Senior Fraud Alert Website

This is a free resource to learn how to identify fraud and protect yourself from it.

Did you know that WSAC helped create a website to help older adults identify fraud and protect themselves from it?

According to the Canadian Anti Fraud Centre, from January 1st to May 31st, 2022, the impact of fraud so far this year is:

• Reports of fraud: 37,284 – (106,945 in 2021)
• Victims of fraud: 23,653 – (67,901 in 2021)
• Lost to fraud: $207 Million – ($381 M in 2021)

SENIOR FRAUD ALERT WEBSITE – www.seniorfraudalert.ca

The Senior Fraud Alert website is an education and prevention initiative led by the YEG Seniors Alliance (*see below) in partnership with the Edmonton Police Service and funded by the Edmonton Community Foundation.  

YEG Seniors Alliance Social Workers noticed seniors repeatedly being the victims of internet and phone fraud, even after being educated on scams.  After speaking with seniors who had experienced being defrauded on multiple occasions, it became clear that the current fraud prevention resources were ineffective for seniors.

Seniors needed a different approach to fraud prevention education.

In order to be effective it needed to be:

1. Written in plain language that was free of jargon and technical terms and could be easily translated to multiple languages
2. In small educational modules that provided simple but effective solutions
3. Positive and empowering rather than negative and fear-inducing

AWARE, NOT AFRAID – the Senior Fraud Alert website’s mission is to:

1. Help make seniors aware of the risks of using technology, and not afraid to use it.
2. Encourage them to use this free resource to learn how to identify fraud and protect themselves from it.
3. Empower them to “suspect, detect, report” – once they complete the course they will be able to spot the clues left by scammers and stop them from causing harm by contacting the authorities.

STOP & SPOT COURSE:

The website features our “Stop & Spot” course.  This free resource teaches seniors how to detect, and protect themselves from, fraud. Whether they have been scammed before, know someone who has, or they are just looking to be proactive… this course is a great starting point or a refresher for everyone.

The course features 5 sections that cover the following types of frauds, with video tutorials on each of the sub-categories and tips for “spotting the scam” and “stopping the scam”.  The following is a breakdown of all the modules.

Funded by Edmonton Community Foundation