Calgary businesses stung for $100K in fake post-secondary school scam

CALGARY Police are warning businesses about a new scam that has already cost Calgary businesses about $100,000.

Fraudsters pretend to be post-secondary institutions and contact businesses to place an order.

After interacting with the business owner, the scammers send a fraudulent purchase order that looks like an actual invoice from the post-secondary school they are pretending to be.

The items are then shipped to a local address not associated with the school and the business never receives payment.

Before the error is discovered, the product has been shipped elsewhere and the business can’t recover the items.

Police say that 10 Calgary businesses have been targeted by this scam.

Officials advise business owners to educate their employees on how to recognize scams like this and make sure their customers are legitimate at all times.

Police say employees should double-check email addresses to make sure they are authentic and the domain name matches the actual business you are working with.

Businesses should also look for poor grammar, spelling mistakes and other language that seems inconsistent with regular business speech. Police also advise to be suspicious of high pressure sales tactics such as needing orders completed quickly and persistent contact, looking for updates.