OPP Confirms Classified Ad in the News Was Placed By Scam Artists

Jeff Green | Mar 08, 2017

On February 16, a classified ad appeared in the Frontenac News that police confirmed this week is an attempt to scam those who answered it. Under Help Wanted, the ad offered $20 an hour for caregivers willing to work 4 – 5 days a week caring for a women with dementia. Applicants were asked to reply via email. The ad was supposed to run for four weeks, but a couple of days after the paper came out we started hearing from readers who said when they responded they were immediately offered a job and told they would receive a check for $400 as an advanced payment. Further, they were told the family was moving to the area and would need to furnish a house so they were going to received a $3,250 check and were supposed to write a $2,850 check to a third party who was going to use it to pay to set up the house.

We contacted the local OPP detachment, who began an investigation,  and our advice to everyone who contacted us, even one person who said they were not suspicious at all, was to make sure not to share any personal or electronic information no matter what transpired.

When we ran the credit card number through the system it was not only refused but was flagged as a potentially stolen card. We did not run the ad again, and posted a warning on our website instead. The warning was seen by a monthly paper in Ottawa that had also run the ad and they inquired about it and said another monthly in Ottawa had also run it.

Subsequently some of the people who responded to the ad have received cheques, via Fedex, for $3,250 dollars issued by a bank in British Columbia. To our knowledge none of the checks has cleared. OPP officers from the Frontenac detachment visited our office this week and confirmed that the whole thing is a scam. They speculate that the next phase of the scam is set to take place when the checks don’t clear, then the company will say there was a problem with the funds and will ask for the victims bank account number in order to transfer the $3,250 right away. Once they have the account number they will have an in to the victim’s finances, line of credit, etc.

OPP are continuing to investige.

All of this is taking place during during the month of March, which the OPP has designated as “Fraud prevention month”. An OPP release this week talks about some of the fraud activity that they have been dealing with on an ongoing basis.
“Fraud-related crimes take a destructive toll on victims while amassing millions of dollars to further criminal enterprises,” the release sais. “Sadly, 95 per cent of fraud victims never report the crime to police. Regardless of age, gender and location, everyone can take basic steps to better protect themselves from becoming victims of fraud. Some basic tips include never giving out personal or financial information at the door, over the phone, by e-mail or through social media, or on to unsecured retail or dating websites.”

Fraud prevention is the topic at two South Frontenac Seniors and Law Enforcement Together (SALT) lunch meetings this month. One of them took place on  March 10 in Storrington and the second is set for March 24 at the Grace Centre in Sydenham.