A pair of cheque scam incidents this week has Coquitlam RCMP asking for anyone else who has been defrauded to contact them.
The scams happened on July 8, one near North Road in Coquitlam and the other near Shaughnessy Street in Port Coquitlam.
In both incidents, a man approached a stranger and, using a long, emotional story about needing to buy food for his daughter, asked the victim to cash a cheque for him. He then accompanied the victim to a nearby bank, where the victim deposited the cheque into their own accounts and then withdrew cash.
"If a stranger asks you to cash a cheque for them, a red flag should go up," said Cpl. Jamie Chung. "Many of us have a good heart and want to help a fellow citizens during times of need. However, there are also those few who prey on and take advantage of our kindness."
Chung said there are several cheque-cashing businesses, as well as banks, that will cash cheques for a small fee and to refer someone asking for this service to a bank.
The suspect is described as a Caucasian man in his late 20s to early 30s, 6' tall and weighing about 250 lb. with short, brown hair and a clean-shaven complexion.
Police believe the suspect has used this scheme on many other people and are asking anyone who recently encountered a similar incident (whether or not they were actually defrauded) to call Const. Krista Hovde of the Coquitlam RMCP Economic Crime Section at 604-552-7364 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or www.solvecrime.ca.
