As the economy remains in a slump and the massive layoff continues, scam artists are taking this opportunity to target individuals who want to “get rich quick.”

Generally, there are common traits of employment scams. The Ontario Ministry of Small Business and Consumer Services reminds consumers to watch out for the warning signs of a scam:+

• It sounds too good to be true.
• You’re asked to send personal or financial information before they disclose an offer.
• You’re promised a valuable prize in return for a low-cost purchase.
• You’re pressured to send money to take advantage of a deal.
• You’re required to send money as a condition of obtaining a loan.
• You’re asked to call a special number. (The number is often a long-distance call that results in your being billed at a costly rate per minute.)
• You’re asked to invest in schemes. (Don’t spend your savings without carefully checking out the investment, product, service, and investor.)

The list goes on and on.

What can you do if you’re a victim of a scam?

You can report the scam to various authorities, including Ontario’s Ministry of Small Business and Consumer Services, the RCMP, and the Canadian Consumer Information Gateway, a federal consumer-protection agency. The scam artists will be investigated and perhaps prosecuted.

That being said, reporting the scam to the authority seldom gets you your money back. You will likely have to sue in civil courts for the recovery.

However, to commence a civil claim, you’ll have to know the identity and the address of the scammers. In many instances, the scammers have few or no assets in the jurisdiction (as the funds may have been sent overseas or spent). Recovery of your funds is generally very difficult and unlikely.

Of course, the best remedy against scams is prevention. To achieve this, I will be posting common scam scenarios in tomorrow’s blog.

Stay tuned!

+Ministry of Small Business and Consumer Services, online: <http://www.gov.on.ca/mgs/en/ConsProt/STEL02_173168.html>