In a world where we all rely on the internet so heavily, sophisticated scams are inevitable. From callers impersonating the CRA to fake GoFundMe pages, the list of online scams, even amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, is extensive.
The Toronto Police are advising Canadians to beware of a new ‘work from home scam’ that’s robbing unsuspecting victims of large sums of money.
According to the Toronto Police Service, scammers are posting online jobs on employment websites and giving applicants tasks.
Some scammers ask applicants to take money in the form of e-transfer or cheques and deposit it in their own accounts. They then make up a story, usually about being out of town, and ask the victim to give the cash to someone the scammer knows. Other scammers avoid the step of having someone collect the money in person, so they ask the victim to deposit the money into a Bitcoin machine.
If the e-transfer method is used, then the transfer is fraudulently obtained. If the scammer went with the cheque route, the cheques are fake, resulting in a cheque bounce, leaving the unsuspecting applicant who submitted the cheque with substantial, sometimes massive debt.
Source: Toronto Police Service
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