Fake Pictures, Reporting Fraud and Your Safety Card

All lessons Lesson 7 of 7 • about 15 minutes A woman in her seventies fixes a plain card to the fridge beside a wall phone, while her adult grandson stands by holding a tablet.
By the end of this lesson: Question pictures and videos that may be fake, know where Canadians report fraud, and make a one-page safety card to keep by the phone.

This is the last lesson. It covers three things. First, pictures and videos that may be fake. Second, where Canadians report fraud. Third, a safety card to keep by your phone.

Lesson 6 dealt with calls and messages. Today adds pictures, and you finish with a card in your own words.

Fake pictures and videos: check the source, not the picture

AI can now make a picture, a video or a voice that looks and sounds real. These fakes are often called deepfakes.

They turn up in several places. Some are investment ads that seem to show a famous person. Others are dating profiles, charity appeals or dramatic "news" photos.

The Canadian Securities Administrators are the group of provincial and territorial agencies that oversee investing in Canada. They urge older Canadians to avoid investments promoted online that seem to be backed by a celebrity.

Get Cyber Safe is the Government of Canada's online safety campaign. Its tips mention visual clues, such as odd-looking hands or a person who never blinks. Those clues can help, but a well-made fake may show none of them. So do not rely on your eyes alone. Do not rely on any app or label that claims to spot fakes, either.

Check where the picture came from and what it wants you to do. Ask three questions before you believe or share:

  1. Who posted this?
  2. Can I find the same thing from a news outlet or official source I already trust?
  3. Is it pushing me to pay, click or hurry?

If the answer to the third question is yes, stop there. Do not pay, and do not tap anything in the post.

Before any investment, check that the seller is registered. That means they are on a securities regulator's official list. Type aretheyregistered.ca into your browser yourself. A browser is the app you use to visit websites, such as Safari or Chrome.

If you think you have been targeted, or have lost money

Being defrauded is a crime against you. It is not a failing. Reporting it helps protect other people too.

Take these steps, even if no money was lost:

  1. Stop contact. Do not reply, and do not send more money.
  2. Call your bank or card company. Use the number on the back of your card.
  3. Report it to your local police and ask for a file number. Toronto Police non-emergency: 416-808-2222. Ontario Provincial Police non-emergency: 1-888-310-1122. Anywhere else, find the number on your police service's own website.
  4. Report it to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre. Call 1-888-495-8501, Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. Eastern time. It is closed on holidays. Or report online at reportcyberandfraud.canada.ca.
  5. Keep the evidence. Save the messages, emails and receipts.
  6. Tell someone you trust.

If you are in immediate danger, call 911.

One more caution. Someone may later offer to recover your money for a fee. Treat that as another scam, and do not pay.

Other official contacts worth knowing

  • Spam texts: forward them to 7726. The number spells SPAM on most keypads. Get Cyber Safe says this is free and alerts your phone company. Do not tap any link in the text.
  • Credit bureaus. These two companies keep the record of your loans and cards. Did you give out identity details, such as your date of birth or social insurance number? Ask each bureau to put an alert on your file. An alert asks lenders to phone you before giving credit in your name. Equifax Canada: 1-800-465-7166. TransUnion Canada: 1-800-663-9980.
  • The Little Black Book of Scams. A free booklet from the Competition Bureau, offered in eight languages.
  • Get Cyber Safe. Plain advice on staying safe online, at getcybersafe.gc.ca.
  • Seniors Safety Line, Ontario: 1-866-299-1011. A confidential line for older adults facing any type of abuse or neglect. It is open 24 hours a day, in over 200 languages. Other provinces have their own services.

Tidy your AI app in three steps

  1. Delete a chat you do not want kept. Open your list of chats, open the menu for that chat, and choose Delete. It leaves your list at once. ChatGPT and Claude both say full removal from their systems can take up to 30 days.
  2. Find the setting for using your chats to improve the app. Switch it off where the app allows. Look in Settings, under Privacy or Data controls. In ChatGPT it is "Improve the model for everyone". In Gemini it is "Keep Activity". In Copilot it is "Training on conversation activity". In Claude it is the switch about helping to improve the AI models.
  3. Sign out on a shared device. After using a library tablet or a relative's phone, open Settings. Choose Sign out or Log out.

App menus change. If a name does not match your screen, ask a family member to look with you.

The three ground rules, one last time: (1) Keep private numbers out. (2) Check anything that matters. (3) It is not your doctor, lawyer or financial adviser.

To say it plainly: an AI app is not a doctor, a lawyer or a financial adviser. For those decisions, ask a qualified person.

Keep going

Use your AI app for one useful thing each week. It could be a recipe, a letter or a question about your garden.

Share your safety card with a friend or relative. Explaining it to someone else helps you remember it.

For patient, in-person help, try your public library or a seniors' centre. Toronto Public Library offers free "Book a Librarian" appointments of 30 to 60 minutes. Its Answerline is 416-397-5981.

Ontario lists Seniors Active Living Centre programs on ontario.ca, searchable by postal code. Connected Canadians, a national charity, gives older adults free technology help. Its number is 1-877-304-5813.

This course is published by Nova Toronto, a digital studio in Toronto run by Rujal Tuladhar. It builds websites and sets up advertising and AI tools for small businesses. If you know a business owner who would find that useful, you can find it at novatoronto.com.

Try it: Make your large-print safety card (about 10 minutes, phone or tablet)

  1. Open your AI app and start a new chat. Copy the first prompt below and paste it in, or read it aloud. It says: "Make me a one-page safety card in large print with these four headings. Before I act: pause, hang up, call back on a number I already have. Warning signs: hurry, secrecy, an unusual way to pay or a request for a code. I never share: PINs, passwords, one-time codes, banking details, health-card number, social insurance number. If I think it is fraud: my bank, my local police, the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, with a blank line after each. Add three blank lines for numbers I trust. Do not fill in any phone numbers."
  2. Ask for one change, such as "Shorter" or "Bigger headings".
  3. Check that every phone number line is blank. AI can get phone numbers wrong. If it filled any in, say: "Remove all phone numbers and leave blank lines."
  4. Print the card, or copy it out by hand in large letters. You do not need a printer.
  5. Add the numbers by hand, on the paper only. Take them from your own address book, the back of your bank card and the verified list in this lesson. Do not type them into the app, and do not write your family code word on the card.
  6. Put the card where you take phone calls. Then tell one relative or friend about it. Your win for today, and for the course: a card in your own words that protects you, made with a tool you now know how to use.

Prompts you can copy

Make my safety card

Make me a one-page safety card in [large] print with these four headings. Before I act: pause, hang up, call back on a number I already have. Warning signs: hurry, secrecy, an unusual way to pay or a request for a code. I never share: PINs, passwords, one-time codes, banking details, health-card number, social insurance number. If I think it is fraud: my bank, my local police, the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, with a blank line after each. Add three blank lines for numbers I trust. Do not fill in any phone numbers.

Change the card

Please make the card [shorter / with bigger headings / in plainer words]. Keep every phone number line blank.

Questions to ask about a picture or post

I saw a post online about [describe it in a few words, with no names of people you know]. Do not tell me whether it is real or fake. List the questions I should ask about who posted it, and where I could confirm it with a news outlet or official source I already trust.

One useful thing this week

Suggest [three] small, useful things I could ask an AI app this week about [a hobby or everyday task]. Do not ask me for any personal details.

Before you move on

Remember: Check the source before you trust the picture, report fraud without shame, and keep your card by the phone: pause, hang up, call back.

Sources checked for this lesson: Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre: Report fraud and cybercrime • Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre: What to do if you're a victim of fraud • Government of Canada: Report Cybercrime and Fraud • Toronto Police Service: 416-808-2222 (*8-7-7) Non-Emergency • Toronto Police Service: Fraud • Ontario Provincial Police: Report Online • Equifax Canada: How to Place a Fraud Alert on Your Equifax Credit Report • TransUnion Canada: Fraud Victims Resources • Get Cyber Safe: Reporting spam text messages to 7726 • Canadian Telecommunications Association: What to do if you have been targeted by fraud • Competition Bureau Canada: The Little Black Book of Scams 2nd edition • Elder Abuse Prevention Ontario: Seniors Safety Line • Assaulted Women's Helpline: Seniors Safety Line • Canadian Securities Administrators: Canadian Securities Administrators encourage Canadians to look out for deceptive social media investment scams • Canadian Securities Administrators: Know the Red Flags of Fraud • Canadian Securities Administrators: Are They Registered? • Get Cyber Safe: The next generation: Spotting content created with artificial intelligence • Get Cyber Safe: New technology • OpenAI Help Center: Data controls in ChatGPT • OpenAI Help Center: Deleting and archiving chats in ChatGPT • Google: Gemini Apps Privacy Hub • Microsoft Support: Microsoft Copilot privacy controls • Anthropic Privacy Center: How do I change my model improvement privacy settings? • Anthropic Privacy Center: How long do you store my data? • Toronto Public Library: Seniors Digital Skills • Toronto Public Library: Book a Librarian • Government of Ontario: Find a Seniors Active Living Centre program near you • Connected Canadians: home page • Nova Toronto: home page

You finished the course

You have finished the course, and it asks for nothing in return. Nova Toronto builds websites and sets up advertising and AI tools for small businesses in the Greater Toronto Area. If you or a family member who runs a business would like a free 15-minute conversation, you are welcome to get in touch at 365-355-3133 or novatoronto.ca@gmail.com, with no pressure either way.

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