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Back in June, police in Barrie issued what has become an all-too-common warning: beware of fraudsters.

But this particular story was especially shocking. A local senior had fallen victim to an elaborate scam that ended when he handed over $725,000 worth of gold bars to a stranger in his driveway.

“The reality is, sadly, this gold will never be seen again and the dollar value it represents can never be recovered,” police said in a news release.

If it feels like fraud cases are on the rise, you’re right. The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, which collects data on scams and identity theft, says Canadians were scammed out of more than $647 million last year (and that’s only the cases people actually reported).

Jeff Horncastle, a spokesman for the centre, is our guest on tonight’s ‘Closer Look’ podcast. He fills us in on the latest tactics criminals are using to try to rip you off — and how fraudsters are using artificial intelligence to up their game.

Hosted by Village Media’s Michael Friscolanti and Scott Sexsmith, 'Closer Look' is a new daily podcast goes beyond the headlines with insightful, in-depth conversations featuring our reporters and editors, leading experts, key stakeholders and big newsmakers.

New episodes of ‘Closer Look’ drop every Monday to Friday at 7 p.m. across the Village Media network. You can find every episode HERE or wherever you listen to your favourite podcasts.

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