Jay Calvert Scams

Avoiding Crypto Investment Scams: A Real Case from Canada

Avoiding Crypto Investment Scams: A Real Case from Canada

Another financial scam in more detail. This time it is a variation of the Investment scam. Cryptocurrency scams are based around cryptocurrency, a highly volatile digital currency that has gained a lot of popularity over the last 15 years. You might know it better as Bitcoin, which is just one type of cryptocurrency. Like a brand if you will, and there are many other names of cryptocurrency like Ethereum, Tether or Dogecoin.

Why Do Scammers Deal With Cryptocurrency?

What makes cryptocurrency enticing to criminals is that it is basically unlinkable to whoever owns that little string of alphanumeric characters that make up the block of data that is your money. Once the transaction is done, there is no way to find out who is behind it in order to get your money back. Once it is gone, it is typically gone for good.

Cryptocurrencies are pretty complicated in how they work without a central bank, so we won’t get into how they work here. The important thing to know about cryptocurrencies, is that they are typically unstable, and unpredictable which make them prime candidates for scamming somebody with.

We have all heard the tales of those who have made millions in cryptocurrency investments, but in honesty, these are very, very rare these days. Yes there are many cases of those who have doubled or tripled their investments, but a lot of people have taken major losses. Cryptocurrency markets are akin to playing the lottery with your savings. You probably won’t win.

Because we hear about people who have been successful in cryptocurrencies, we think that we should dip our toes into it and see what it is all about. Maybe just a small investment of $100 is a safe start…

I recently read a story where someone had seen an ad on Facebook and decided to take a little chance. They only used $100 to start with, seems like a fair gamble, and not losing too much if it does turn out to be a scam right? Well, they get a call a few weeks later saying that their investment has grown to $90,000 USD! But, in order to get the money, they say he needs to send 10% to his crypto account in order to withdraw the $90,000. It was when the person went into the bank to cash a cheque to cover the amount needed, and the person was asking how long it would take for the cheque to clear because they needed to withdraw the $9000. The teller was interested in what it was for and asked the person. The person told the teller about the 10% needed to withdraw the $90,000 and the teller knew immediately that this was a common scam and was able to convince the person to not pay them.

Canada’s Mandatory AML Training

In Canada, luckily, Anti-money laundering training is mandatory at all banks and financial institutions. At all levels of the organization, even those who are not tellers. AML (Anti-Money Laundering) training is designed to educate individuals on identifying, reporting, and preventing money laundering activities within financial institutions and other regulated businesses. It covers the basic principles of anti-financial crime, financial regulations, compliance aspects, and risk preparation.

So, luckily, this person lived in Canada and the teller was able to save him from sending more money to the scammer.

Protecting Yourself

This is just one example of Crypto scams, there are several more. Some key takeaways here;

  1. Never invest with somebody you have found online, especially through an advertisement, anybody can buy advertisements online.
  2. Cryptocurrency is not a way to get rich quick, don’t fall for the hype
  3. Nobody can guarantee a high return on cryptocurrency without any risk
  4. Remember the 4 P’s. If it is too good to be true, it probably is.

Jay Calvert Scams

CRA Low Income Seniors Scam

CRA Low Income Seniors Scam

A new scam aimed at seniors is claiming the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) is sending extra payments to low income seniors. Websites with false information describe benefits and some contain links to join Telegram or WhatsApp instant messaging groups.

It wasn’t too hard to find the proof of this. I was able to find a few sites with this claim, along with other false claims. Here is one such image I was able to get from one of the sites; There were several YouTube videos as well that I saw with this same info.

Not Helping The Confusion

Interestingly enough, which might actually be adding fuel to the fire in this case is an updated article on the Government of Canada website (https://canada.ca) that shows the following when performing a search :

The article date is from Feb 12, 2025, and it looks like there is a one-time payment…will be issued automatically… etc. But if you click the link and read the article, it is only in the middle that says August 16, 2021. This is an old article that was updated in February of this year.

You can read the article here, it is very confusing, since it looks like it is from Feb 12, 2025 but is actually from 2021.

Moral Of This Story

Do your research, don’t trust everything you read. What would happen in this case is you read about it or see it on YouTube, in a Facebook Reel etc. then you join the Telegram or WhatsApp instant messaging groups or get a call on it. They need to confirm some information with you first to be able to process it etc. Then they have access to your personal information, or even worse, access to your OAP.

Yes, the government has done something similar before and the last few years there have a lot of government cheques being handed out, from Carbon Tax Credits, to assistance that was happening at the beginning of Covid. It wouldn’t be far fetched to think that this is something else. Especially at a time that the government was changing powers, with the new leader of the Liberal party trying to get your trust by doing something like this while they were still in power, and the possibility of a new government forming after the election.

Timing is everything with scams. Always remember the 4 P’s and take a breath, pause and think.

Be sure to read about the others scams that are going around here.

Jay Calvert Scams, Tips and Tricks

Why Are Seniors Targeted?

Why are seniors targeted?

We often read in the newspaper about a senior citizen being scammed. We also hear about this online or on the radio and TV nearly every day. The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre reported that in 2023, there were 63,847 senior Canadians who were victims of fraud. They lost over $578 million. This is up from 2022 and up from 2021. This is not going to go down for 2024 or 2025. Fraud is the top crime perpetrated against our senior citizens in Canada now. These are only the reported cases. It is estimated that this number is much, much higher. Personal shame and embarrassment that comes with being scammed contribute to under reporting.

The Reason Seniors are Targeted

Unfortunately, there are multiple reasons why seniors are targeted by scammers. A lot of it comes from their good, trusting nature. However, age also affects our ability to think clearly in a confusing situation.

Convenience

Seniors are home during the day to answer the phone or door.

More Trustworthy

Senior citizens are known for their kind hearted and trusting nature.

Politeness

Senior citizens are usually polite, well mannered and non-confrontational

Less technological savvy

Senior citizens are usually not technologically savvy, and the world is constantly changing and how things are done are too. It is very hard to keep up even with something that used to be simple, like Online Banking.

Loneliness

Loneliness in seniors can drive them to answer unknown calls. They talk to scammers and spend time with them on the phone. Seniors can be convinced that the caller is legitimate or coerced with enough time.

Strive for Independence

Seniors often strive for independence because it provides a sense of purpose, control, and self-worth. They want to be able to make their own decisions may not seek help with presented with an problem.

Financial stability

Seniors are considered to be financially stable and having disposable income. Yet, some have no other savings or income than their pension plan. They are susceptible to finance scams or get-rich-quick scams.

Cognitive Issues

No group of people* is more susceptible to being deceived than our seniors. Scammers can easily take advantage of them. Unfortunately, this is because of age, and as we age, our mental abilities degrade. This can impair judgment and decision making abilities.


* second to seniors is actually the other end of the age scale, teens are the second age bracket most targeted and susceptible to scams.

Jay Calvert Scams, Tips and Tricks

Understanding Disinformation vs. Misinformation

We get an awful amount of information online that helps shapes our opinions and the decisions we make. It is important to get a good base for our opinions and decisions if we are going to be using information we find online as a source. It is important to ensure what we are reading / watching is in fact truthful. First, lets break down the difference between disinformation and misinformation

Disinformation

  • False information
  • Intended to mislead
  • Propaganda
  • Deliberately intended to mislead

Misinformation

  • Incorrect information
  • False or inaccurate
  • Getting the facts wrong

Identifying Disinformation

Disinformation usually tries to trigger an emotional response, usually making a bold statement on a controversial issue. We saw quite a bit of that in the last federal election, during Covid and we will continue to see it. Remember disinformation is misleading information, they are trying to trick you into believing something. Also, it is important to note that the more we see the same disinformation, the easier it is for us to accept it as truth.

Identifying Misinformation

Misinformation is incorrect information being shared. There is a difference between disinformation and misinformation, and that is that misinformation is not intentional. We did see a lot of misinformation being spread as well during the last Federal election and it was everywhere during Covid. This could be people hearing something enough, that they believed it to be true, or wanted it to be true and were sharing the information without doing or accepting the research that they did find.

Practice Makes Perfect

During Covid we saw a lot of disinformation through the Freedom Party and other right-wing groups stating that the Covid 19 pandemic was caused by a chemical weapons leak, to the vaccine containing wireless tracking chips that were implanted in everybody who got the vaccine so the government could track them. Both of these would be very hard to prove for the average person. But, it was unavoidable to not hear this information from somewhere. You either heard it on the news, or the Chief Medical Officer’s briefings, where they were reporting that the disinformation was being spread, to the lineups at the grocery store, to YouTube videos shoving the lie down your throat with every YouTube search trying to find the truth.

We have heard the saying ‘practice makes perfect’, that is the repeated effort and learning through trial and error lead to improvement and skill development. Well, if we hear the same information over and over, our brain starts to accept it. Same thing happens when you see somebody for the first time, you may not even notice them, or you may judge them unfairly. However, the more we see somebody’s face, the more used to it we become, and naturally, we start to warm up to them, gaining trust. Even if we have never spoken to that person before, if we see them everywhere, we start to ‘know’ them mentally.

Ways to Fact Check

It is up to us to do the fact checking in order to change our minds. We are unlikely, or least less likely to have our opinions changed unless we do. There are several resources to help combat disinformation and misinformation, and we really should do our due diligence before we go spreading it around.

Snopes.com

Snopes.com has been around for almost as long as the Internet. There is a good reason for that since the birth of the public Internet, everybody can have a soap box that is world reachable. Snopes is a great resource for fact checking because they back their proof with articles and examples. Every ‘fact’ that they investigate is bias free, bipartisan and fact checked with the source, scientific papers, media and other resources to collobrate the story or to debunk it. It has just over 30 years experience doing this and are the leading debunkers on the internet

You can access Snopes.com here

Media Smarts

Media Smarts is Canada’s Centre for Digital Media Literacy, and again has been around for just over 30 years. It started with as a child of the National Film Board of Canada and became independant in 1996. Remember the House Hippo, that was them.

You can access the Media Smarts search here

Other Fact Checking Sites

  • AFP Fact Checking (click here)
  • Reuters Fact Check (click here)

It is important that you make up your own mind on what you see and hear is real, specially in today’s age. Not only by what is going on in the world today, but by all the sources of information and media we digest daily. Choosing good sources of information, that is trustworthy is key. If you are unsure, use one of the above sites to check.

Always Check Before Sharing

It is crucial that you don’t add to the problem by sharing something that you read online, or a friend has shared without doing a little bit of research first. Remember disinformation is trying to get an emotional response from you to start with, don’t let it, stop and pause and think about it. Misinformation is information spread by not knowing if it is real or not.

If Your Friend is Sharing Misinformation

We have all come across it, but how do we help correct them without them taking offense. Remember, they might not know the information that they shared is not factual. Remember though to make sure your information is before correcting somebody.

  • Take it to a private conversation, don’t share the correction publicly.
  • Provide examples of the correct information
  • Be polite and respectful

Here are a few great starters I have found…

“I noticed you shared this article about [topic]. I wanted to share that fact-checkers have proven it to be inaccurate. Here’s why…” 

“That’s not something I’d heard before. What’s the source for that information?” 

“I was curious about the thing you posted, so I did some Googling and here’s what I found…” 

Jay Calvert Scams

The Most Common Financial Services Scams Explained

The most common financial services scams explained

Always near the top of scams targeting seniors are Financial Services Scams. These vary from scammers pretending to be a bank, a mortgage company etc, to an investment scheme promising you to make high returns on your investment.

Either way, the end goal for the scammer is to get your money. Here we will break down the various types scams, and some things you can do to help protect yourself.

Investment Scams

Scammers lure investors with promises of high returns, often using fabricated investment opportunities or fake celebrity endorsements

Debt Relief Scams

Unregulated debt advisors may promise to eliminate your debt but charge excessive fees or encourage you to stop communicating with creditors, leaving you worse off. 

Impersonation Scams

Scammers impersonate banks, mortgage companies, insurance companies, debt collection companies etc, to obtain personal information or money

Double Dip Scam

In this scenario, the scammer has got to you once, and was successful. This time they come back and tell you that some of your initial investment has been lost and they have a plan to help regain your losses and make even more money – for a small investment, again.

Fake Relationship Scam / Romance Scam

This one is hard to hear, but happens all the time. This scam involves you getting pretty close with somebody only to have them tell you, that they are dire need of financial help. They have hit a rough patch, have to pay off a loan etc. There is always a sob story, and a lot of seniors lose a lot of money this way every year. Feeling loved and wanted is so horrible when it is used against you and you end up used, and broke.

Work From Home Scams

This one you see on Facebook all the time, always with comments disabled only method to reach them is through direct message. A company will typically offer a job with high income, but low hours that you can set yourself. There isn’t much information given, but once you connect with them, the job requires you to pay a fee first to get setup, for training, for supplies, or simply to apply for the job.

Overpayment Scams

This is where the scammer sends you a cheque, but it is for too much. They say that they made a mistake, and get you to deposit the cheque and then send back the difference. Then the cheque bounces and you are out of the money that you sent back.

Signs of a Financial Services Scam

  • Demands for immediate payment (pay immediately, often using threats or urgency)
  • Promised High returns for low risk
  • Claims this is a hot tip or insider information
  • Investment dealer is not registered to sell investments / not registered with the provincial securities regulator (required in Canada)
  • Requests for sensitive information (may ask you for your SIN, bank account details, Credit Card information or passwords
  • Unrealistic promises
  • Pressure to make quick decisions, no time to investigate
  • Unusual payment methods (like gift cards, cryptocurrency or prepaid credit cards)
  • Requests for confidentiality (don’t tell your friends and family about this amazing deal scam)
  • Be careful of hot tips and investment opportunities from friends too, they might be caught in a scheme where they have been told they will make money if they recruit more friends (a pyramid scheme / multilevel marketing)

How to Protect Yourself

Pause, take a moment and think of the 4 P’s (link here), also remember these old adages

“Nothing in Life is Free”

“If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is”

 “There’s nothing more expensive than free.”

  • Don’t give out personal information (including banking or credit card details)
  • No reputable business will deal with prepaid credit cards, don’t do this
  • Asking you to keep quiet about it is a huge red flag, they don’t want your family to tell you that this is a scam

The scammers keep doing these scams because they work, the deals sound amazing and they are hard to pass up, don’t take the risk, there is no reward coming your way

Jay Calvert Scams, Tips and Tricks

Understanding ClickFix Attacks: The New Phishing Threat

ClickFix attacks are a new phishing attack that actually uses your trusting nature against you to actually help the scammers do their dirty work.

Know those little boxes that pop up on websites that make us prove we are a human and not a robot? These are called Captcha boxes. And they are called that for a reason. It is actually an acronym for “Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart”.


How the scam works is you get a link in an email with a link. You open the link and you get a page that displays a Captcha test similar to the above. However, this one comes with some special instructions…

Here, you don’t just have to check a box, or select a bunch of the pictures that have a motorcycle in it, you are asked to do some stuff on your keyboard.

In this example they trying to get you to open a prompt on your computer that takes instructions, called the Run Command. You press CTRL+V and this pastes a command that has been put into your clipboard. Pressing Enter, actually runs the command on your computer.

So, you basically just ran a command on your computer for the scammers. What that command does is utilize a part of your system to start downloading malware from a website.

Same Thing, Different Presentation

There are multiple variations of this scam but they all pretty much act the same way. They might just start off a bit differently. Here are are samples to keep any eye out for;

You see there are multiple ways to pull of this scam. Always remember the 4 P’s when opening strange links and whenever you encounter something different.

Jay Calvert Scams, Tips and Tricks

TOAD Attacks: A Rising Cybersecurity Threat

A TOAD (Telephone-Oriented Attack Delivery) attack is a type of cyberattack where attackers use phone calls to trick victims into compromising their security or revealing sensitive information, often in conjunction with initial phishing emails or texts. These attacks leverage the trust people often place in strangers who call and claim authority.

Here is how it plays out;

  1. You get text messages or emails pretending to be a legit organization. Often containing a fake invoice or alerts about your accounts
  2. The message directs you to call a number for assistance.
  3. When you get the scammer on the phone – you get connected to a fake call centre. The scammer then tells you to install software on your computer, or tricks you into providing personal information.
  4. Now that you have installed the software – they can now get access to your computer. Leading to various threats like taking your data, ransomware or further attacks. If they get your personal information, they can use it to perform other acts as you. Like logging into your bank account.

TOAD attacks are very sophisticated attacks that use multiple means of communication to compromise you or your information. This isn’t just a link that you click on in an email. It is a multifaceted attack, highly coordinated attack that involves emails, texts, phone calls. Combined to get you to provide personal information, or install malicious software on your computer.

Always use caution, and remember the 4 P’s. Scams can come in many forms, and not just by clicking a link on a website, or in an email.

Jay Calvert Scams, Tips and Tricks

How to Spot Phishing Scams: 4 Tips to Stay Safe

What is Phishing?

“the fraudulent practice of sending emails or other messages purporting to be from reputable companies in order to induce individuals to reveal personal information, such as passwords and credit card numbers.” – Oxford Dictionary

Phishing scams are normally done through emails. If it is via Text Message, they have a name for that, called Smishing short for SMS Phishing. And if it is via Telephone, they call that Vishing, for voice phishing.

Phishing Scams

These are the emails that are trying to trick you into giving up your personal information, like login credentials, credit card number or bank account information. They usually come in the form of a message from a trusted service, like your bank, or other service you might use, or possibly warning you of a problem with your computer. Either way, they are all tricks. Lets get into them.

Let’s say you get an email that has the following message with in it

First reaction, you would panic, right?! You need access to your money – and this was probably sent Saturday afternoon, right after the banks closed for the weekend – what are you going to do?

1. Stop, Pause and Think

Well, before we click on that button, lets remember the 4P’s of Fraud and take a pause.

They are Pretending to be from TD Bank, they introduce a Problem with your account, they Pressure you to act immediately and validate your account, and you will Pay if you click that link.

The 4 P’s will help you before you click on any links or buttons in the email. Stop and think of the 4 P’s for every email you get, especially if you want to react immediately.

2. What Other Clues Do We Have?

Once you have paused for a minute start taking a look around

Who Sent It?

Take a look at the four samples below…The From Field can show just the sender’s name or the email address, or both. You need to pay attention here.

a)b)
c) d)

Look at the first line in each example, these are all examples of how the email can be shown in your email viewer. Looking at a), it just shows TD Canada Trust, with no actual email address, if you happened to mouse over that field, it will show you the email address it really sent with.

Looking at b), here we see TD Canada Trust, with an email address in brackets, this is the real email address it sent with. Think TD would email you from a gmail.com account?

Looking at c), this one shows [email protected] in the From field, followed by that gmail account again in brackets. Here they are trying to trick you by putting in a real email address in the From name part of the From field.

Now, for d) this one just shows the email address, but it is actually the name portion that is displaying, mousing over the From field, will display it’s real email address.

Easy To Be Fooled Isn’t It?

As you can see, it is tricky how they manipulate the system isn’t it. You probably won’t think twice for a) and d), they both look legit at first glance, the others you might be able to catch, but with a little practice you will.

Email clients have been training us wrong all these years, if you look at your inbox now, with all the emails you have received, you probably only see the names listed.


So the first thing you see is an email from TD Canada Trust in your inbox, with the subject with one of those big red exclamation points beside it indicating something is wrong and you need to take a look immediately. Right off the bat, you are on guard and ready to resolve whatever the issue might be.

3. Where Do the Links Take You?

Next we check in the body of the email, hover over any links or buttons. You should see a pop up showing you where it is going to take you.

Now, that doesn’t look like the site you normally go to right? Well, let’s just peak behind the curtain of that site and see what would have happened, if you did click on it.

It takes you to a site that looks just like TD Bank’s Login page. An exact replica! Look at the address bar, that isn’t TD.

What this is, is a fake landing page. They do a masterful job of mimicking the real sites, you can even use all the other links, they take you to the right place, on the real site, but that Username or Access Card and Password field, they don’t go to TD Bank. You enter your details and click enter or press the Submit button. You get a message that the login failed. In the meantime, you are then redirected to the real TD Bank website and get the exact same login page again. This time you can login in just fine.

The Scammers Have What They Wanted

When you logged into the site via the scammers fake site, you handed over your login details to your bank to the bad guys. The site then refreshed, and you ended up on the real site, a real switcharoo just happened right before your eyes. You might think at this point that something smells fishy (phishy), but you look up at the address bar, and you see https://authentication.td.com/, the real site. And you might think you were being over cautious for a reason.

The Best Course Of Action

  1. Think of the 4 P’s.
  2. Always verify who the sender is.
  3. Never click on links or buttons in emails without first pausing and hover over the link to see where you are going first. Or, just don’t click on links or buttons in emails period.
  4. If you are unsure and want to verify, don’t click any links or buttons in emails. Always login to the site the way you normally do, via the bank’s real website.

Remember these emails can come from anybody and have any sort of message within that is trying to get a reaction out of you without thinking first. It might be from the bank, like our example, but it can pretend to be from Canada Services, Canada Revenue Agency, from Netflix, from anywhere…. you can never tell. If they are telling you there is a problem, or that you have to update your billing details, or you just need to confirm something, anything that smells, well, phishy, pause, and take a few moments for your safety.

Jay Calvert Scams

Stay Safe with QR Codes: Recognizing Scams

QR Codes are those weird barcode like codes that you scan with your phone’s camera. They store information, most of the time, it is a website. Scanning on the barcode takes you to the website that is encoded within. It saves time typing out a long website address and possibly making a mistake and going to a fake, scam site.

The irony of it all, is that QR Codes are being used to scam us anyway. They can easily be covered up by another code that you scan instead, unknowingly, and end up on a scammers site anyway.

Ever travel to Vancouver and want to park anywhere, every parking lot or space on the street is now controlled by apps you install on your phone. It is actually really convenient once you get it setup, you have your information already preloaded in there like you license plate number and the make and model of your car. You simply find the lot number or parking space number and key it in and boom, you can stay for any period you want from 10 minutes to 8 hours in some cases.

The scam here is that the signs for these parking apps have a QR Code on them most of the time, and they do get covered up. I actually scanned one once, and was taken to a site that looked like the right site. I had never done this type of parking before so was unfamiliar.

Everything looked right, the logo etc, I was tired, it was new, I just followed along. I put in my Credit Card details, and next thing I know I have an email saying I signed up to play some online games for $35 a month.

I left the parking lot, found one of my bank’s branches nearby and got them to reverse the charge and change my credit card number immediately.

The morale of the story here, is always pay attention, especially when it comes to your credit card. Pay attention to the site you are scanning. You should see near by the actual website address, or the App Store where you can find the app. Pay special attention to the app name advertised and what their logo looks like.

Once I had the right app installed, it became so easy to park downtown and run a bunch of errands when I was in town, stopping for 10 minutes at a time.

Jay Calvert Scams

Beware of Facebook Quizzes: Protect Your Personal Information

The Quiz Scam is usually found on Facebook and comes with a challenge by one of your friends, or via some other group post, possibly just from one of the random feeds that Facebook serves you up to keep you on the website. They will challenge you to answer the questions, “it will be so fun, and get your friends to do it too, and pass it along by sharing it too!”

The quizzes are usually in the form of a series of questions like these;

  • Where did you grow up?
  • Favourite colour?
  • First pet’s name?
  • Street you grew up on?
  • Lucky Number?

They are all meant to gather information that you might have used to either answer security questions on an account, like your email, when you first set it up. The same questions you need to answer if you forgot your password, or, can be used to guess your password.

There are other types of quizzes, like the following –

Choose Between Two Things

You add your reaction for your choice (Elvis of course).

What Type of <Insert Object Here> Are You?

Here is what they can do with that information

  1. Use it for pure fun, possible, but not worth the risk
  2. Use it to get your reaction on a post, which they then choose later to something else – could be used to scam others down the road
  3. Get to know you better by knowing what you like and don’t like
  4. Facebook then sees, you like this type of content, and guess what, serves you up more

Protecting Yourself

Don’t react to posts like this and don’t answer any quizzes with any information that can help identify you, your security answers or used against you.