The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

www.insidehalton.com |OAKVILLE BEAVER | Friday, August 18, 2017 |6 EDITORIAL | OPINION ABOUT US Fraudsters m ake m ost of technology It never hurts to have a refresher. Oakville residents, seniors in particular, actively seek fraud prevention tips -- and with good reason. N ot only have m any found them selves either vic tim s or at least the target of a fraudster, one local wom an is feeling the pinch beyond the pocketbook. That's because while she didn't realize a financial loss at the hands of a con artist, she has experienced perhaps worse -- an attack on her privacy and peace of mind. Oakville and Halton are affluent dots on the global m ap and hom e to som e very nice, community-mind ed, trusting people. That m ix m akes them a target and proves explosive when those nice people, m any of whom have som e degree o f financial security, becom e the prey of fraudsters using technology that enables this com m unity to be targeted from across the globe. In the past, fraud involved personal interaction, but not so anymore, thanks to technology. And in the case of today's front-page story, changing technology m eans you can be victim ized in new ways. So keeping up with fraud prevention tips is a sm art idea. And, when it com es to fraud, people should be aware the best defence is not letting em otion rule the day. A m ost disturbing piece of this crim e is that per petrators use em otion. In fact, they w ould not like ly be successful without it, say police. So one of the biggest risk factors is not knowledge, or lack thereof, of technology, but old-fashioned emotion. Som e com m on sw indles include lottery grandson, service, computer, emergency, dating and rom ance scam s, along with the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) scam . All play on the em otions. These depend not on a con artist's ability to outsm art, but rather their ability to connect with, their victim , say police. One o f the red flags o f a scam is m ysteriously win ning som ething. W hen you're excited, distraught or sm itten, you m ay not have your w its about you. And don't be bullied for money. Even if a bill is due, it will be collected through written notif cations that occur over time. And never give personal inform ation over a phone or device. Don't let em otions rule the day. Don't disclose per sonal information. Keep your w its about you. Use com m on sense -- and go ahead, be skeptical. Oakville, and Halton, m ay be affluent com m uni ties with a growing seniors' population, but no one should m istake its residents for being an easy m ark. For inform ation on fraud and how to avoid being a target for fraudsters, visit www.haltonpolice.ca. The Oakville Beaver, published every Thursday and Friday, is a division of the Metroland Media Group Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Torstar Corporation. The Metroland family of newspapers is comprised of more than 100 community publications across Ontario. View our digital edition online at: Insidehalton.com under Print Editions found in the footer. ·* m e tro la n d m e d ia · * C o n n e c te d to y o u r co m m u n ity ® The Oakville Beaver is a member of the National NewsMedia Council. Complainants are urged to bring their concerns to the attention of the newspaper and, if not satisfied, write The National NewsMedia Council, Suite 200, 890 Yonge St., Toronto, ON M4W 2H2. Phone: 416-340-1981 Web: www.mediacouncil.ca nnc AOCm < 55iiffSS 3 L. N ew sM ediaC anada JM ediasd'InfoC anada L o g M e d ia association ln s id e H a lto n .c o m fe.4 editoi@oakvillebeaver.com E @OakvilleBeav |_J @oakvillebeaver ffi) insidehalton.com My View Cannabis legislation will better protect children t may shock many Canadians to learn that 28 per cent of Canadian youths use marijuana -- the highest rate among developed countries surveyed in a 2013 UNICEF report. This means that if you know four youths between the ages of11 and 15, one of them is using marijuana. All Canadians should be concerned about this trend, because the younger someone is when they start using mari juana and the more often they use it, the greater the overall risks to their health. I Canada's current system of controlling marijuana fails our youths and does not adequately protect the health and safety of young Canadians. It's time to change our approach. The federal government has drafted Bill C-45, the Cannabis Act, to keep marijuana (cannabis) out of the hands of young Ca nadians and the p r o f s out of the hands of criminals. This proposed law would establish seri ous criminal penalties for those who sell or provide cannabis to youths, and enact new John Oliver Oakville MP offences and penalties for those who use youths to distribute or sell cannabis. Like the Tobacco Act, Bill C-45 would also prohibit products and packaging that make cannabis appealing to young people. see Town on p. 12 Pud by Steve Nease WHO WEARE CONTACT US The Oakville Beaver 5046 Mainway, Unit 2, Burlington ON L7L 5Z1 Phone 905-845-3824 / Fax 905-337-5568 Classified 1-800-263-6480 Digital/Flyers/Retail Advertising 289-293-0624 Real Estate/Homefinder.ca Advertising Suzanne Trickey / 289-293-0677 / strickey@oakvillebeaver.com Letters to the editor All letters must be fewer than 200 words and include your name and telephone number for verification purposes. We reserve the right to edit, condense or reject letters. ablackburn@oakvillebeaver.com Delivery For all delivery inquiries, please call Kim Mossman 905-631-6095 or email kmossman@metroland.com Vice-President and Group Publisher of Metroland West Neil Oliver Advertising Director Daniel Baird / dbaird@metroland.com / 289-293-0624 Managing Editor Angela Blackburn / ablackburn@oakvillebeaver.com / 289-293-0617 Regional General Manager Kelly Montague kmontague@metroland.com / 289-293-0614 Director of Distribution Charlene Hall / chall@metroland.com / 905-631-6095