A McMaster University student was scammed of CAD 100,000
What should you do to avoid becoming the same victim of a scam?
CBC News shared the story of a student from McMaster University, one of Canada's most renowned universities. In early September last year, the student received a phone call from a man who identified himself as a UPS delivery employee.
This "employee" reported that a package from China that was to be sent to a student in Canada had been detained by Chinese customs because it allegedly contained bank cards and passports related to international commercial scams. The phone was then handed to a man who identified himself as a Chinese police officer. He told the Hamilton student that his bank card had been used for fraud and he was facing charges.
The Canadian student spent another 20 days communicating via Skype with people who posed as police officers and kept telling him what terrible punishment an ordinary student could face in connection with the situation. Finally, they made him an offer: the "policemen" were ready to speed up the investigation and not arrest the "suspect" if he paid an amount equivalent to CAD 100,000. And the student paid them.
But here's the whole thing... There was no investigation, no UPS employee and no Chinese police. It was all just a simple fraud, as CBC journalists found out.
The Hamilton Police Service and McMaster University officials reported that students fall victim to such fraudulent schemes with enviable frequency. This is especially true for freshmen and international students. According to McMaster University, from 2012 to 2022, an average of almost 14 students per year fell victim to scam.
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