The Saskatoon Police Economic Crime Section is alerting the public to a series of fraudulent activity occurring in Saskatoon.

Recently, police have received multiple reports of a fraudulent job scam targeting victims in Saskatoon. Victims have reported responding to a fraudulent job ad seeking a nanny/babysitter, housekeeper, or personal assistant for someone moving to the city. Once the “job” is offered and accepted, the fraudster requests assistance from the victim in arranging payment for a storage locker and mails the victim a cheque to be cashed to cover the cost. The victim is then instructed to e-transfer sums of money to pay for the locker. Days later, the victims are contacted by their banks informing them the initial cheque provided to them by the fraudster had bounced leaving them defrauded of several thousand dollars in sent e-transfers. Remember! Once an e-transfer is sent and deposited, it can’t be reversed.

If you have responded to a suspicious job ad and suspect fraud but have not been victimized, contact the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre. If you have become the victim of fraud or have experienced something similar to this, contact your local police or report it to the Saskatoon Police Service by calling 306-975-8300; in an emergency, call 9-1-1 immediately.