The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Jonathon Naylor Editor In an era of texting and instant messaging, fraudsters targeting Flin Flon are going old school. In the last week, Flin Flon RCMP have learned of attempted scams involving faxes and a standard letter. On Wednesday, police were notified of deceptive faxes sent to at least three different locations around the community. "They're faxing it out, indicating that they're consulting from a South African bank asking for personal information so they can give you this money," said Staff Sgt. Andy Jarvie. Last week, police learned of a separate scam in which a letter was sent to at least one resident. It claimed to be from Publishers Clearing House, the famed direct marketing company that doles out millions of dollars in prizes each year. The letter informed the recipient they had won a cash prize. All that was needed was their online banking information, which would allow the money to be deposited into their account. "We contacted the Publishers Clearing House," noted Jarvie. "They indicated that if a person had won a large amount of money, they would attend the house personally, and if it was under a certain amount of money, it would be sent by registered mail." Locate scammers Jarvie said the RCMP Commercial Crime unit will do what it can to locate the scammers, but he is not holding out much hope they will be caught. "Usually by the time (the police) even get close, (the scammers have) moved onto something else," he said. For Jarvie, both scams reiterate the old adage that if it sounds too good to be true, it is. "Whatever you do, do not give out any personal information," he said. "If you know that you're not talking to your personal banker, I wouldn't be giving out any personal information over the phone or on the computer." Jarvie could not say whether fraudsters are now going back to old-fashioned methods on the chance they will appear more authentic than a piece of spam e-mail. "It just seems like another medium they can use," he said. "They're just using whatever they have available to them, and people just have to be aware. If you're unsure of something, phone us."9/9/11
