Red Deer, Alberta – Red Deer RCMP are warning the public about an online scam involving hiring people to purchase gift cards.
Red Deer RCMP recently investigated an incident wherein a person was offered an online job which required them to purchase gift cards in exchange for payment. The person was told to purchase gift cards for clients, which would then be reimbursed via cheque. However, when the individual deposited the cheques, the bank determined them to be fraudulent. To avoid detection, the scammers used real business information from a business in B.C., including a logo from their website.
RCMP are offering the following tips to assist identifying fraudulent online job opportunities:
First and foremost, if it sounds too good to be true, it typically is.
Try to confirm that the job truly exists from a real company. Search for the company’s website and find the job posting. Call the company directly to confirm the job opportunity.
Be wary of jobs in which you are asked to transfer money to a “client” through Bitcoin or another crypto currency, gift card, e-transfer or direct deposit into a third party bank account provided to you.
Other red flags for fraudulent jobs include: emails are sent from free, insecure accounts such as Gmail, Yahoo or Hotmail; you are required to supply credit card or bank information; or you are required to pay money to get…
