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In September 2004, Mr. D returned to school with the intention to complete his studies by April 2005. Like many post-secondary students, Mr. D needed help to pay for his education, and in 2004, he took on both federal and provincial student loans through the Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP).

Romance and employment scams are the most common online scams we see at OBSI. According to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, Canadians lost more than $22.5 million to romance scams and more than $5 million to employment scams in 2018.

Read OBSI's latest newsletter for information on our new Firm Portal, our comment to the FCAA, our video on YouTube and more.

I am pleased to report that since assuming the role of Chair of CIAC in December of 2018, the Council has been actively involved in providing commentary and advice to the Board of OBSI.

OBSI is excited to announce the launch of our new Firm Portal. The Firm Portal provides OBSI’s 1400+ participating firms with a secure, web-based access point to a broad range of features and services including:

In early 2017, Mr. W returned from his yearly vacation. He was always diligent about checking his account activity. When he went online to review his vacation spending, he noticed three transactions for around $4,000 for cheques that he had not written.

As students head to college or university, financial services firms can expect visits from parents and students planning to make Registered Education Savings Plan (RESP) withdrawals, but this process is not straightforward and can have consequences that many consumers do not expect.

Mr. H moved his investment portfolio to a new advisor in 2008. At the time, he was 71 and was still working full-time as a physician. He was an experienced investor with an investment portfolio of approximately $1.4 million. He accepted his advisor’s recommendations to buy gold and precious metals mutual funds with DSCs.

One day in 2017, Mr. R’s computer froze. A warning appeared on the screen and a message from what appeared to be a reputable company was displayed. It warned Mr. R that a virus had infected his computer and provided him with a number to call. He called and spoke to a representative who recommended an antivirus software to correct the issues. Mr. R agreed to buy the software for $400.

An elderly woman, Ms. W, had a grandson living overseas.