An Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh woman almost lost $13,000 through a scam.
The 55-year-old was contacted through social media by someone pretending to be her aunt going on holiday and had been the recipient of a $100,000 U.S. cheque through the United States Catalogue of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA). The scam listed the aunt's spouse qualifying for the money because of a disability.
The victim then followed instructions to contact someone in New Brunswick to see if she qualified for money, and was eventually asked to wire $1,000 cash and some personal information. On top of that, she was instructed to advance 10 per cent of her "winnings" as well.
Police said the victim did try to courier the money but it was after hours and she ended up contacting her aunt directly, and at that point, it was determined it was a scam and the payment was stopped.
The CFDA is a U.S. program but police said they never use social media or phone calls to solicit or advise of awards adding new scams are emerging every day.
