Canadian, U.S. officials work together to bust mystery shopper scam

CALGARY- A sophisticated cross-border scam has been shut down by officials on both sides of the border, leading to numerous charges against three people from the Calgary-area.

RCMP say they zoned in on the ‘mystery shopper scam’, where victims in the United States agreed to test the customer service at a store. They were sent a cheque in the mail, asked to cash it, then withdraw the money and wire it to another country.

However, the victims later learned from their banks that the cheques were forged, and were required to pay the money back.

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At least 10 people in the U.S. were victimized, for a loss of over $21,000.

Canada Post and the US Postal Service helped investigators intercept thousands of envelopes that were set to be delivered to other potential victims, and RCMP say that likely prevented hundreds, if not thousands, of others from being victimized.

Tips to protect yourself from a similar scam

· If you deposit a cheque, ensure the money appears on your account balance before you
spend it.  This process can take days or even weeks.  It is important to remember that if it sounds too good to be true, it likely is.
· Do not cash a cheque if the issuer asks you to send a portion to someone else, or if the amount sent is too large for the purpose, and the sender asks you to return the difference.
· Do not cash a cheque that bears a different company name than the sender’s company, also known as a third party cheque.
· Legitimate mystery shopper companies will ask you to rate retailers you regularly shop at and rarely provide money in advance for this.

34-year-old Daniel Tochukwu Ezeani of Cochrane, Emmanuel Davies Uzonwanne, 37, of Calgary and Tina Marie Uzonwanne, 41, of Calgary now face a number of charges, including fraud. They are set to appear in court on October 22.