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Report of the Canada - United States Working Group on Telemarketing Fraud
Department of Justice
SUMMARY OF RECOMMENDATIONS
The Working Group recommends:
- that the governments and agencies of both countries clearly identify telemarketing fraud as a serious crime;
- that both countries explore the use of remote testimony in criminal proceedings, by video-teleconferencing or similar means, to reduce costs;
- that the legal and technical potential and limits of electronic surveillance as a tool against telemarketing fraud be explored further;
- that both governments examine the regulation of telephone services and options for denying telephone services to telemarketing offenders;
- that the scope of the existing mutual legal assistance arrangements be considered to determine whether they might be expanded to deal more effectively with telemarketing-fraud cases;
- that both governments clarify the circumstances under which mutual legal assistance requests are needed, by providing information and advice to the agencies involved;
- that extradition arrangements be examined, and if possible modified, to facilitate and accelerate extradition in telemarketing fraud cases;
- that federal deportation laws which might apply to foreign nationals engaging in telemarketing fraud be reviewed, and that enforcement agencies be given information about when deportation may be an option;
- that research be conducted into offenders, victims and other aspects of telemarketing fraud to create effective educational materials and strategies to prevent it;
- that governments and agencies cooperate as closely as possible in developing, maintaining and disseminating educational materials, and in coordinating education and prevention efforts;
- that strategies to control telemarketing fraud be coordinated between Canada and the United States at the agency, regional and national levels;
- that an ongoing binational working group serve as an overall coordinator and deal with national and binational telemarketing fraud issues as they arise;
- that regional task-forces be encouraged to cooperate across the international border to the maximum extent possible; and
- that, to further coordination, governments and agencies examine privacy and other laws relevant to cross-border shared access information systems with a view to expanding access to such systems to the maximum extent possible.
