CSI resident catches bogus $4,650

Brian Doucette approached Constable Mario Ross from the Barrington RCMP detachment when he became suspicious of the international money order he received from a Richmond, Virginia company called Shoppers Inc.

Const. Ross accompanied Doucette to the CIBC in Barrington where a clerk determined the currency worthless.

“They said that they have many of those, not just in Barrington, but across the CIBC branches. That was the first I’d heard of it,” said Const. Ross.

The international money order was very well done, said the clerk, and had the CIBC logo in the upper left hand corner.

Brian Doucette came across the job offer on the Internet and filled out an online application. He was quickly approved to become a customer service evaluator for the region.

He was given 48 hours to complete his first training assignment, which would earn him $200/day. He was instructed to cash the enclosed cheque at a local bank and to take the cash minus his fees, and pose as a potential customer sending a MoneyGram payment for $4350 to Linda Davies, a purported relative of his in Montreal.

The assignment was to be completed at any Wal-Mart location or Money Gram store. He was asked to keep his identity hidden as a secret evaluator and to complete an evaluation form.

“I would have been out $4600 if this had of passed through the bank and they had discovered it was fraudulent. It would have been coming out of my account today. How many people have not reported this is the question? How many people have just kept quiet?” asked Doucette.

Efforts to contact the company were unsuccessful.