Greater Sudbury Police has received information regarding a new “easy-money, fast-cash” scam.
In this case, a fraudulent organization contacts citizens via email claiming they can make some extra cash by evaluating customer service provided by banking establishments.
"The citizen is asked for their mailing address and contact information in order to be provided with a cheque to begin the evaluation process," police say in a news release. "Once the cheque is received by the citizen, they are asked to deposit the cheque in to their own bank
account, leaving $500 from the amount as payment."
At that point, the victim is told to withdraw the remainder of the money from their account and deposit it into an account at a TD Canada Trust bank outlined in the instructions.
The instructions provide the victim with an account and transit number at the TD Canada Trust bank in order to make the final deposit. Once the deposit is made, the victim is instructed to send a picture of the deposit receipt to the fraudulent organization via email.
"The cheques that citizens have been receiving from this fraudulent organization have been stolen from other business establishments and as a result, the cheques end up being returned and charged back once the banking institution has gone through the clearing process," the release said. "Victims are left to pay back the original amount of the cheque they cashed."
For more information regarding frauds and scams or to report a fraud or scam that you are aware of visit, the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre.
