Stage 04 · They build it
What they ask for, and what to refuse
Start here Phone a named person before you say yes to anything
The first thing you are asked for is small, and often it is not money at all. A rule about large amounts will not catch it. A rule about what you are asked for will.
What the scammers are doing
Asking for something small.
Scammers ask you to read out a code, install an app, send two hundred dollars or sign something. Each request is sized so that agreeing costs you almost nothing.
Why a scam works here
It does not feel like a decision.
A first request is small, looks reversible, and in scams that run for months arrives with permission to say no.
What stops a scam here
A rule you set before any of this.
Before you do anything on the list of first requests, phone the one person you agreed in advance to call. The rule is about what you were asked for, so you never have to judge who is asking.
What the first request looks like
Most approaches we have seen open with one of these, whatever the scam is about.
- A number read out. A code that has just arrived by text, asked for by the person who says they sent it. The code is a one-time password. Reading it out lets the person into your account.
- Something installed. “Install this app so I can help you.” It is offered as help with a refund, a slow computer or a security check that cannot wait, or as the app where you will be able to watch your money. Once the app is on your phone or computer, the caller can see your banking session, and you see whatever the caller chooses to show you.
- A small amount, to see whether it works. Two hundred, five hundred. It goes through, which is what it is for.
- A payment that is not for them. A fee, tax, customs charge, legal cost or currency conversion, owed to somebody else to release money that is already yours.
- Something signed. A form, a document sent for signature, a request to move an account to a new firm, a power of attorney. No money moves on the day.
- An account opened in your name. At a bank you have never used. The caller says the money must be kept separate, or processed, or protected while this is looked into.
- Money received, and passed on. A deposit into your account, or a parcel to your door, and then on to somebody else. It costs you nothing on the day, and it puts your name on the transfer.
- Silence. Not to mention it at the branch or at home. Silence is asked for early because, in the cases we have read, a second person or a bank employee is what most often ends a scam.
power of attorney a document that lets somebody else act on your money or your property
You sign it in advance, while you can still make the decision, and you choose how wide it is. What it covers and what it is called differ from one province to the next. It does not hand over ownership.
Only two of those take money out of your account. A rule about sending money does not cover the other six.
The first request is small so that saying yes is easy.
At two hundred dollars, refusing means making a fuss with somebody who has been patient with you for weeks.
The first request is also the last one that arrives on its own.
Every later request follows from a yes you have already given. Refusing the second one means arguing against yourself, which is harder than saying no once.
Why the slow scams put no pressure on you
Afterwards, many people remember that nobody pushed them. That memory is accurate, and it is no sign that they were careless.
Warnings teach you to watch for urgency, and urgency is real in the fast scams:
- A grandchild in a cell
- A warrant
- An account being emptied while you are on the line
The fast scams are built to finish inside an hour. Scams that run for months leave out pressure on purpose, and the first request often comes with permission attached:
- Take your time.
- Only if you are comfortable.
- Never more than you can afford.
A decision that feels freely made is one you will defend later, to a teller who asks what the money is for or to a daughter who is uneasy about it.
What that means. A request with no pressure on it can still be a scam.
Decide your rule on an ordinary afternoon.
A request made without pressure gives you no moment to notice. A rule agreed in advance catches it anyway.
What to do, in the order we would start
Start here
All three work without you deciding whether anybody is honest.
Phone a named person before you say yes to anything
What to do. Write the family rule around kinds of request, not a dollar figure:
- A code read out to anybody.
- A screen shared.
- An account opened.
- Anything signed.
- Any money at all to somebody new.
- Money arriving that you are asked to pass on.
Any one of those, at any size, means one telephone call to one named person first, not for permission or a verdict.
Why it works. The rule catches the first request, not only the large one.
What it does not do. Work on its own. The rule holds only if the person you named picks up and does not make a fuss.
A code read out, an app installed: never, no exceptions
What to do. Never read out a code that arrived by text: not to the bank, the police, or a company you telephoned yourself.
What the banks say. Canadian banks say they will not ask you for a code they sent you.
And nothing gets installed. Never install an app or program because somebody on a call asked you to. The request is nearly always put as help:
- Install this so I can see what you are seeing.
- Install this so I can fix it.
- Install this and you will be able to watch your account.
If either is asked for, hang up. You do not have to be right about the person.
Why it works. The two rules have no exceptions, so you can follow them at two in the morning, frightened, without deciding anything.
What it does not do. Cover the rest of the first requests. A signature, a payment or an account opened in your name still needs a call to the person you named first.
Treat being asked to keep it quiet as the thing you tell somebody
What to do. Sometimes a request comes with a reason not to mention it:
- Not at your branch.
- Not at home.
- Not to your accountant.
Then that is the sentence you repeat. Tell somebody the same day that it was meant to be secret. The reason given usually sounds reasonable:
- An investigation that would be compromised.
- A surprise that would be spoiled.
- A deal that is not public yet.
- A family matter that is nobody else’s business.
Why it works. You only have to notice that you were asked to keep quiet, not whether the reason is true.
What it does not do. Feel neutral. Telling someone can feel like a small betrayal of the person who has been kind and patient with you for months, and that feeling is what the request was for.
Worth doing
Narrower, or only reaching some of it.
Let the first request wait until the morning
What it does. Puts a night’s delay on the first request of any size. A real bank or government office can wait until morning.
Bail can wait until morning. The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre says the courts will not ask for cash to bail somebody out of custody, and require the person to be in court. A courier sent to your door to collect bail money is the fraud, not the process.
What it does not do. Help with the fast scams, which are built to end within the hour. Only a rule you set before the phone rang works on a fast scam.
Find out what could leave today
What it does. Sets how much can leave in one day. Lowering your daily transfer limit is one phone call to your bank. Savings can sit in an account that cannot be emptied by phone in one sitting.
What it does not do. Stop anything from being asked for.
Often suggested, does less than you would think
All three assume you will notice you are being asked for something.
Watching for pressure and urgency
Works on scams built to finish in an hour, and on nothing else. Slow scams apply no pressure.
“Never send money to someone you haven’t met”
Sound advice, but six of the eight first requests are not you sending money. In the other two, plenty of people have met the person, at the door or on a video call.
A family rule with a dollar figure in it
We think most family rules have a dollar figure, and a first request is sized to come in under any threshold a family would think to pick.
Set up help before anyone asks you for anything
There is no number to ring at the moment something is asked for. The call that matters is to the person you named, and the rest you set up in advance.
- Your own bank, before anything happens. Lower the daily transfer limits. Ask what the bank’s verification process is, so you know what a real call from the bank sounds like. Ask whether the bank will place a hold or a callback on transfers above a size you choose.
- The one person you named. Their job is to pick up, and not to make a fuss.
- The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre. Read its pages Protect your one-time passcodes, and Money mule awareness, about money that arrives and is meant to be forwarded.
a hold the bank stops one payment while somebody asks a question
A bank or an investment firm can pause a single withdrawal, transfer or trade rather than let it go through. The institution places it, not you, and it is temporary. It does not close the account or touch the rest of the money.
the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre where scams get reported nationally, which is not the same as being investigated
It gathers reports from across the country so that patterns can be seen. Your own case belongs to the local police force, and the Centre does not work it. It cannot move money either.
Phone numbers, with French service, are on Who to call.