Been duped by an online scam? There’s no shame in that

The Carney government is promising to create Canada’s first-ever national anti-fraud strategy, including a new financial crime agency aimed at cracking down on sophisticated scammers.

Fraud has taken a massive toll on Canadians in recent years — not only on their wallets, but on their emotional well-being.

According to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, more than 23,000 people this year have already reported losses totalling $544 million. And that’s only the fraction of people who actually come forward to report they’ve been scammed.

Our guest on tonight’s episode of Closer Look is Vanessa Iafolla, a financial crimes expert who operates Anti-Fraud Intelligence Consulting.

She weighs in on the government’s new plan, how people can better protect themselves against the endless stream of online scammers — and why a victim should never feel ashamed for getting duped.

Spoiler alert: artificial intelligence is only making it easier for the bad guys to rip you off.

Hosted by Village Media’s Michael Friscolanti and Scott Sexsmith, and produced by Derek Turner, Closer Look is a new daily podcast that goes way beyond the headlines with insightful, in-depth conversations featuring our reporters and editors, leading experts, key stakeholders and big newsmakers.

Fresh episodes drop every Monday to Friday at 7 p.m. right in your local news feed — and on the show’s dedicated website: closerlookpodcast.ca. Of course, you can also find us wherever you get your favourite podcasts.

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