Credit Card fraud and identity theft on the rise in Mississauga and Brampton
Published February 18, 2023 at 7:05 pm
Mississauga and Brampton have seen an average of two or more robberies per day in the last 31 days.
From Jan. 18 to Feb. 18, Peel police data indicates that there were a combined 72 robberies reported across both cities — 23 in Mississauga and 49 in Brampton.
18 of the fraud cases were related to debit and credit, 8 involved theft of identity, and 46 were listed simply as “other” by police.
As of today (Feb. 19), 17 of these incidents are considered solved, while the other 55 are still being investigated.
The following map shows where the fraud activities took place:
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According to Peel police data, there are several hot spots where the fraud seems to reoccur. The top two are Peel Centre and Quarry Edge.
Compared to the same time last year (2022) the fraud count was sitting at a low number 0f 20 incidents.
With the uprising of fraud in Mississauga and Brampton, it could mean that scammers are getting more clever with their schemes.
The recent package delivery scam falsely represents United Parcel Services (UPS) and includes your full name and postal code in the text message making the recipient believe the company is really reaching out. A link is also included at the end of the message and if clicked on it will take you to another site where the scammer will copy all your personal information including any passwords you may have saved on your phone.
Peel Regional Police have released tips on how to protect yourself before and after becoming a victim of fraud.
- When using debit or credit cards, cover the machine while entering your pin.
- Be cautious when buying/selling items online. Some ads can be masking as scams.
- Avoid giving out your personal information over the phone.
- If unauthorized transactions have been made to your account, call your bank immediately and sort out if the loss will be covered.
- If the bank determines that they are responsible for the loss, you must get a letter in writing from them and then report it to police.
- Check your bank statements regularly to make sure all transactions were authorized.