Holiday Employment Scam

Chillwack Times had a story about the mystery shopper job scam.

Typically, these are advertised with an Internet address to submit an application. The applicant then receives a mail package with instructions on how to deposit a money order at a bank through Western Union to a fictitious person, usually in another province. Even if the victim carries out the duties of a "mystery shopper," no one is expecting them.

There are legitimate mystery shopping jobs, but check with the BBB first before applying. Remember, never to wire money to a stranger who is offering employment, because it will difficult to get the money returned, explosing you to financial loss. 

Source: Chilliwack Times

Do-not-call scam circulating through e-mail

CBC published a report abut a new scam that involves the do-not-call list.Here is an excerpt from the story:

"Cellphone providers are warning against a scam circulating via e-mail regarding the CRTC's recently implemented do-not-call telemarketing list.

The e-mail warns recipients that cellphone providers are releasing their customers' numbers to telemarketers, so they should expect calls that will inevitably waste their airtime. Recipients are urged to call one of two phone numbers purportedly attached to the national do-not-call list, which the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission launched on Sept. 30, in order to block such unwanted calls.

"All cellphone numbers are being released to telemarketing companies and you will start to receive sale calls," the e-mail says. "You will be charged for these calls."

The e-mail suggests the release of number databases has been confirmed by Telus Corp. and urges recipients to pass the message on to their friends.

Telus, however, issued an advisory on Tuesday evening warning that the e-mail was "fraudulent and dangerous" and urged customers not to respond to it or forward it."

Source: CBC.ca

What it costs to buy mutual funds

If you want a good primer on mutual fund fees, check out the Vancouver Sun today. Here is an excerpt of some key terms:

- Load: Acquisition costs. Is there a commission that is paid up-front to the broker who sold you the mutual fund? That is a "front-end load." A "back-end" loaded fund will charge deferred service charges if you redeem your investment before it matures.
0% (or no-load) to 5% typically in the 1% range

- Management expense ratio (MER): Covers the costs of operating funds, such as management fees and commissions for buying and selling securities within the fund and administration costs, such as reports and mail outs.
0% to 2.5%

- Trailers: Commissions that fund managers pay to mutual fund companies as an incentive for the company to sell its funds.
0.25% to 1%

Source: Vancouver Sun

Identity Theft plagues 1.7m Canadians

Victims of identity fraud spent more than $150 million of their own money and spent 20 million hours to resolve the fraud in the past year as part of a ballooning problem that struck almost 1.7 million Canadians, a survey has found.

Source: Vancouver Province

Bogus Canada Renevue Agency letter

The scam is designed to prey on taxpayers worried about their records. It comes in the form of an official-looking letter or e-mail claiming to be from the Canada Revenue Agency and requiring taxpayers to complete a T2 form and bring CRA's records up to date.

CRA does not contact people by email, while the letter has a bogus T2 form in it which request it to be sent to a fax it or send it to an address with a post office box number. The address is just a mail drop which gets forwarded overseas.

Source: CBC.ca

We had a temporary hiatus from providing Scam Alerts, but we are back and better than ever.

A New xBox Scam

A consumer fell victim to a person selling a fraudulent xBox that was advertised on a website. The person received a box filled with only old books.

Source: Hamilton Spectator

New pyramid scheme: Gold Quest

The Nevada-based fund Gold Quest, which purported to be a foreign exchange trading company, is actually a front for a large-scale pyramid scheme currently being investigation by securities commissions in Canada and the United States, police said.

Investigators have learned past clients are being contacted and advised they can retrieve funds already invested, along with an extra 10 per cent return on that money in return for an application for a "reloadable credit card."

According to police the company's funds are frozen and clients doing more business with the company may be exposed to further losses.

RCMP warn of phone scam

In each case, the caller is identified as a police officer informing the person about a relative in a car accident. The recipient is then told to hit *72 to get more information. Pressing *72 causes the call to be forwarded allowing the scam artist to make a call anywhere in the world at the recipient's expense.

Some recipients complain about the phone being locked, he said, but they can regain control by hitting *73.

Source: CBC.ca