At least three rescues and animal sanctuaries in Alberta have been attacked by a fraudulent verification scam that has also been seen in British Columbia and the United States.
Now, they are warning others that are more attentive to great donations.
Janneane Madill, founder of Alice Sanctuary, was delighted to receive an email from a woman named Pamela Pear who wanted to donate $ 25,000 to the organization on behalf of her late companion.
The sanctuary, located approximately one hour to the Northeast of Calgary in Rocky View County, houses hundreds of rescued farm animals.
“In his will, he expressed a strong desire to donate a part of his heritage to his organization, with the rest designated for the care of his beloved dog, Lizzy,” said the email.
But the check that finally arrived by mail was $ 95,000, issued by what seemed to the Ministry of Finance of Ontario.
Then, Madill received a “Pamela” request.
“If he would not mind solving the problem and sending the $ 70,000 so that we can obtain the medical needs of Lizzy managed and urgently treated,” Madill recalled.
Having lost his own pets, Madill almost fell in love with it.
But after a visit to the bank, where a cashier said that the whole situation felt, Madill quickly realized that it was a scam.
‘An incredible act of selfishness’
Madill said it is “a great disappointment.”
“They had this very specific scam to attack the strings of the people who care, people who care about people, people who care about animals,” said Madill, who said they expected to use funds to hire more personnel to help with animals.
After publishing his experience in social networks, Madill learned several other animal and rescue sanctuaries, from BC to California and beyond, have been attacked by this scam.
Calgary’s human society was among those attacked in Alberta.
“$ 25,000, $ 95,000 are very long in an organization like ours,” said Anna-Lee Fitzsimmons, director of Public Relations of Calgary Humania Society.
“An attempt to take that is an act of incredible selfishness, because we can help hundreds of animals, hundreds of families with that amount of money, if not thousands.”
The sanctuary of happy cats in Strathmore, Alta. He also received the same email and check. After he was marked by his bank, he was informed of his local RCMP detachment.
“It is always very important that if you do not know where a donation check comes from that takes it to the bank so that it first certifies it before depositing it,” said co -founder Michele Shave in an email.
CBC contacted the RCMP to comment, but did not receive an answer before the publication.
A new check kit for checks
In Better Business Bureau, which monitors the scams through its online scam tracker, spokesman Wes LaFortune said that this sounds like a new form of an old job scam called Kiting Check.
In the check kit, a person would be offered employment and a false check for the work team would be sent. Then they are asked to return part of the money.
But, of course, “the checks are rubber. Buncionan,” LaFortune said.
LaFortune has not heard that animals are attacked, but said it makes sense.
“The scammers are opportunistic, so they know that these shelters are usually quite naked operations,” he said.
“If I were executing a small or large animal shelter in Canada at this time, I would like to know about this because it is probably a scam that reaches you.”
LaFortune said that anyone who receives a suspicious check by mail should take him to his bank for verification. He also said that it is healthy to be skeptical about great donations and investigate the donor.
The Calgary Police Service said they are not seeing an increase in the charity of animals locally, but offered the following security councils to avoid excessive payment scams:
Recognize red flags:
- The buyer offers to pay more than the sale price.
- Applications to reimburse the difference through gift cards, wire transfer or third parties.
- Urgent or emotional stories (as “I am in the hospital” or “is for my wedding”).
- Payment made with a check, postal turn or stolen credit card.
What not to do:
- Do not forward money to a third party.
- Do not reimburse through gift cards or unconventional methods.
- Do not hurry great transactions and take your time to verify.
