Canadian Scams - Reader’s Digest

This is a true story about cross-border scams.  In this scam, my aunt fell victim to a predator from Montreal and sent him every dime she has saved over the past forty years before she asked us for help.  There is an MP3 of my call to the perpetrator at the bottom of this posting.

To sum it all up…my aunt sent over $150k to this guy who now claims if should could just send $1k more, then Customs would send her her checks for $450k.

* * * * *
Sometime in October of 2005 my aunt was contacted by telephone from someone claiming to be Barbara Morgan with Reader’s Digest Canada.  She informed my aunt that she had won $250,000 and needed to pay insurance and taxes to claim the money.

After my aunt started paying the money, they advised her she became eligible for an additional $200,000 prize but she would need to send more money.

The final scam was a $1.13 million payout claim. This payment went to Colin (last name unknown, we could not find a receipt).  It may have been the payment to Barry Foster.  Upon hearing of this payment, Paul Forest called my aunt and yelled at her, telling her that Colin was a scam artist and that she could only trust him: Paul Forest.  She believed him.

My aunt sent the money through bank transfer, Western Union and MoneyGram. She sent amounts of $2000 or $3000 dollars.  We have all of the Western Union and MoneyGram receipts.  We have currently advised my aunt to let all phone calls go to the answering machine.  Her phone still rings several times an hour but no messages are left unless the caller is a family member.

My aunt has had the most contact with Paul Forest since October 2005 and his phone number has recently been most active at:  514-568-5110.  No phone call has been longer than 5 minutes with most calls lasting 1 minute.  A reverse-lookup seems to indicate the phone is from Fido communications, a subsidiary of Rogers Communications INC.  Use of the phone for fraud violates the terms and conditions of the Fido service policy. Section 3 “Service Agreement”, subsection 16. “Fair Use”. http://www.fido.ca/portal/en/home/legal.shtml#agreement

My aunt sincerely believed that she was going to get this money.  Even though she was alerted several times by Western Union, her bank, and Moneygram that things seemed fishy - she was convinced by her “friend  Paul Forest” that she would collect the winnings if she only would send in what she “owed.”  She believed them when they told her that her payments would be returned if she wasn’t able to pay what they wanted.

We have alerted the FBI and turned over copies off all receipts.

The transfers went to:

Montreal, Quebec
LaSalle, Quebec
Lachine, Quebec

The money was wired to the following people:

Barbara Morgan
Paul Forest – 514-578-3814, 514-568-5110 (Fido Communications)
Colin (Day??) – 514-920-4121 (Bell Mobility)
Barry Foster
Curtis Cundiff
Margaret Florence
Margret Florence
Mary Landow
John Walters
Marc Henry Gauthier
Andrew Tater
Caroline Arnold
Thomas Waters
Jack Rambish
Barry Foster

Phone provider data retrieved from:

http://www.reversephonedirectory.com

 

20 April 2006
12:39pm (approx.)

(Click below to launch the MP3)

As the call progresses, it is obvious he is trying to make sure his lies he is telling will mesh with the lies he has already told. Especially after I let him know my aunt is actually on the line. I can’t believe he spoke to me for as long as he did since I called him out as a scam artist within the first 60 seconds. The call is just over 3 minutes long.

I called “Paul Forest” at 514-568-5110 with my aunt and others all listening in on a conference call.  I used a pre-paid calling card to prevent the perpetrator from getting my phone number.  We recorded the conversation with a tape recorder.  Paul claimed to work for a company named “Customs Canada” at 5321 Park Ave, Suite 302 in Montreal, Quebec.  He said he was not able to provide any proof of the existence of any checks.  He said he had already explained everything to Helen and there was nothing he could add to convince her family that he was legit and everything was true.  Paul claimed he could only speak to Helen about the transaction.  I informed him that Helen was on the line and I had her make her presence known.  He claimed his boss was named “Peter Carter” and had the same phone number.  When I pressed him as to why he and his boss share a phone he claimed it was simply an office line.  When I told him I believed he was running a scam, he hung up on the call.

None of the information supplied by “Paul” can be cross-referenced using typical internet directories and search engines.  “Canada Customs” general information is readily available using Google:  http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=canada+customs.

No address information can be found using the address supplied by “Paul”.

I hope Paul (surely not his real name) and all of his fellow scam artists burn in hell.