CON ARTISTS NET OVER $25,000
(SOUTHERN BRUCE COUNTY, ON) The South Bruce Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) is sending another warning about unsolicited contacts following reports involving significant losses to fraud.
On September 4, 2013 at 3:34 pm, a resident from the Municipality of Kincardine called police to report a fraud. An “Attorney from a Florida County Court†had made contact to report a significant refund was “tied up in escrowâ€Â. A number of money orders, nearly $25,000 were sent to secure the “refund†that wasn’t received.
On September 4, 2013 at 12:31 pm, a resident of Culross Township called to report a computer repair fraud. The “Windows team†called to advise the resident they were having computer issues that could be fixed for a fee. The “tech†was allowed access and a $149 fee was sent via PayPal.
There is no magic to preventing fraud. Unsolicited contacts must be verified before you ever think of sharing personal information or payment. Unsolicited means that you didn’t ask for it. Modern, tech-savvy scammers will sound very convincing and may even have accessed your information before they make contact.
Fraud remains a multibillion dollar per year enterprise that will only end when the con artists stop making money. Anyone interested in more information on Fraud can contact the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre 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.