With today’s economic environment, we all need to be especially diligent when it comes to fraud and theft. In a recent news release, the Retail Council of Canada (RCC) reaffirmed that “for Canada’s retail industry, retail organized crime is a serious problem and includes everything from shoplifting, container theft, counterfeiting, refund fraud, to the use of fraudulent credit, debit and gift cards and identity theft. Fraud can rear its ugly head in many forms and as each year passes, these crimes become increasingly sophisticated and brazen. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) estimates that organized crime costs Canadians $5 billion a year.”

We (Owen Sound Downtown Improvement Area) are currently working with local authorities to develop and promote a fraud prevention seminar especially geared towards Downtown merchants and businesses. While details and location are still being worked out, the 30 – 40 minute fraud prevention seminar has been scheduled for Tuesday September 15th at 8am. Full details will be posted here on www.downtownowensound.ca as soon as they become available. In the interim, if you would like to preregister for this information and training session, please contact Irwin Seidman at irwin@downtownowensound.ca or 519-376-9225.

The Bank of Canada and its Partners Against Fraud have developed a new DVD based training tool called “Fighting Fraud on the Front Lines” The tool kit combines scenarios and video segments to demonstrate how criminals use payment instruments and personal information to defraud retailers and consumers. More information (including interactive DVD based training) is available on the Bank of Canada website at http://www.bankofcanada.ca/en/banknotes/fraud/fraud.html. You can also pick up a copy of the Fighting Fraud on the Frontlines guide at our office Monday to Friday between 9am – 5pm.

Other sources of information and support are listed online at www.downtownowensound.ca (search word “fraud”).