Internet fraud in Canada: Reports predict an ominous rise in online crimes in Canada!
Photo by: alexdecarvalho
There is a storm brewing on the Canadian internet fraud front. Several signs reveal increased instances of scams in Canada or carried out of the country. The 2007 Internet Crime Complaint Centre report unveiled surprises for many. It noted an increase in the number of internet-based scams from Canada. The country was cited as one of few places where online crimes affecting US residents originated the most. The report grouped Canada alongside countries like Nigeria and Romania that are known hotbeds of such crime.
A news report in Edmonton Journal quotes officials from the Edmonton Police department claiming more than half the population of the country have lost money to online fraud in Canada. The country’s online crime fighting agency, Phonebusters, reported victims losing $4.6 Million to just one type of fraud in the month of January alone.
Reasons for anticipating a rise of fraud in Canada
Crime fighting agencies cite weak legislation and antiquated rules as the primary reasons for rise of this type of criminal activity in the country. They say the internet arena is governed by rules made for the 70’s era. The laws are yet to reflect advances made in technology, they point out. This makes it difficult for them to pursue criminals and to enforce order in the online world.
They also cite the lax view of the judiciary while doling out punishments to online crimes. These punishments do nothing to deter criminal activity of this kind.
Another news report warns that organized crime in Canada which was cold to the internet till now may be warming up to it presently. The Internet, the report warns, may have lured gangs with prospects of low risk, low profile crimes. That they would face easy sentences if they are caught only makes the prospect more alluring.
The same report also warns that migrants from the not-so-prosperous eastern part of the country maybe taking up online crime and contributing to the overall situation.
It is not as if Canada has done nothing to stem the onslaught made by online fraudsters. The country has time-and-again tackled the problem head-on and has also taken broad initiatives to quell challenges. However the present situation would demand sterner resolve and more determined action against fraud from law makers and law-enforcers of the country.
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- What makes Mass Marketing Scam on Internet go wild – Warning Trends And Lessons
- Advanced Fee Fraud Ranked Number One in IC3 2009 Internet Crime Report
May 28th, 2008 at 10:23 am
On 4 May I put an ad in Canuck Audio Mart to sell my NAD PP2 phono preamp for $110 plus cost of overseas postage against payment by money order.
On 9 May a certain Patrick Marlow ([email protected])told me that he was interested in my preamp. I gave him my name, my address and my telephone number. Patrick has not given me his address and telephone number.
On 27 May, I received two Western Union Money Orders in my name totalling C$1900 and a sheet of paper with unsigned instructions enclosed in an envelop posted in Finland.
Per the instructions, I was to cash the two Money Orders, keep the selling price and remit the excess money by MoneyGram to a party in Russia, supposed to be a shipper, and e_mail this party for arrangement of pick up of my premp.
I have e_mailed Patrick for clarification of the instructions, but have not received his response. I suspect the proposed transaction is a fraud. I am holding the two money orders.
May 29th, 2008 at 2:05 am
@ Michael,
Good, You didn’t take the bait!
Carries all the trademark signs of a scam!
Best Wishes!
June 7th, 2008 at 2:24 am
Sounds like a total scam. A couple years ago my 16 year old son tried to sell a bike on PINK bike. He got a reply quickly, the interested party said they lived in the states but wanted to buy the bike for a friend in another province.Without my knowledge my son gave our address and in days we got a money order from the bank of America for five thousand dollars. My son was so excited, he came to show me the check at work. I asked him why it was so much when the bike was only worth half that amount.He was told by them that they were sending that amount to cover all cost, any taxes,etc. He was told to cash it at the bank and then to mail the remainder back. I told him this didn’t sound right. I inspected the envelope and noticed the stamp was from Nigeria, even causing more suspicion. We went down to the police station where they sent it away to fraud squad…where weeks later we found out it was a scam. We were told that if he did cash it we would have been out the five thousand and possibly charged with money laundering and he would have lost his bike as was to mail it out as soon as he got the money. We even had the bank look at this money order and they said it looked pretty real and would have cleared it, however to re-collect the money back once they realized it was a fake, weeks later. People need to be careful..if it sound too good to be true it is.Also, I have just been approached in an email that I inherited 300 million dollars and that this lawyer wants me to email him a bunch of my personal information so they can re-lease the funds…I don’t think so! People….BE CAREFUL. Sherry
June 7th, 2008 at 11:58 am
@ sherry:
Thank You for sharing your experience!
Great Work with the money orders from Nigeria!
Nowadays, almost everyone has some story to relate on scammers!
They seem to be getting bolder and bolder!
Best Wishes!
October 27th, 2008 at 1:35 pm
Hi.
A man whom resides in the same building as me took my telephone jack and manipulated the wires into his room and then somehow set it up to his fax which is attached to a homemade modem. (He has no ISP)When I went to use it it made a “starwars type sound!” Also when callers called they received the same signal.
He then used it to (My phone service) make his computer work.
When I confronted him (and this is after I wrote him two weeks previous not to use my phone at all!) He began pulling at his hair like a small child and sobbing, telling me I was an insultive liar and that I said he could use my phone. (Who could argue with logoc like that?) Then because I disconnected MY service he bacme abusive.
The phone disconnection cost me 140 dollars to disconnect early plus whatever the next bill shows he put there.
I went to the Windsor Ontario police but they don’t know about these matters.
I am concerned because:
1. This man has moved nine times in the past year.
2. This man is a thief.
3. This man has no real “history.”
4. The system he set up is remarkable…but he has absolutley NO concept of consequences.
5. I believe that what he is doing with his computers is both illegal and that because he is stalking a woman he met online from the United states… well who knows what he is up to.
Any person whom staels services and does what he did is acting criminally!
Is there a way for someone with computer knowledge to check him out?
I have his social inurance number.
Thank-You for your time…Rachel
November 5th, 2008 at 11:59 am
Michael So…..thanks for the info. this same [email protected] has expressed interest in a preamp that I am trying to sell on CAM as well.
He asked if he could send a money order as he was out of town on business. I replied that I would hold it until he got back in town. He replied that he did not know how long he would be out of town and that he would send a money order right away with a courier to pick up a couple of days after receipt. I thought is sounded fishy. Also his type written english is broken at best and doesn’t really fit the name Patrick Marlow
December 10th, 2008 at 6:10 pm
The police in Canada seem to think ripping off innocent people whilst destroying their lives is acceptable.
Just look at the recent Johnny Come Lately scammers- Afarin Maleki Raei and Ray Behroozian. Run Romance scams and forged documents scams for years and have made millions.
Despite over 30 documented reports to the RCMP and Metro Toronto Police NOTHING has been done.
(http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/393/RipOff0393847.htm)
NOTHING!!!
5-10 million dollars later they are flourishing in their scams and running bigger, bolder and more public scams. So what chance does the consumer have? Very little.
December 20th, 2008 at 5:31 pm
I have an individual (Female) from Quebec Canada that bid and won an item I had in the auction and then had her to pay via PayPal.
I received an email from PayPal that said the funds were fraudulent and she paid twice for some reason. So I got kind of scared and I closed my account and removed all of the credit cards and bank info thinking she may have gotten as hold of it. I had the bank to delete the card and account and reopen a different one and i have since opened another paypal account.
I am now constantly getting emails from this individual wanting me to remove my comments and trying to make out like it is my fault that she got caught. She is trying to say that her funds are frozen and i had something to do with that…..lol!
anyways I would like to know if anyone knows of a place in Canada to report this besides the BBB. I do have the emails that Paypal has sent me stating that the funds were fraudulent and I did post them in ioffer.com, and i forwarded them to ioffer.com today.
I told this individual the more emails I get the more places I find to report the payments.
It is a shame but I have sold not one thing this month so far but I have had 4 people to bid and want to get the item but everyone is either not paying or paying with fraudulent payments.
Check this out I had a guy to bid and win a Transmission for 550.00 ok. Now he sends a check early morning the next day and I open it and it is a company check for $3250.00.
Yeah…Christmas….lol
I call the company and the bank guess what…..yup bad check…so the company is filing against the guy so I am sending them there check.
He mails it from Tennessee, but he is in Utah and has his name and address online as being in San Antonio and wrote the check on a company in Florida….JESUS CHRIST!!!
Respectfully
SweetPea
MERRY CHRISTMAS ALL!
February 28th, 2009 at 7:26 pm
i have a friend that bought a camera he went through pay pal and sent the money, he did recive a package with a pen and agenda in it, but No Camera!. anyway thank god for pay pal cause they reimbursed him. but where does that leave pay pal. I guess theirs always a loser. Just to-bad it has to be one of the good guys!!
March 4th, 2009 at 2:52 am
Never thought it would happen to me,…i know i said it before,…but it happened now,…not once but three in a row,day after day,thinkin holy my internet ads are really workin overtime,such quick response too,within days of posting was getting offers on a car im selling on buy an sell bc classified and craigslist,oh yeah!,or so i thot,…these e-mails all have some similarities to each other,but i wasnt paying attention,…they each in turn agreed to a price,thinkin im smart i was tellin each of them i had more people interested and make another offer to drive the price up,it was working,untill a lil reality hit me,they are in a different country,yes all of them….one wanted to send way too much money,like 10 times my asking price exactly? im supposed to hand over the remainder of funds to auto carrier transporting the car,i asked him why i wouldnt just keep it all an tell him to piss off ,lol,iwas joking but i havent heard back from him
another guy when i made him repeat to me the deal we just made on the car,he forgot all details about car and was only concerned with doing the transaction part,couldnt remember the car other than colour,…?wtf? told him im forwarding his contact info to rcmp fraud investigations,he then disappeared,…just stupid.
this last guy had slightly different approach,way slicker dude,badmus bond is his aka from london uk,he actually,probably to make me feel at ease,…he gave me his supposed name,business name,two tollfree phone numbers,business address,and that hes the owner of this business,said hes doing this deal with me for car and then reselling on his end,what do i carereally if he scraps it after i get my money,right! so we finish making the deal he offers me extra money for my trouble holding the item just for him till payment arrives,just needs my -full name,address,phone number to send me a cheque,told him im not taking a cheque from another country,must be crazy,i suggested a money transfer,his bank to mine,he didnt like that for some reason and kept pushin that cheque,i said certify that cheque before you send it or car goes nowhere buddy,or try money order for payment,so thats where it hangs,i know its a scam but i found out its hard to even find a place in canada to even report such a thing,man what year is it,and why does the canadian government not care canadians are getting scammed frauded against or my case i think all three individuals were only after my contact information as i still have the car and no cheques from anyone,you cant even sell a car online and not give out your identity just to get it sold and paid, ok im confused what do i do now? thanks ed
March 4th, 2009 at 12:19 pm
alameda homes
absolutely agree with the authour, in fact, science is organized knowledge and wisdom is organized life
nokiawad9981
March 5th, 2009 at 2:20 pm
I am selling a snowmobile on Craigs list. I have a buyer from Canada. He wants me to send him a copy of the registration before he buys it, as he says he has to send it to customs 72 hours in advance? Is this legit?
April 20th, 2009 at 12:01 pm
I contacted someone from a posting on the internet for a 2 bedroom apartment a man with a different email address emails you back stating the following.
Hello,
My name is Mr John Coal the owner of the 2 bedroom apartment and also want you to know that the rent fees is $900(per month) and it was due to my transfer that makes me my wife and Son to leave the house and also want to give it out for rent and looking for a responsible person that can take very good care of it as we are not after the money for the rent but want it to be clean at the time and the person that will rent it to take it as if it were its own. So for now, We are here in united kingdom UK, our new house and put all my worries off concerning the maintenance of the apartment for, since i am not residing there for now.I left behind some Facilities and electronics which include the rent, and a DVD player, air conditioning, alarm system. Thekitchen is fully equipped with all necessary cooking utensils, a refrigerator-freezer, four-hob and oven, microwave,dishwasher and washing machine, My Computer Connected with Internet Access Also the keys to the House are right here with me, and the lease document. Which i can send to you after all necessary agreement has be accepted. Also i will like you to know that the rent charges is not really the issue ,but your absolute maintenance of my apartment is most important thing so will want you to get back to me with the Application form below:-
***************RENT APPLICATION FORM***********
**************PRIVATE $ CONFIDENTIAL***********
1)Your Full Name
2)Your Full Address & Phone Number
3)How old are you?
4)Are you married?
5)How many people will be living in the house?
6)Do you have a pet?
7)Do you have a car?
8)Occupation?
9)When do you want to move in
10)How long do you want to stay in my apartment
11)Pictures of all the Occupant that will stay in my apartment
One Mr daniel called me about the apartment,I told him that I can’t give him the apartment because he loves smoking,drinking and don’t want him to get drunk and damaged my property one day so If you are still interested, No extra fees.I will like you to give me a call on this effect to know how serious you are, and i will like to know that the apartment is for sale before i was tranfer to united kindgom for christian mission work but my wife told me that it will be better if i rent it out that is why am looking for a person take very good care of my apartment
I personally will actually come visiting you sometimes during the year
as our new tenant.
Looking forward to hear from you with all this details so that i can have it in my file in case of issuing the receipt for you and contacting you . Await your urgent reply so that we can discuss on how to get the document and the keys of the house to you.
Thanks
His email that he replies to you with is [email protected]. He requests you send him the rent payments via money order to him in the UK. Huge scam! Be careful because he is replying to a lot of craigslist and kijiji ads regarding apartments for rent!
November 4th, 2010 at 5:10 pm
We have been watching these guys since 2007. It is frightening to see how far they have infiltrated the York Regional Police. This was done with the help of Zafar Bangash whom the Maleki-Behroozian-Ghalami clan are supporters of. We have sent proof to CSIS that they have donated large sums of money to this person whom is a radical supporter of Hezbollah and such terrorist groups.
Afarin Maleki is a personal friend of this “Muslim Leader” and has organized and directed anti-Israeli company boycotts and calls for suicide bombers throughout North America for the organization. Also of note is her purchase of millions of dollars of property throughout GTA area paid in Cash and transferred into the name of these terrorist shell companies. Afarin Maleki has purchased at least $1, 000, 000 in property that has been, in the span of 30 days or less after purchase, transferred to shell companies connected to terrorist organizations in Lebanon, Iran and U.A.E. Also of great concern is the connection between Afarin Maleki and Reza Behroozian to the radical Shahe Najaf Islamic Center in New York. She was even brought shopping to Macy’s in NYC by one of the clerics. Obviously North American values don’t agree with them but Macy’s clothing does.
Afarin Maleki’s Brother in Law Ayoob Ghalami spent three to four years in Gohardasht Prison in Iran due to his radical beliefs. His beliefs are so radical (closer to Al-Qaeda than regular Hezbollah types) that his group was outlawed as “too dangerous” even for the Islamic Republic of Iran. He is now a senior Bio-Safety “Officer” at the University of Toronto. He also has given ridiculous and very dangerous testimony at the House Of Commons in an attempt to “ease up” restrictions on dangerous Bio-Chemicals.
http://www2.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?DocId=3752451&Language=E&Mode=1&Parl=40&Ses=2
And of particular note is once we submitted some written complaints to the York Regional Police about harassment we were receiving from Afarin Maleki our offices were inundated with threat letters, phone calls and emails where she knew we had submitted those complaints to the York Regional Police. So it’s clear they have some people working with them in the York Regional Police. The Detective investigating the threat letters handled the letter(s) by hand and was very careless about the preservation of evidence and it seemed purposeful. He notified us not to handle it and preserve it but he seemed to go out of his way to make as many people as possible touch the evidence. Later that week he phoned our secretary in a threatening manner asking us to stop accusing the Malekis of this crime despite the fact that they made no attempt to mask their identity. He also tried to present alternate ridiculous theories stating that Afarin Maleki is a “good girl” and he knows the family personally (well, that is the problem here).
There is so much wrong with this family and their financial records are classic terrorist based. It is easy to trace the money to terrorist organizations or even ask how does a “good girl” purchase property for $325, 000 cash on occasions but never clam more than $80, 000 in any given tax year. That’s Canada for you. I won’t address the claims of the “sexual relationships” but where there is smoke there is usually fire.
If you have been harassed or threatened by this family, either online or via phone calls or letters, please contact:
http://csis.org/ (they are not very efficient) or
http://www.fbi.gov/ (they already have a file on them and other member’s of the family).
Do not bother contacting York Regional Police or any other local police (it will be referred to York Regional Police). You will get service at first but once it’s passed on to “Maleki Friendly” Detectives they will twist it away from the family and you won’t hear anything about the investigation again. Contact CSIS directly or email us and we will forward it to them.