Employment fraud reported

The Frontenac and Sharbot Lake detachments of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) in the past few weeks have received several complaints from the public regarding an employment scam that was posted in a local newspaper.
In the classified section of the newspaper was an ad for an experienced caregiver to start work immediately to care for an elderly person with Dementia. The applicants would correspond with the fraudsters through email and eventually an overpayment fraudulent cheque in the amount of over $3,000 would be mailed out to the potential victims with the instructions to keep $400 from the cheque and forward the balance through some type of money transfer back to the culprit.
The Frontenac/ Sharbot Lake OPP wish to remind area residents to be cautious of any overpayment in the form of a money order or cheque. You can protect yourself from similar types of fraud by taking the following precautions:
•    Knowing who you deal with; independently confirm the person/buyer name, street address and telephone number.
•    Never accept a cheque or money order for more than your selling price.
•    Never agree to wire back funds to a buyer. A legitimate buyer will not pressure you to do so.
•    Resist pressure to "act now". You can always visit a bank branch to determine if the cheque or money order is legitimate.
For more information on frauds you can visit the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre at www.antifraudcentre.ca or call them at 1-888-495-8501.