Surge in scam reports to police during pandemic

A Waterloo Regional Police car is shown in this file photo.

KITCHENER — Waterloo Regional Police are warning residents about a spike in reports of online fraud.

According to police, they hvaereceived 113 reports of internet fraud since March 17.  That compares with 66 reports during the same period in 2019.

Officials are reminding people to be vigilant while shopping online and responding to email requests to send money.

They say to ensure the product is real, do not send a payment without seeing the product and be cautious of employer requests to purchase gift cards or merchandise with your own money.

Police also advise people to verify the legitimacy of the seller, or make purchases from known breeders or suppliers and to pause and think before forwarding funds.

Police say there are three common scams currentlymaking the rounds.

One is an online “buy and sell”scam -- where a buyer responds to an online ad involving household appliances and sends an e-transfer but never receivesthe product.

Another is a gift card purchasing scam where the victim gets an email from someone they believe to be their employer. The fraudster gets the victim to purchase gift cards and provide them with the activation pins for the cards.

Another involves animals.  One victim responded to an online ad for the sale of a kitten. The victim sent a deposit and then addition funds but never receivedthe kitten.

Police ask anyone who has been a victim of a scam to report it immediately.