Calgary police remind public of Cheque – related scams

The Calgary Police Service is reminding people to be cautious when asked to cash cheques and wire money to one or more recipients.  

 

Cheque-cashing scams take various forms, and usually involve an offender asking a victim to cash a cheque, keep or spend a portion, and send the rest to the offender or a third-party.

 

There were two different scams reported to the District 1 Victoria Park Station in the past month.

 

One incident involved the “mystery shopper” scam.

 

A woman reported that she had received a letter from a company asking her to conduct a survey on a retail business. Enclosed was a cheque for several thousand dollars. She was instructed to cash the cheque and use a portion of it to shop at the business and report back. The second task was to send a larger sum through a wire company, to test their customer service.

 

The woman tried to cash the cheque, but it was refused by her bank. She then reported it to police.

 

In March 2012, a man applied for a cleaning job through an online classified ad.

 

The prospective employer told the victim that he was moving to Calgary from the United Kingdom. The man was sending the victim a cheque, in order to buy office furniture for his new office. The victim was instructed to keep a portion for himself, and send the rest to an address in the United States, for the furniture.

 

The victim cashed the cheque, and wired a portion to the address in the U.S. The cheque was later determined to be fraudulent, and the victim was unable to recover the money.

 

Police continue to investigate these incidents, however it is usually very difficult to track down the offenders. In most cases, the money is not recovered.

 

While these offenders can be very convincing, Calgarians are reminded that a legitimate individual or organization will have no need to offer money to simply cash a cheque for them, as they should be able to do it themselves.

 

Trust your instincts. If something seems to be too good to be true, it likely is.

 

Anyone who has been victimized by such a scam should contact police.