A long-term civilian member of the Squamish RCMP charged with theft will appear in court in North Vancouver, Feb.29.
Shelley Gatzke, 53, is accused of theft under $5,000. Her security clearance was stripped after it was discovered that money collected for fingerprinting services offered by the RCMP wasn't being deposited with the bank.
Scam warning issued
Squamish RCMP is warning residents to be aware of a scam reported by at least one Squamish resident.
The fraud involves a job offer, followed by the arrival of a large cheque; in this case it was a $4,000 cheque from the prospective employer. The Squamish victim was instructed to wire a significant amount of money back to the potential employer.
The resident realized it was a scam when the bank refused to honour the original $4,000 cheque after real money was sent to the "employer". According to the RCMP, the resident was reportedly tricked out of a significant amount of money.
The Better Business Bureau of Canada (BBB) warned of this scam late last year when bogus BBB job postings were showing up on Craigslist.
The BBB posted this warning on its website: "Many phony jobs require the employee to cash a cheque sent by the company through the mail and then wire a portion of the money on to another entity," stated the BBB warning. "Reasons given for this requirement vary from scam to scam. Whatever the story given, the ending is always the same: the cheque is a fake and the employee is out the money he or she wired back to the scammers."
