Greater Sudbury Police are warning residents to beware of foreign companies looking for local representatives to assist them in collecting outstanding debt.
Police say suspicious e-mails from fictitious foreign companies have been circulating, looking for local representatives that can help the company break down language barriers and recover their money.
The company asks for copies of identification and then mails a fraudulent cheque, which police say was produced by stealing the identity of another company and may be worth as much as $100,000. Once the cheque is cashed and cleared, the company asks their target to deposit the money into a foreign bank account and to keep a small percentage for the service.
Police are not contacted until the victim realized the money has been removed from the account. The bank then reverses the transaction, leaving the assisting party holding the debt for the bad cheque.
Police are asking anyone who was contacted in respect to this or similar scams to phone 675-9171 or OPP Phone Busters at 1-888-495-8501.
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