(TRENT HILLS, ON)- Northumberland Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) would like to remind residents to be aware of receiving cheques of substantial amounts of money to become mystery shoppers.
On Monday March 31, 2014 Northumberland OPP report of a complaint from a 67 year old female from Campbellford who had received a cheque from a company after signing up on-line to be a mystery shopper. She received a cheque for $1,496 from a company claiming to be out of Toronto, Ontario with instructions on how to spend the money and how much to return and what she would be compensated for in return for her efforts. The female had previously been a mystery shopper and found that the amount sent to her was unusually higher than normal and contacted police. She did not deposit the cheque and OPP are continuing to investigate. Had the victim deposited the cheque she would have had to use her own money to make the mystery shopper purchases. Once the cheque is verified by the bank, it would have been determined fraudulent causing the victim to lose her own money.
As March is Fraud Prevention Month comes to a close, OPP would like to remind people that the basic thing they should remember is that “if the offer or prize sounds too good to be true, it probably isn’t real.†People need to educate themselves to protect against fraud so they can keep their hard earned money. Fraudsters will usually prey on seniors because they are more vulnerable and more trusting of others.