Canadian Competition Bureau Participates in Internet Sweep for Scammers and Spammers

The Canadian Competition Bureau (Bureau) recently joined 76 governmental agencies worldwide, including its partners in the International Consumer Protection and Enforcement Network (ICPEN), in a two-day surveillance and enforcement program targeting scams communicated by spam over the Internet. ICPEN, a network of consumer protection and fair trade authorities such as the Bureau, annually conducts this type of global Internet sweep to target the growing number of fraudulent and deceptive scams over the Internet. The initiative was a highlight of ICPEN's Fraud Awareness Month campaign, in which the Bureau participated throughout the month of February to raise public awareness of scam activity. The sweep was also a part of the Bureau's ongoing activities against Internet fraud such as Project FairWeb. The focus this year was on spam which advertises fraudulent weight-loss products. Bureau officers conducted searches of Canadian-based web sites making unrealistic performance claims and collected spam using e-mail harvest accounts. Enforcement authorities in other countries also sought to identify scams originating domestically in their review. Since much spam is exchanged across borders, the latest Internet sweep is expected to provide invaluable information to assist in the international collaboration on enforcement of anti-spam laws. The importance of such initiatives was recognized last year by the signatories of the London Action Plan, which described global cooperation and public-private partnerships as essential in combating spam. For more information, see: http://cb-bc.gc.ca/epic/internet/incb-bc.nsf/en/ct03047e.html. Summary by: Rosa Kim