Sweepstakes Fraud Factsheet

The Canadian Connection

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The Canadian connection

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Our neighbors to the north are good people, but like any society, they have their rotten eggs. For some reason, cross-border fraud is on the rise, and a lot of these merchandising or sweepstakes frauds seem to be originating in Canada, with immigrants from Eastern Europe heading up the operations.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police are busy tracking these fraudsters down, but their resources are limited. Here are a few links which will help you arm yourself against cross-border fraud.

www.phonebusters.com is the official organization dedicated to eradicating Canadian telephone fraud.

http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/alerts/alt167.shtm is the Federal Trade Commission's sweepstakes site for consumers.

Some information provided by the people at phonebusters:

Many of these fraudulent operations are run by Canadian organized crime
They make so much money they can afford to buy new cell phones weekly, and change addresses whenever they need to.
The funds they collect are being used to support prostitution, pornography, sexual abuse of children, and a host of other social ills.
These people are cruel and without morals. They will not hesitate to abuse anyone who does not fall for their scams.

Be careful. You can't win a contest you never entered! You never pay up front for a legitimate prize, no matter what you are told.