(MUNICIPALITY OF GREY HIGHLANDS, ON) – Grey County Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) remind residents to be aware of a scam known as an “over-payment” scam after it was attempted on a resident in the Municipality of Grey Highlands today, November 27, 2015.
The resident, who had posted an apartment for rent on Kijiji, received a cheque well over the amount she had asked for. She was given instructions to return the excess funds. The resident was aware that this was a scam and notified police.
There are different variations of “over-payment” scams. Typically, it is the type of fraud where the person receiving the cheque is actually owed money for goods sold. The seller receives a counterfeit cashier’s cheque, personal cheque or corporate cheque from the purchaser” in an amount in excess of the amount owed; is asked to deposit the cheque and wire the excess funds immediately back to the sender/purchaser or the purchaser’s agent or shipper; and