Tories vow to compel banks, telcom companies to battle phone scammers

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OTTAWA — A Conservative government would target overseas financial scammers who prey on vulnerable Canadians with phone and email scams, Poilievre said Tuesday.

The Conservative Leader’s Tuesday morning campaign stop in Montreal was highlighted by new measures meant to protect victims — specifically seniors.

“Imagine spending your life working hard, saving carefully, preparing for your retirement — only to see it all disappear seconds after a scammer comes in and takes over,” he said.

“One call, one click — and it’s gone.”

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Poilievre said there were 17,000 reports of such scams in 2022 — with losses totalling $137 million.

Measures announced Tuesday include compelling banks and telecom companies to impose mandatory risk detection systems for high-risk account holders, mandatory real-time flagging of suspicious activity and automatic 24-hour transaction delays for seniors’ bank accounts.

In addition, Poilievre wants to see minimum sentences set for scammers, including minimum fines equalling 10 times of the amount defrauded, and a new Criminal Code offence targeting executives who knowingly allow scam activity to continue.

“We want to financially cripple the fraudsters to deter their greed,” Poilievre said.

bpassifiume@postmedia.com
X: @bryanpassifiume