Know who you’re dealing with

Durham police is teaming up with the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police for this year’s provincial Crime Prevention Campaign – and for 2016, the focus is on scams of all kinds.

The campaign, titled Know Who You’re Dealing With, was chosen because of what numerous police forces across Ontario have noted as “an increase in sophisticated, well-organized financial criminal activities that prey on people’s lack of understanding about their rights concerning financial matters,” according to a news release.

Each year, financial crime and fraud cost Canadians more than $10 billion. Mass marketing fraud was reported more than 50,000 times in 2015, according to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, leading to a loss of $75 million, up from $61.3 million in 2014.

A new booklet detailing how to prevent these types of crimes is now available at oacp.on.ca.