A Port Hope woman was defrauded out of money after she began an “on line” relationship. The woman was conversing with a man in October 2019 who after a few weeks convinced her to send money under the pretext she was investing in a resort. The woman did some research and concluded the resort was legitimate and sent money via e-transfer. The elaborate scam had the woman texting someone purporting to be a lawyer all under the guise that they were all involved in this project. It was determined by the woman later she was a victim of a scam. Port Hope Police are warning residents to be wary of such scams especially involving off shore investment opportunities. Although the woman did do some back checking of the information the scam was elaborate and convincing. If it sounds too good to be true it is most likely as scam.
In a separate incident a Port Hope man was defrauded after falling victim to an on line scam. In September 2019 the man was on his computer when a pop up window appeared on his screen telling him his computer would crash in 5 minutes if he did not click on the pop up window for assistance. The man did and was re-directed to a phone number to call. He called the number where a person identified himself as working for Quick Fix Services who claimed to be associated with Microsoft. The man offered to clean the computer to fix the issues whereby he was given remote access to the Port Hope man’s computer. The man then paid for the service. Later in October a representative of “Quick Fix Services” contacted the man and said the company was shutting down he was going to get a refund. The man gave this person remote access to send the payment back. He was then told they mistakenly deposited too much into the account and requested the man send the balance minus what he originally paid back to them. When he checked his online account he saw what he believed was the over-payment and sent the balance back. This was all a ruse, however, and the man is out the money he paid back plus the original money he spent on what he thought was a computer repair. Port Hope Police are warning residents to be suspicious of popup windows that say the computer is damage. Never “click” on these types of window pop ups as they usually are a scam or could contain a malware virus. Police are continuing the investigation.
For more tips on scams and preventing them visit the below link to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre