Closures and service interruptions

Have you received a letter that has a Canada Post logo on it and is identified as coming from Canada Post, asking you to secretly pose as a customer sending funds using electronic money transfer services such as Western Union or MoneyGram and explaining that your role is to help rate the performance level of the money transfer service offered at Canada Post or Shoppers Drug Mart outlets or other establishments?

This letter is not from Canada Post. Do not respond to this fraudulent solicitation.

Canada Post’s Security and Investigaton Services are investigating this matter and have notified the proper law enforcement authorities.

Who should you alert?

For information about this and other fraud scams, visit http://www.canadapost.ca/postalsecurity.

To report deceptive telemarketing activity, visit http://www.phonebusters.com/.

For information on the recent Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) warning regarding a CRA letter scam, visit: http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/nwsrm/lrts/2008/l080818-eng.html

Tips and information to help you identify fraudulent solicitation:

Everyone should be vigilant when reviewing unsolicited mail, particularly if the letter asks you to divulge any personal information, or seeks your participation in any monetary transactions. Fraud schemes are commonly characterized by the following:

• You are hired through an email or phone call, without any personal interview or background checks. That's not how legitimate companies operate.

• You are asked to help process payments by depositing checks or money orders intended for their company into your bank account. You send them the money and you keep the extra as your ‘pay.’ Real companies never operate that way.

• You are asked to be a "mystery shopper". You send funds from a check or money order to ‘test’ a money transfer service or buy several small items at a store and send the rest of the money back to them. Legitimate companies would never ask you to use a money transfer or delivery service to send cash to them or anywhere else, for any reason.