Scam Busted

Shauna Foster the radio announcer in Saskatoon. This is [as] legit [as an email forward can be].

Hello,

I felt the need to write every single person on my contact list after experiencing a devastating loss yesterday.

We were left bankrupt after being victim to internet fraud.

I had sold an old dining set for my folks on Kijiji and it turns out the purchaser was a member of an international ring. Seemingly normal transaction, a man sent me a money order for the set, which he was apparently going to give to his wife as a gift. I chatted with the fellow both via email and on the phone.

I verified the money order at our RBC branch. It was approved and cashed.

I was notified by police yesterday morning that the money order was fraudulent and our bank account had been drained.

RBC and Police said these fraudsters are getting so clever at passing fake bank notes/money orders--the tellers are unable to pick up on anything untoward. That's how legit these money orders appear. Not even the scanners detected anything abnormal when I asked.

There is no chance the money will be returned or reimbursed by RBC. The only glimmer of hope is that because my sister in law manages TD, she was able to tell us that had the RBC teller looked on her computer screen, she would have seen a red-flag warning to all banks to NOT process any money orders carrying the code that was on the very same one RBC cashed for me.

As it turns out, this is becoming an extremely common occurance, especially in western Canada. The police inspector told me DOZENS of these fake money orders from online purchases via Kijiji/Ebay are being passed daily. Just 2 days ago, police told me of another Saskatoon man who sold his vehicle on Kijiji and lost nearly 100 thousand dollars.

I wanted to write this to warn everyone of the dangers of internet shopping and accepting payment.

We are completely broke. Thank God for my parents, friends and Rawlco for helping through this really awful time.

Pls. don't feel the need to write back--just pass this along to WHOEVER so it will not happen again to someone else. Just last night, one of my girlfriends was about to accept payment for a dress with a money order and I caught her before she made a huge mistake.

Shauna

# posted by Sam Tompkins @ 3:52 PM