Police warn local businesses to watch out for fraudulent order scam

Calgary police are warning local businesses about a scam involving fraudulent orders by people claiming to be from the University of Calgary.

Police say on Jan. 18, a business in the community of Alyth-Bonnybrook received an email from what appeared to be a University of Calgary email address with an order for more than $13,000 of power tools. Police say the email included a fake U of C purchase order.

“Since nothing appeared out of the ordinary, the business delivered the tools to a warehouse where a receptionist signed for the delivery,” police said in a news release Thursday.

Another order was made for the same tools a day after the delivery, which prompted the business to call the university to ask if the second order was a mistake. They were told the university did not place either of the orders.

“When police went to the warehouse where the first order was delivered, it was empty and had been rented fraudulently,” police said.

Since launching an investigation, police have learned of two other businesses that received the same fraudulent emails and delivered products to a warehouse they thought was connected to the university. A total of $46,000 in merchandise has been taken through the scam, according to police.

Police warn businesses to always confirm online orders by contacting the customer directly at a phone number or email address that is known to be legitimate. Businesses should also keep an eye out for an email order that does not match other email addresses from that organization or has unusual attributes after the @ sign.

Anyone with information about the investigation is asked to contact police or Crime Stoppers.