Canadian law enforcement authorities are conducting a series of interactive social media initiatives to engage with consumers about telephone and online fraud during March’s Fraud Prevention Month.

The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC) will host twitter ‘fraud chats” each Wednesday through the month. These chats begin at 1:00 pm EST and will cover the following topics:

March 4: Fraud initiated by telephone call

March 11: Fraud initiated by mail or text message

March 18: Fraud initiated online

March 25; Fraud initiated on social networks

April 1: Fraud initiated by mail or in person.

To participate, join on Twitter at @canantifraud.

The month’s events launch March 2 with a day-long Facebook event highlighting the top-10 frauds in each province from coast to coast.

Other live events are happening across the nation, including an opportunity to meet with RCMP experts to learn about counterfeit money in Ottawa on March 7 and 8. A listing of events is available on the Consumer Agenda page of the Consumers Council of Canada web site.

Consumers Council of Canada has been a Canadian Anti-Fraud Forum partner for many years to help keep consumers sensitized to fraud risks. This year’s list of partners is available here.

The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre collects information on fraud and identify theft, and works with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Competition Bureau. Its site provides information about common frauds, and information on how to report them. It also notes that scams that involve lost money should also be reported to local police as well.

In a sign of the times, the front page of the Anti-Fraud Centre web site warns consumers that there are scams that spoof the Centre’s own phone number and web page.