A wide variety of scams continue to circulate throughout the region, and Winkler Police have received a number of complaints in recent days from people who have fell victim.

The department continues to investigate after a female and her partner fell victim to a scam on Facebook Marketplace involving the purchase of a vehicle. The vehicle was allegedly in B-C, and the seller advised the complainants they would be responsible for paying shipping by using a QR code to be processed through Canada Post, which they used. After the seller ceased communication, the couple contacted the shipping company which did not have a record of the transaction. 

Also remaining under investigation is a report last week from a male who was scammed after applying for a job on a local website. He was sent a cheque for a large amount of money, and then instructed to send most of the money back to the scammer, which he did. Meanwhile, the original cheque sent to the complainant failed to clear, and he is currently out the money sent to the scammer.

Meanwhile, police also received a report from a female who fell victim after being contacted by someone claiming she won the Publisher’s Clearing House Sweepstakes. She proceeded to purchase several prepaid credit cards, and provide the scammer with the card numbers. The scammer later requested her to send a money order, which police advised her not to send. The female was not able to get back the money spent on the prepaid cards.