What appeared to be a kind gesture recognizing West Islanders helping flood victims now has residents worried about online scams.
A page called West Island Roll of Honour Heroes appeared on Facebook on May 7.
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The page’s administrator, John Sinclair, put out a call for names to add to a list of “heroes and angels,” saying he hoped they could be put on a plaque at Fairview Pointe-Claire.
Dozens of names were submitted by community members and listed on a public online spreadsheet.
Not long after, residents say the administrator’s interactions with them turned aggressive.
“He’s been abusive and disrespectful towards me when I’ve done nothing wrong,” said Stéphanie Sabbagh, a Pierrefonds-Roxboro resident displaced by the floods.
Sabbagh submitted a name to be recognized, and was met with a response demanding she submit more than one.
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“Think of the time you expect others to waste doing one name at a time…we are not your secretary,” Sinclair responded in all caps.
In a Facebook message to Global News, Sinclair argued he is “being defamed” for his volunteer efforts.
“This is serious legal and media and RCMP will be involved. Pretty sick what five people will state as fact,” he said.
When Sabbagh posted in the West Island Watch Facebook group complaining that she was being harassed, other members grew concerned.
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Karine Saba, who runs the West Island Watch group, was among a handful of people who asked for their names to be removed from the list.
Twenty-four hours later, hers is still there.
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“The issue I have, and I spoke to the police about this, there are children’s names on that list,” Saba said.
“It just doesn’t seem right to me.”
Karine Saba said she reported the page to the police, but they told her there isn’t much they can do.
“They said there’s really nothing illegal about posting names, he hasn’t really done anything illegal at this point,” Saba said.
After scrolling through West Island Roll of Honour Heroes group and reading some of the interactions, Gordon Yee said he felt the page “reeked of a scam.”
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He and others accused the page publicly and were met with combative responses from the administrator.
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“He’s literally threatened me, telling me I’d better hope my past record is clean, that my daddy’s hands are clean, which is absolutely ridiculous, but I feel he’s threatening me and my family,” Yee told Global News.
“This is no way for someone to interact with the public, especially when it’s supposed to be for a good cause.”
Cyber security expert Terry Cutler agreed the page looks suspicious.
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“Let’s say he collected 100 names, he’s going to reach out to these folks and say thanks for your courage and your service, would you be interested in spending $10 to get your name on a plaque? And the person is going to pay and it’ll never come through,” Cutler said.
He said people should be on the lookout for links leading to viruses that might be sent from the page.
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Cutler said the situation is a good reminder for people to do a Facebook privacy checkup.
“A lot of people’s photos are set to public, which means anyone can download their photos without even being a friend; their accounts get taken over or cloned by a malicious person and then they try to scam,” Cutler warned.
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For his part, Gordon Yee has reported the page to Facebook.
“I think the page should be taken down, this is spreading the wrong spirit in the community, he said.
”If anyone is volunteering, they’re not doing it for the recognition. They’re doing it to help.”