Skip to content

Beware of scams

To the Editor: In the past few weeks we have seen several frauds that customers have presented to the branch. Twice the customer was taken for potentially thousands of dollars.

To the Editor:

 

In the past few weeks we have seen several frauds that customers have presented to the branch. Twice the customer was taken for potentially thousands of dollars. I have also heard of a prominent businessperson who has also been hit with a large loss. I am going to describe a few examples.

1. Manitoba Hydro, the government of Canada or any other “collection agency” calls demanding money. They threaten very loudly that they are going to cut off their hydro, call the police, or have them arrested for tax evasion, et cetera. They make it sound very realistic and like life-altering implications can happen. They then proceed to demand the payment be made by liquid means. Meaning they want you to put cash into a bank account, give them your Visa card number, or purchase prepaid Visa cards to remit them the money immediately. 

The big thing people need to remember is that most of these agencies do not behave like this. You know if you owe money. If you do not then you need to double-check with the company. From the phone book call the company. If they are closed, they are closed and a collection person would not be calling you. Friday at 5 p.m. or Sunday at 10 a.m. the government will not be calling you demanding money. They are trying to frighten you and frightened people make mistakes.

2. Telemarketing jobs. Typically young people are contacted or answer an advertisement on Kijiji or other job sites. They are “hired” to mystery shop companies. They will send you a cheque for thousands of dollars, which you deposit into your account and start spending the money. You are to purchase some goods at a local store. When you have completed that task you are then requested to mystery shop your bank or local Western Union and send money back to them via a wire payment or draft. You keep $1,000 of pay for your time. 

Approximately one week later the cheque that they sent you is returned by “their” bank as account closed or a fraudulent cheque. Since this has been returned to your account you are responsible for the funds. So if you cashed a cheque for $4,000 you are responsible to pay back the bank the $4,000. These cheques many times look legitimate. You need to think is this reasonable pay for the work you have completed. If all of these tasks took you an hour why would you be paid $1,000? 

3. You receive a cheque in the mail or directly sent to your bank for your account. You have no idea of why you received this money. You think you must have won something or received it for some purpose. Sometimes they will send a letter requesting that you email or call them right away to verify that you have received your funds. Two things can happen. They can say they made a mistake so please cash the cheque and keep some money for your troubles and send the rest back. Alternatively they are “phishing” for information and ask you for your account number, card number and/or passcode.

This type is simply for people wishing to get that windfall. This can also include Nigerian families in need, lottery winnings or selling something online and receiving more than requested. The big thing to remember is that if you spend any “windfalls” you are responsible for paying that money back if it is a fraud or even an honest mistake. If you did not deserve the money or did not enter a contest you should not be spending money that is not yours.

4. Online email “phishing.” This scam is sent as an email from a legitimate looking company. It could be TD Canada Trust, Rogers, PayPal, or any company that would have bank account or credit card information. They send you a link within the email to go to their site and update your information. You go to that page, it looks exactly like the real page, and then put your card number, password, and lots of other information.  From there the scammers simply take your money.

The caution is that no bank or legitimate site will have a link within the email. They will ask you to sign in regularly through your bookmarked site and proceed with the instructions within. Never click a link and give information on the site it leads to.

Many of these scams look legitimate. It is really important to stop and think about what is being requested. If in doubt, talk to someone in the know. Your bank will be more than happy to discuss any of these items with you. Please be safe with your money and your account. You are responsible!

 

Cecile Martin

TD Canada Trust Branch Manager

Thompson

push icon
Be the first to read breaking stories. Enable push notifications on your device. Disable anytime.
No thanks