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1 3 | Thursday D ecem ber 2 8 , 2 0 1 7 | OAKVILLE BEAVER | w w w .insidehalton.com Local lottery scam victim by Tim Whitnell Metroland Media West H alton police believe tw o Ontario m en , on e of them from Oakville, have been victim ized by a lottery scam. Investigators say that a call from one of the victim s led police to an area courier company, w h ich in turn led to the recovery o f a package there. It also led them to a hom e in the Upper M iddle Road and Walker' s Line area o f Bur lington in m id-D ecem ber, w here detectives found another package on a porch. T he tw o packages contained a total of $ 4 0 ,0 0 0 in Canadian cash. Det. M ark U nderw ood of the Halton Police Fraud U nit said they believe tw o m en , the oth er from Durham R egion, have suffered losses of about $ 8 0 ,0 0 0 com bined via the scam. "It' s a substantial hit for the one victim ," said U nderw ood. T he detective said both m en w ere contacted via phone over the last w eek or so by som eon e p osin g as an agent for a lottery. P olice say in this instance it w as an advance fee scam w here a victim is instructed to send m o n ey in order to claim a substantially larger sum of money. T he m on ey requested from the victim is often alleged to pay for taxes or administra tion fees before the larger sum can be given to them . Typically, the m o n ey is usually requested to be sen t in som e form o f electronic paym ent but in this case the victim s w ere requested to courier cash paym ents, said U nderw ood. "W e w ere aware o f on e package and that form ed the basis o f our investigation, and w as the basis for the seco n d package; that (sec ond) victim w as u n k n o w n to u s," said U n derw ood. H e said the occupants of the h om e where the second package w as found are n o t consid ered suspects. Trying to figure ou t w h y the location w as suggested by the fraudster is w h at police are trying to determ ine, said U nderw ood. Police are rem inding the public n o t to send cash or electronic transfers o f m o n ey to any one w h o has solicited funds w ith the prom ise of a bigger return o f money. T he Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre is a re source for the public to assist them in identify ing m any o f the com m on scam s and provides advice on h o w to avoid them. A nyone w ith any inform ation regarding the lottery scam incident is asked to contact the Halton Regional Police Fraud U n it at 9 0 5 46 5 -8 7 3 8 . A n on ym ou s tips can be subm itted to Crime Stoppers' See Som ething, Hear Som ething, Say Som ething program at 1 -8 0 0 -2 2 2 -8 4 7 7 (TIPS), through the w eb at w w w .haltoncrim estoppers.ca or by texting Tip201 w ith your m essage to 2 7 4 6 3 7 (crim es). fa s a d a WINDOWS & DOORS SHUTTERS & BLINDS TRUSTED SINCE 1999 fasada.ca 905.827.3331 Bronte & Dundas, Oakville c o m Ivica Jukica SALES REPRESENTATIVE P r iv C ' R F/M AX TRUSTEDINTHE COMMUNITY SINCE 1999 ESCARPM ENT R E A L T Y I N C ., B R O K E R A G E INDEPENDENTLYOWNED& OPERATED Not intended to solicit pe rso n s or properties currently under contract. $ 2 ,0 0 0 W E IG H T L O S S GRANT D o You H a v e M ore th a n 20 lb s to L ose? - A p p ly N ow ! Valid For Most W eight Loss Program s · · · · No Cost or Fee to Apply Approval within 48 Hours Thousands Paid Monthly! See Website for Application Deadline w w w .w e ig h tlo s s g r a n ts .o r g P le a s e v i s i t w w w .w e ig h t lo s s g r a n t s . o r g fo r f u l l G u id e lin e s , T e rm s & C o n d it io n s .