An employee received a confidential email from her boss asking for her to buy Vanilla cards and email him the codes. The email came from what she believed is his personal email account.
She was asked to keep the request confidential. The employee purchased the cards for in total $1,038.92 and forwarded the codes as requested. One day later she realized that she has been scammed.
A complainant reported that she sent a $200 deposit to a Facebook Marketplace seller to secure a bunch of items she intended to purchase. As agreed upon she went to the meeting location in Barriere, however no one showed up. A report to the bank was made but unfortunately, the bank is not able to return her money. The sellers name on Facebook was “Amber Ford” and the money was sent to trent983@yahoo.com. A deeper look into the Facebook profile revealed the recipient of the money is most likely from Kenya.
A fraud complaint was received at the detachment. The complainant had received a text message from Telus on 2023-09-25 stating they owed her a refund of $79. She clicked the link and provided her bank information.
A few days later she was notified by the fraud department from the Scotia Bank about suspicious activity on her bank account. Three charges of $211.24 each from a Dollarama in Toronto were taken out of her account before it was frozen. Scotia Bank informed the complainant that the card was not compromised and as a result, no refund was issued.
Fraud alert!
April 27, 2022: The CAFC is warning Canadians to use caution when buying and selling online. In 2021, frauds associated to buying or selling goods or services online accounted for more than $21.1 million in reported losses. Non-delivery scams (including puppy scams, rental scams, and deceptive marketing of counterfeit goods) have all increased over the pandemic period.
Quick tips:
• Know the market value of the product your buying or selling
• Don’t trust extremely low or high offers
• Beware of buyers and sellers that use urgency
• Beware of buyers who offer to buy an item without seeing the product first
• Do an online search to see if anyone has already reported the fraudulent buyer or seller.
The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre collects information on fraud and identity theft and provides information on past and current scams affecting Canadians. If you think you’re a victim of fraud, report it!
Report by phone
Toll free: 1-888-495-8501
Monday to Friday, from 9 am to 4:45 pm (Eastern time) and closed on holidays.
Source: www.antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca
