Police Warning Residents to Beware of New Scam in Mississauga
Published January 19, 2017 at 5:03 am
Although most people are relatively scam-savvy, new ones emerge fairly frequently and it’s best to be aware so you can protect yourself and warn others.
Recently, the Peel Regional Police Fraud Bureau warned residents about an ongoing fraud in the form of an advanced fee scam. According to police, the scam is carried out through Instagram.
Based on reported incidents, police believe young people are particularly vulnerable to this scam.
According to reports fielded by police, some people have allowed (knowingly or unknowingly) unknown Instragram users to access their own personal accounts to advertise the sale of electronics. When these advertisements appear, the friends of the actual user believe the source is legitimate and purchase the goods.
Naturally, these goods never arrive and the money ends up in the pockets of people who had no intention of handing over a cell phone following a purchase.
Police are advising people to avoid giving strangers access to their accounts, choose strong passwords for their accounts, maintain strong privacy settings, avoid making online purchases from unverified/unknown sources and avoid clicking on links from unverified sources.
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They are also warning people that if something looks too good to be true, well, it probably is.
To learn more about this and other fraud scams currently affecting Canadians, please visit the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre website at www.antifraudcentre.ca
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