FREDERIC SERRE
The 1019 Report

The municipalities of Vaudreuil-Dorion, Pincourt, L’Île Perrot and Terrasse-Vaudreuil have joined the Sûreté du Québec in warning residents not to be duped by phoney door-to-door solicitors after residents in those towns called police to complain about various fraudsters posing as mailmen or even town employees.

In one of the schemes, suspects dressed as Canada Post employees are asking for money in exchange for the delivery of registered mail. In one case, a Vaudreuil-Dorion woman was fleeced of $8,000, the SQ said, adding that an investigation is under way into that incident that occurred Jan. 10.

SQ spokesperson Marythé Bolduc said the investigation into the Vaudreuil-Dorion case is still in its early stages, and investigators are looking into whether the suspects in that case are connected to other attempted frauds in the region.

According to police, the Canada Post fraud sees suspects wearing full Canada Post uniforms, knocking at residences, and claiming to have registered mail that requires payment for delivery. In the Vaudreuil-Dorion case, the fraudsters were equipped with a portable debit machine and told the occupant that she needed to pay $2 to accept a registered letter destined for her daughter. After swiping her card and making the payment, the suspect replaced the woman’s card with what appeared to be a perfect replica displaying the logo of the woman’s financial institution.

According to the SQ, the woman never noticed that the suspects had stolen $8,000 from her until she visited her bank the next day and was told that her account was empty.

In the wake of that incident, complaints were made by residents in at least 10 municipalities in the province in which fraudsters were knocking at doors, attempting to solicit money through various schemes.

The Town of L’Île Perrot issued a warning on its Facebook page last week urging citizens to be watchful for fraudsters posing as town employees.

“We have received reports from citizens about unidentified, unlicensed door-to-door solicitors claiming to be municipal employees,” the notice stated. “A permit is required for door-to-door solicitation.”