The owner of a retirement home in Varennes is warning the public of a ruthless young woman disguising herself as a Canada Post employee to scam seniors.
“I was really angry when I realized what she came for. I was far from suspecting that there was a scam behind it,” says Martine Tellier, owner of Residence Varennes, bluntly.
On February 7, a resident of her facility, located 25 minutes from Montreal, fell victim to these scammers.
“They were well prepared. Everything has been calculated. She even had a Canada Post badge and uniform. […] This is the first time I’ve seen this in 10 years! confides them to the Journal, still in shock.
With an accomplice
The scheme of the criminals in Residence Varennes is quite simple. A bogus counselor claiming to be employed by a cash register in Desjardins first called an elder.
Then he was informed about a problem with his bank cards. Finally, the scammer said on the phone that a Canada Post employee would pick up their cards the next morning.
“She had a lot of personal information about herself, like her investments and her bank accounts,” explains Martine Tellier. Desjardins was even written on the display. We don’t know how they do it. It was still believable.”
The day after that call, a second accomplice came to the scene disguised as a Canada Post employee. A house camera filmed the young woman who would commit her crime with a smile on her face.
“After she took the cards, she made transactions and we contacted the police. She would have done the same in Chambly, they say,” says the owner of the restaurant.
A simple internet search has also enabled the Journal to identify sweaters labeled “Canada Post” worn by the young scammer that are selling online for less than $30.
Screenshot from Redbubble.com
A sweater with “Canada Post” written on it is sold online for less than $30. This appears to be identical to that of the alleged fraudster.
Photo courtesy of Residence Varennes
Screenshot of a video where we see the young woman who allegedly cheated on elders. She would have falsely posed as an employee of Canada Post in Varennes and Chambly.
Note that on February 7, Résidence Varennes posted photos of the alleged scammer on Facebook. Her post has been shared more than 20,000 times at the time this article was published.
Photo courtesy of Residence Varennes
The Résidence Varennes posted photos of the alleged scammer on Facebook on February 7th. Her post was shared more than 20,000 times at the time of publication on Monday.
Ongoing investigation
Sergeant Jean-Luc Tremblay of the Richelieu-Saint-Laurent inter-communal police agency confirmed to the Journal that an investigation was ongoing into the fraud.
“It’s not an innovative trick they’re using. We know him from several police forces in Quebec. […] Depending on the outcome, charges could eventually be filed. But no, there have been no arrests yet,” Mr Tremblay said.
Canada Post knows
Valérie Chartrand, a spokeswoman for Canada Post, said her organization takes this situation “very seriously”.
“We are aware of this scam and an individual posing as a Canada Post employee. […] As a police investigation is ongoing it would not be appropriate to make any further comments,” Ms Chartrand wrote in an email.
Canada Post also urges anyone who witnesses suspicious activity to immediately notify the police and contact customer service.
For his part, Jean-Benoît Turcotti, spokesman for the Mouvement Desjardins, recalled that their bank “will never come to collect the debit or credit cards of its members and customers from their homes or send someone to collect them”.
“When Desjardins initiates a call, we will never ask our members and customers for personal information, since we already have it in our files,” specifies Mr. Turcotti.
To learn more about cheated seniors, listen to this report from the investigative program JE:
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