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Don’t be taken for a fool

Beware and be wary — a simple message this week from Sunshine Coast RCMP after several reported incidents of scams and attempted frauds.

At a time when many of us are opening our hearts and wallets to fundraise and offer support to the people of Haiti, scam artists apparently are trying to take advantage of that generosity and are making the rounds by phone and through the mail.

We were contacted by Sechelt resident Pearl Hall late last week after she received a distressing phone call from a person who she thought was one of her grandsons. The man at the other end of the line said he was in trouble in Calgary. Ms. Hall was suspicious of the caller and started asking personal questions, questions that the scam artist couldn’t answer, and he hung up. Hall figured out it was a scam and called us and the police to report her concerns. But she admitted that if the person had been more persistent and stayed on the line, she most likely would have wired him some money for a plane trip home.

Hall was lucky she was not taken in, but others like her in the past have not been so fortunate. In the past year or so, we’ve reported other scams where people have posed as Sechelt Indian Band Chief Garry Feschuk seeking money, or as other prominent Coast residents trying to get a quick buck out of unsuspecting people.

In the two other attempted frauds reported this week by RCMP, both involved phony advertising. They came through the mail and promised big sums of money or merchandise. Thankfully, in both cases, the victims recognized right away that they could potentially be victims of fraud and reported their concerns to the police.

According to the Better Business Bureau, during times of tragedy, such as Hurricane Katrina, the 2004 Asian tsunami and now the earthquake in Haiti, scammers quickly jump to take advantage of people. During these times of economic uncertainty, it is even more critical for consumers to guard against fraud artists and scammers working to cheat them out of their money.

If the offer sounds too good to be true, it most likely is a fraud. Remember, one rarely gets something for nothing. Don’t be taken in by these fraudsters. Be wary of what is going on and protect yourself.

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