The Nanaimo RCMP is warning the public about two social media scams on Facebook and Kijiji.
A Nanaimo man had money scammed from him recently after he received a message on his Facebook account from a person calling himself Brian Yarber.
Yarber claimed he lives in Alabama and told the victim he was eligible to receive a prize of $150,000.
Yarber proceeded to tell the his intended victim that to claim his prize he must first send him a picture of a valid credit card plus a picture of his British Columbia driver's licence. The victim wired two payments for 'administration fees' totalling several hundred dollars in, but after sending the money and not hearing from Yarber again, the male victim became suspicious and contacted his credit card company to cancel his card. He also removed his cell phone number from his Facebook profile and updated his privacy settings.
The second scam involves a 'secret shopper.' In this case, a woman responded to an ad on Kijiji looking for people interested in making extra money to do quality assurance checks at a large retail store in Nanaimo.
After several text messages were exchanged and personal information provided, the female received a cheque via a courier service for $1,500 from the 'Wireless Trade Group Inc.' As part of the agreement, she was instructed to deposit the cheque and send back the majority of it via a wire transfer and was told she could keep the remainder for her services.
After spending a portion of the money at the selected retail store she learned from her bank the cheque she had deposited was fraudulent.
Online searches revealed Wireless Trade Group Inc. has been linked to various frauds.
Nanaimo RCMP advises that to win a lottery prize, one must first purchase a ticket. Also, legitimate lotteries do not require you to pay an administration fee to claim your prize.
To learn more about frauds and scams visit www.antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca.