The state of scam

"Now more than ever, consumers and businesses can ill afford to lose money to scam artists," said Melanie Aitken, Interim Commissioner of Competition Bureau Canada. "We expect both businesses and consumers to be more vulnerable to scams as they look to minimize expenses. It is important that they recognize the signs of fraudulent activity in the marketplace."

These remarks came at the launch of Fraud Prevention Month, an annual education and awareness campaign in Canada and around the world.

"Recessions don't phase fraudsters for a minute,” said Douglas Simpson, president of the Canadian Council of Better Business Bureaus. “They look at economic crises the way they look at natural disasters -- as opportunities to exploit the weak and the desperate. It is no surprise to any of us that are involved in fighting fraud that with the current economic downtown we are witnessing an immediate and disturbing increase in fraud."

In 2008, the Competition Bureau received almost 15,000 mass marketing fraud complaints from Canadians, which is fraud by mail, telephone and Internet. And according to a report by Symantec, spam accounted for over 79 per cent of all email in February. (Read these important tips on email safety.)

Some scams to watch out for

Here are some of the more recent scams experts are keeping an eye on (and so should you).

Revenue Canada phishing scheme

The scam : An email suggests that recipients are entitled to a tax refund from the Canada Revenue Agency, but in order to receive the refund users must click on an embedded link that directs them to a website posing as the Canada Revenue Agency. Visitors are then asked to fill out an online form that requests tax-related information, including Social Insurance Number, date of birth, full name and the tax amount of their returns.