Post by Doug L on Aug 24, 2015 12:59:35 GMT -5
British Columbia’s Better Business Bureau has just released its list of the top 10 scams of 2014, and it shows most scams are now happening online, and scam artists are increasingly using social media to net victims.
Canadians lost more than $70-million to scams last year, up from $53-million the year before, according to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre. But that’s likely a conservative estimate, since only about 5 per cent of victims actually report scams.
The list shows that fraudsters are using our tendency to crowd-source information against us. This year’s top ad scam is astroturfing, where scammers post fake online reviews that make bad products or companies look appealing. Ninety per cent of people now read reviews before making a purchase, and at least one in 5 of those reviews are fake, according to Danielle Primrose, president of the B.C. Better Business Bureau.
“It does a huge disservice to the marketplace trust,” she said at a news conference on Thursday. “While they can be helpful, don’t solely rely on reviews. Check out a business’s track record.”
read more
Canadians lost more than $70-million to scams last year, up from $53-million the year before, according to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre. But that’s likely a conservative estimate, since only about 5 per cent of victims actually report scams.
The list shows that fraudsters are using our tendency to crowd-source information against us. This year’s top ad scam is astroturfing, where scammers post fake online reviews that make bad products or companies look appealing. Ninety per cent of people now read reviews before making a purchase, and at least one in 5 of those reviews are fake, according to Danielle Primrose, president of the B.C. Better Business Bureau.
“It does a huge disservice to the marketplace trust,” she said at a news conference on Thursday. “While they can be helpful, don’t solely rely on reviews. Check out a business’s track record.”
read more
