NDP MP calls on feds to make amendments to CERB to prevent scams targeting seniors
TORONTO -- NDP MP Don Davies is calling on the federal government to ban third parties from collecting fees for assistance with Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) applications after dozens of seniors were lured into applying for the benefit without qualifying for it.
The Vancouver-area MP says a woman, identifying herself as Joanne, has allegedly been contacting seniors in his riding and offering to sign them up for an undisclosed government benefit in exchange for a 10 per cent fee. In a letter addressed to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Davies notes that there is no explicit prohibition against charging fees in exchange for assistance with CERB applications or access to the benefit -- describing the practice as an “immoral and unethical scheme.” “It’s like charging flood victims a fee for handing out blankets or sandbags,” Davies told CTVNews.ca by phone from Vancouver Thursday. “It’s just not appropriate and I would say it’s also illegal.” According to Davies, most of the targeted seniors were unaware that the promised benefit was the CERB or that they likely didn’t qualify for the emergency benefit introduced to help out of work Canadians during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The benefit provides up to $2,000 a month for those who have lost their job during the pandemic or are unable to work because they’re taking care of someone who is ill. Seniors who had been working could qualify for CERB, but most of those targeted in this particular scheme didn’t meet those requirements. As a result, seniors who signed up for the benefit under “Joanne’s” guidance will have to pay the benefit back to the federal government, in addition to the hundreds of dollars in illegitimate fees they were convinced to pay. Davies says he suspects the fraudster was counselling seniors to commit fraud.
At least 77 seniors in a Vancouver-area seniors residence were targeted by “Joanne,” including Carina Alamil who, like many others, heard about Joanne’s services from friends in the building.“A friend of mine told me she got $2,000 and she gave me the number of ‘Joanne.’ I just wanted to see if it was really true,” Alamil told CTVNews.ca by phone Thursday....