SASKATOON – Saskatoon Police are advising residents who are seeking employment about an online job scam.
Police have received two separate reports where victims were defrauded through an online employment website.
In both cases, the victims accepted jobs through the website and were mailed cheques from whom they believed to be their employer.
After depositing those cheques, the victims were asked to send a portion of the funds back via wire transfer before the cheques turned out to be fraudulent.
Saskatoon police would like to remind the public to verify businesses names, street addresses and telephone numbers and never agree to a wire transfer without first being able to confirm the recipient.
The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC) categorizes job scam as any fraudulent offering of employment where advance fees are requested to secure a job or any job offer involving money transfer or wiring funds.
CAFC says scammers issue counterfeit cheques in excess amounts and ask victims to immediately wire the excess funds back before the deposit turns out to be fake.
According to the central agency, scammers can use a variety of excuses to explain the overpayment but any such excuse should be treated with the upmost suspicion.
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