A Shawnigan Lake man who lost $450 after being duped by someone pretending to be a local lottery winner has advice for others: “Don’t send money to anyone you don’t know.”
The 49-year-old self-employed carpenter, whom the Times Colonist has agreed not to name, said the winter was financially difficult and his truck has broken down and he can’t afford to fix it. “I’ve been kind of down on my luck lately.”
He found a Facebook page purporting to belong to Sidney’s Scott Gurney, who recently won $55 million in a Lotto Max draw. It said he wanted to give money to families.
The man figured the page was legitimate. It wasn’t.
“I feel pretty dumb,” he said.
Gurney has not posted any photos of himself on Facebook holding a giant lottery cheque and is aware of at least 11 fake Facebook accounts using his name.
Unaware that it was fake, the Shawnigan Lake man sent a message to the Facebook account, asking for financial help. He was awake at 4 a.m. on April 4 when he noticed there was a reply.
A scammer posing as Gurney wrote that he was in Dubai on holiday with his family. The two engaged in an online conversation that culminated in the scammer agreeing to give the man $60,000 to clear his debts.
The con artist said he did not want to send funds via e-transfer because he was concerned about email privacy.
Instead, the Shawnigan Lake man was told to open a Bitcoin account — at a cost of $300 US — to receive the funds.
Looking back at the conversation, the man said: “I was super-tired and this guy is just reeling me in.”
He used a link sent to him to set up an account and then deposited $450 in a Bitcoin ATM to cover the $300 US. He was required to provide personal banking information when he set up the account.
Shortly afterward, the man received a notice that $60,000 had been deposited into his Bitcoin account. But when he tried to transfer the money into his bank account, he received a notice saying that another $1,000 was needed as security.
He didn’t have $1,000 and became suspicious. He eventually got in touch with Gurney to confirm that they had not been in contact.
He has since contacted RCMP and Bitcoin.
Last year, the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre received 70,878 reports of fraud totalling $530 million in losses, RCMP said — up from a previous high in 2021 of $380 million.
And the numbers are likely to be far higher, police said. It’s estimated only five to 10 per cent of fraud victims report their experiences.
The top three types of fraud were phishing — when fraudsters send emails designed to trick people into falling for a scam — extortion and personal information scams, all aimed at obtaining personal information such as a social insurance number, passwords or banking details.
Highest losses were reported in investment scams, particularly cryptocurrency fraud, romance scams and spear phishing (a technique to get confidential information).
The RCMP have said fraudsters are using increasingly sophisticated methods to victimize Canadians.
The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre offers these tips to avoid falling victim to a scam:
• Don’t be afraid to say no
• Do your research
• Do not give out personal information
• Beware of up-front fees
• Protect your computer
• Protect your online accounts
• Recognize spoofing
• Be careful who you share images with
For businesses:
• Know who you are dealing with
• Do not give out information on unsolicited calls
• Limit your employees’ authority
• Watch for anomalies
For more information and tips, go to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre website at antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca.
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