By Treena Mielke
A Rimbey senior who doesn’t want to be indentified is convinced she has been targeted as a victim of fraud and warns other seniors to be aware of similar scams.
The senior picked up her mail last week and found, much to her surprise, a cheque for $20 from a company called Unifund. She said there was very little information attached to the cheque other than it was an overpayment.
However, she said she has never dealt with a company called Unifund, nor does she write cheques.
“It just came out of the blue. Where they got my name, I don’t know. I have no idea what it’s for.”
Const. Carman Dutz looked over the cheque and the accompanying information, and agreed it was probably a scam. He did some checking and could not come up with information about that particular scam, but, nonetheless is quite sure, it is a way of acquiring information about the seniors’ bank account.
“There are lots of different frauds out there and they keep going on. If she had nothing to do with Unifund chances are good that’s what it is. Good for her for not cashing the cheque without checking first.”
Dutz warns other seniors who get a cheque in the mail for no apparent reason it is a good idea to get it verified.
“Do not deposit it. If you suspect a letter or cheque is fraudulent pleased report it.
To investigate the possibility of a fraud, Dutz suggests going to rcmp.gc.ca and clicking on scams and frauds for further information.
Meanwhile, he plans to keep the cheque the senior received from Unifund and do further investigation into the matter.