The South Bruce Ontario Provincial Police is sending another warning about cons and scams following 2 reports of successful scams in the detachment area. $8,000 was sent to the "Canada Revenue Agency" to settle an outstanding debt and $5,000 was sent to "Microsoft" for computer repairs. Unfortunately, both of these scams were successful and $13,000 was lost by residents of Southern Bruce County.

Tech-savvy scammers use technology to create very convincing schemes to trick you into sending them money. They will commonly use the name of a real company in order to gain your trust so that you will send money or personal information to them.

There is no magic to preventing fraud. If it sounds too good to be true, it likely is. Remember that you can't win a contest that you didn't enter in the first place. Your best defence is to verify any unsolicited contact. Unsolicited means that you didn't ask for it.

Fraud is a multi-million dollar enterprise that will only end when the scammers stop making money.

Anyone interested in more information on fraud can contact the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre at 1 888 495 8501 or check online at http://www.antifraudcentre.ca/.

The South Bruce OPP is requesting anyone with information that can assist police to call 1-888-310-1122. Should you wish to remain anonymous, call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS).

source: media release, South Bruce OPP