National

Low-income renters got a benefit. Scammers took one day to target it, BC Housing says

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 12 Apr, 2024 09:46 AM

BC Housing is warning of scammers targeting recipients of a support scheme for elderly low-income renters, just one day after it was announced.

The housing agency says in a "fraud alert" on its website and social media that it will never use text messages to invite recipients to claim benefits.

It comes after the province announced on Tuesday that it was granting a $430 benefit to the roughly 20,000 seniors in the Shelter Aid for Elderly Renters program, also known as SAFER.

BC Housing issued the fraud warning on Wednesday, saying recipients would receive the one-time benefit with their regular payments this month.

It says no action is required from recipients to get the money.

The changes to the SAFER program also expanded eligibility for its monthly benefits to seniors with annual incomes up to $37,240, compared to the previous $33,000 limit.

Prev Next

MORE National ARTICLES

'I heard my mother's last screams': Canadian Sikh shooting survivor slams cops for 'inaction'

With 13 bullets pumped inside her body, the lone survivor of a shooting spree in Canada last year who watched her Sikh parents die in front of her, wants swift justice and says police didn't do their duty well. Jagtar Singh Sidhu and Harbhajan Kaur, both in their 50s, were shot more than 20 times just before midnight on November 20 at their rental property along the Caledon-Brampton border in Ontario province.

'I heard my mother's last screams': Canadian Sikh shooting survivor slams cops for 'inaction'

2 deliberately hit by car in Abbotsford

Two youth in Abbotsford who said they were deliberately hit by a car were taken to hospital with minor injuries. Officers were called to a neighbourhood yesterday and found the teens who said the driver struck them after a disturbance.

2 deliberately hit by car in Abbotsford

RCMP forms team to combat extortion

The RCMP says it has established a national team to help co-ordinate investigations and information sharing about extortion schemes targeting South Asian businesses in B.C., Alberta and Ontario. Mounties say the team is a "nationwide alliance" of police agencies that are all investigating extortion and violent threats, which have been tied to shootings and arson.

RCMP forms team to combat extortion

Falcon says BC United's housing plan includes rent-to-own initiative, drops taxes Victoria

British Columbia's Opposition Leader Kevin Falcon is pitching a housing plan that aims to get more first-time buyers into homes, and it comes just days after Premier David Eby promised to build more affordable rental units for the middle class. Falcon says the BC United's "Fix Housing" plan includes four initiatives to reduce the high cost of housing and increase supply, which he pledges to introduce if his party takes power in this fall's election.

Falcon says BC United's housing plan includes rent-to-own initiative, drops taxes Victoria

Inadequate security led to federal breach that compromised Canadians' info: watchdog

The federal privacy watchdog says government departments lacked adequate protections to prevent a cyberbreach that compromised the sensitive information of tens of thousands of Canadians. In a report tabled today, privacy commissioner Philippe Dufresne describes how the lapse at the Canada Revenue Agency and Employment and Social Development Canada in summer 2020 allowed hackers to fraudulently collect payments.

Inadequate security led to federal breach that compromised Canadians' info: watchdog

Business council forecasts slower growth of 0.7 per cent in B.C. ahead of budget

A new report ahead of next week's B.C. budget is forecasting slower economic growth for the province this year. The Business Council of British Columbia says "lacklustre" growth globally, high interest rates and weak private-sector job and investment numbers all add up to "a drag on prosperity" in 2024.