Montreal police are investigating after receiving 15 complaints from residents in Montreal’s east end who found fake evacuation notices in their mailboxes. When Fares Hamzaoui checked his mailbox last Thursday in the Rivière-des-Prairies—Pointe-aux-Trembles borough, he found a letter with the City of Montreal’s logo. The letter claimed parts of the borough were under a temporary evacuation order. “When you see the letter, it looks legit,” he tells CTV News. The letter promised $250 a day to compensate for the inconvenience and asked residents to enter their banking information online. That’s when Hamzaoui became suspicious. “I took a picture, and I sent it to ChatGPT, and it told me it was a fraud,” he said. A few doors down from Hamzaoui, Vanessa Imoma received the same letter. She checked the link provided on the letter, but the webpage didn’t exist. “The page turned out to be invalid, and that’s when I realized it might be a scam,” Imoma said. The City of Montreal said its website was not hacked. Officials believe the link was intended to look legitimate, while redirecting users to a fraudulent site. The city says it quickly warned residents and reminds people it will never ask for personal or banking information by mail, text message, or phone. Police are urging residents to verify any suspicious communication before giving out any personal information It’s still unclear how many residents received the letter, who is behind them, or what their intent was. “Maybe it’s that they are trying to scam you with the internet, or maybe they really want you to leave your home during the weekend to get inside your home,” Hamzaoui said. For Imoma, the incident is particularly worrisome for people who may not question a letter that looks official. “There are some people who aren’t comfortable using the internet, or who don’t chat much with their neighbours. So I imagine there are people in that area who’ve had to evacuate their homes completely for the weekend. That’s just how it is. I think it’s a shame for those people,” she said.
