificates.  This is a very practical tip that Graham and Gary gave on the show.  If someone steals your wallet or purse and those two pieces of identification are taken, there is little that can be done to stop them from stealing your identity.  There is no need to carry those two pieces of identification in your wallet or purse.  Instead, they should be immediately taken out and put in a safe place at home (eg. with your passport).

In their book, they trace not only the way in which identity theft occurs, but also what can be done if you feel that you have been the victim.

In a separate chapter, they deal with debit and credit card fraud, something that we should all be wary of during the Christmas shopping period.  Some of their tips include carrying only one or, at most, two credit cards.  Never write your PIN on your credit card.  Always make sure that you have a record of the phone numbers of the credit card companies and the numbers written down in a safe place so that if you have to report them stolen, the information is immediately available.  And, last but not least, of course, if your card is stolen, it should be reported immediately so that the credit card company can stop the thief by immediately canceling your credit card.

Another useful tip is to always check your credit card receipts as soon as they arrive.  I am surprised at the number of people who have mentioned to me that they check their credit card receipt only to find that they had been billed over the course of a number of months for items that they had not purchased or services they had not received.

I asked Graham to explain the “Lebanese Loop.”  This is a technique where a fraudster puts a plastic sleeve in an ABM machine.  When you insert your card, it sticks in the plastic sleeve and cannot be removed.  The con man then tells you that the same thing happened to him and that the best way to get the card out is to put your PIN in several times.  The con watches you do so and then when the card is not ejected from the machine, he has the useful advice of, “You should see the bank manager.”  Of course, after you leave, the fraudster removes the plastic sleeve from the machine and has your card and PIN number.

Graham and Gary devote an entire chapter to Internet and e-mail fraud with explanations about “phishing,” “spoofing,” “keystroke logging” and all of the other creative ways that are being invented to rip you off on the Internet.  In a separate chapter, they deal with mortgage fraud which, sadly, shows no likelihood of decline.  Title insurance can be purchased to protect a home from this type of fraud and, as Gary Ford explained, there is little that a homeowner can do if someone is determined to engage in a fraud.

Graham and Gary have performed a bit of a public service in providing Canadians with this guide and I hope to have them back on the show in 2008 to talk about some of the other more sophisticated types of rip-offs and how Canadians can avoid being victimized.

Michael G. Cochrane, B.A., LL.B.

This entry was posted on Friday, January 25th, 2008 at 5:13 am.
It is categorized under Uncategorized.
You can follow responses through the RSS 2.0 feed.