A local business recently learned its cheques were being counterfeited for a “secret shopper scam.”
In the scam, victims are recruited to be a “secret shopper” through job board websites like Kijiji, Craig’s List, Monster or Workopolis, according to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre.
The scammer sends a list with shopping tasks that must be completed in a specific store and encloses a cheque so the victim has money to fulfill the shopping tasks.
In the recent local case, scammers used counterfeit cheques of a Puslinch business, claiming the business was a “third party partner.”
The cheque amount was for $1,980.
The victim is then instructed to deposit the cheque in their own bank account, keep a portion as payment and wire the remainder back to the scammer.
“Eventually, the cheque is returned as counterfeit and the ‘employee’ is accountable to pay for the funds that were wired,” states the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre website.
The payments often range from $900 to $1,500.
Officials with the Puslinch business say they are aware of about 18 instances where counterfeit versions of their cheques were used in the scam.
“Basically, if you’re getting a cheque and that person’s asking for money back … that should be a warning flag,” said OPP spokesperson Marylou Schwindt.
She said she isn’t aware of any other reports of the secret shopper scam in Wellington County, but there are similar scams.
Schwindt said residents to be wary when selling items on Kijiji or on other buy and sell-type sites.
“Often it will happen that say a person sold a car and the buyer will forward them a cheque say for $4,000 but the car is only $2,600. They’ll say … ‘I just sent you extra, can you email me the money back?’” she said.
“And people do and of course the cheque turns out to be fraudulent.”
Officials with the Puslinch business say counterfeit versions of their cheques were also used for this scam, with victims coming from across Canada.
Scam victims who have lost money are encouraged to contact the OPP.
However, if no funds have been lost, Schwindt suggests contacting the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre at antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca.
“Because the [centre] is actually keeping track of all the different scams that are active and they look for trends, they look for the new things,” she explained.
“We will just take the information because if they haven’t lost money no crime has actually been committed at that point.
“And then as far as us trying to investigate, it’s a very difficult type of investigation because it’s all done online and these people could be anywhere in the world.”
