Brock’s Internal Audit Services team is sharing educational resources for staff, faculty and students as part of International Fraud Awareness Week.

Taking place from Sunday, Nov. 16 to Saturday, Nov. 22, the week aims to minimize the impact of fraud by helping individuals and businesses more effectively recognize, prevent and report fraud.

The Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE), the world’s largest anti-fraud organization, estimates that fraud costs organizations $5 trillion worldwide each year.

Brock community members can find a variety of educational resources covering a range of topics – including defining fraud, examples of fraud schemes, tips for avoiding identity theft and the behavioural red flags of fraud – on the Internal Audit Services Fraud Week web page.

Associate Director, Internal Audit Lizette Norio says members of the Brock community need to be even more cautious during the holiday shopping season.

“Staying alert to fraud red flags and being aware of scam scenarios is your first line of defence. A few seconds of awareness can prevent years of consequences,” she says.

There are a number of common and sophisticated scams related to debit and credit card purchases that involve multi-factor authentication (MFA) one-time passcodes (OTPs) that may be sent to cardholders by email, text or phone when completing a transaction. Scammers try to circumvent this requirement by calling cardholders and posing as a bank, credit card company or trusted institution and asking for the MFA OTP. A legitimate bank, credit card company or other trusted organization will never call cardholders to ask for this information.

Norio says that anyone who receives a suspicious call claiming to be from a bank, credit card company or trusted institution should not provide any OTPs, PINs or passwords to the caller. Instead, cardholders should end the call and contact the organization directly using an official channel, such as the phone number on the back of their card, and report the suspicious call without sharing the MFA OTP. Cardholders can also report these incidents to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre.

Brock employees who receive a suspicious MFA OTP call related to their University Purchase Card should report the call to Finance, Internal Audit or Campus Safety Services. Additional information regarding Fraud Alerts can be found here.

Anyone suspecting inappropriate activity at Brock, including suspected fraudulent actions, is encouraged to disclose it in accordance with the Safe Disclosure Policy and Procedures, which apply to all University employees, students, volunteers, contractors and suppliers. The Safe Disclosure Policy makes a priority of protecting from reprisal anyone who makes a good faith disclosure.

When possible, disclosures should be made directly to the unit responsible for the area of concern. Additional disclosure avenues include Brock University’s Legal Counsel, Campus Safety Services, Human Rights and Equity, Office of People and Culture and Internal Audit Services.

Anyone uncomfortable disclosing directly can use an anonymous website or call a 24-7 toll-free hotline by dialing 1-855-484-CARE (2273). Both the website and hotline are offered through the Doane Grant Thornton CARE service, a third-party consultant independent from University administration. For more information on safe disclosure at Brock and the Doane Grant Thornton CARE services, visit Brock’s Legal, Compliance and Privacy web page or email [email protected]

Additional resources on fraud and online security can be found on the Brock Information Technology Services Cyber Security web page, in BrockU Cyber Aware, the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre and the websites of banks and credit unions.