Three Separate Fraud Victims in One Day

Tuesday, 5 March 2019 12:35

Stratford Police say three separate victims lost money in three separate frauds on Tuesday in the Festival City.

STRATFORD - Stratford Police are receiving fraud complaints on a daily basis.

Yesterday police were called three times, from three different victims who lost money because of a fraud. The first victim lost several thousand dollars as a result of a “Romance Scam”. The second lost several hundred dollars when she fell victim to the well-known Canada Revenue Fraud and purchased a number of iTunes cards, then sending the information to an unknown individual. While the third was a female from Cayuga, Ontario, who attended Stratford to pick up a dog she believed she had purchased over Kijiji, but found that neither the address nor the individual she was looking for existed.

Police are warning the public that these scams are happening every day and it costing people in our community thousands of dollars. Be vigilant to prevent yourself from being taken advantage of and talk to your friends and family to help them become more aware.

Several simple steps can be taken to help:

- Be sceptical! If it sounds too good to be true, it likely is.

- Take your time making a decision. Scammers will try to intimidate you into giving them money. Slow down, talk to someone and do some research before you make a decision.

- Remember that your bank or the government will never call you to ask you for money or to provide your personal information, nor will any legitimate business ask you to pay by way of gift card or pre-paid credit card.

- Don't pay up front for an item you have yet to see in person.

- Spot imposters! Scammers will pretend to be someone you know. Never send money or give out personal information in response to an unexpected request.

- Never deposit a cheque and wire money back to someone or give them access to your bank account.

- Avoid giving money to someone you have only met on-line.

- Don't suffer in silence! Report all incidents to the police or to the Canada AntiFraud Centre to help prevent others from being victimized.