How the scam works: In the case of our member's charity - a donor sent an email that a donation was forthcoming from his company by FedEx (which originated from the US). When the cheque arrived, the donation amount was much higher than originally indicated and the cheque was under what appeared to be a local business. The member emailed our contact indicating the cheque had arrived and they had a few questions so we could proceed with processing the donation. The donor emailed stating that there had been an overpayment and we should take out our donation and wire transfer the difference (this was not done) for which we were given yet another address.

The donation had four various addresses and/or emails and the name of the cheque resembled a local Toronto business. After contacting the business they were not aware of the donation. RCMP advised the member that this type of scam is often directed towards individuals and that the cheque is ultimately counterfeit and the victim has forwarded a refund via an untraceable source (Western Union) before the counterfeit cheque is caught. In some cases individuals (victims) have been arrested at the bank for trying to cash a counterfeit cheque.

AFP thanks our member for alerting us to this potentially damaging scam which fortunately they did not fall victim to.

Mark Climie, CFRE
President