(SOUTHERN BRUCE COUNTY, ON) – The South Bruce Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) is sending a scam alert after receiving a complaint locally. On April 14, 2014 at 1:15 pm, a resident of Huron-Kinloss Township contacted the South Bruce OPP with concerns about an email advising of a $98.00 refund owed that would be deposited when banking information was provided. The email contained the logos of the Canada Revenue Agency and the Bank of Montreal. This scam attempt was recognized and no reply was sent back.
Today’s tech savvy scammers can create very convincing scams using the power of the internet. They will often use the name of a legitimate group, in order to gain your trust, and hoping that you will simply respond without taking the time to verify the message is genuine. Using the Canada Revenue logo during income tax season might catch some people off guard.
Scams and cons continue to be a multibillion dollar per year enterprise that will only end when the con artists stop making money. Always be cautious with unsolicited contacts; unsolicited means that you didn’t ask for it. You work hard for your money, so work hard to protect it – don’t hand it over to a con artist.
Anyone interested in more information on fraud can contact the Canadian Anti-Fraud agency at 1 888 495 8501 or check online at http://www.antifraudcentre.ca/.
The South Bruce OPP is requesting anyone with information that can assist police to call 1-888-310-1122. Should you wish to remain anonymous, you can call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS) or send a web-tip to crimestop-gb.org, where you may be eligible to receive a cash reward of up to $2,000.
