Mystery Shopper Scam
- It has been brought to our attention that fraudsters are currently using the Industrial Alliance name and logo on fraudulent cheques. They are contacting people to offer them a role as a “mystery shopper” to try out an international money transfer system. The potential “shoppers” receive a fake cheque from Industrial Alliance along with instructions to cash the cheque and transfer a large portion of the money through a money transfer service.
- As soon as we learned of this fraud, the Legal Department of iA Financial Group officially reported the scam to law enforcement authorities.
- We confirm that the Competition Bureau of Canada warns consumers against the dangers of these types of schemes and advises that the Bureau is not aware of any legitimate businesses that use these practices. The agency also warns consumers to always be on guard and question all requests for money transfers. (http://www.competitionbureau.gc.ca/eic/site/cb-bc.nsf/eng/03234.html#s2)
- Here is a link to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre webpage for reporting such scams: http://www.antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca/reportincident-signalerincident/index-eng.htm
- The telephone number for the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre is 1-888-495-8501.
- iA Financial Group urges consumers to exercise great caution and never respond to such offers, which are fraudulent.