| Text Release Date and Time: 2009-08-17 15
In the past few months the Medicine Hat Police Service has noted a
dramatic increase in the amount of Internet Frauds using the website Kajiji,
which is
a centralized network of online urban communities for posting local
online classified advertisements.
The Frauds involve the purchase of property over the internet, from locations
in the United States, and other regions of Canada. The victim of the Fraud
observes a photograph on-line, of a piece of property, usually for a
substantially lower price than can be purchased at a retail store. The victim
is them asked to transfer money into a bank account and the property is never
sent.
Police are asking buyers to be cautious when buying items from other countries
or provinces and ensure that an independent third party views the merchandise,
and a money transfer is not complete until a product is received or the money
is held in an established trust account.
The ability for police to locate suspects from other countries and jurisdict
ions without a positive identity is limited and victims seldom have money
recovered.
S/Sgt Brent Secondiak
Major Crime Section
403-529-8421 |
Office of the Chief
