News Release

The Toronto Police Service is making the public aware of a fraudulent employment opportunity investigation, involving a "work task" scheme.

It is reported that:

• Victims respond to what appears to be legitimate work from home employment opportunity advertised online
• After expressing interest, the victims are instructed to create an account on a fraudulent work platform that included a rating or performance system
• Once registered, the victims are assigned various tasks and were told they would earn commissions for completing the tasks
• While completing the assigned tasks, the suspects falsely claimed that the victims had made errors that negatively affected her account rating
• The victims were then instructed to send money to restore their rating in order to continue working and receive payment
• When the victims attempted to withdraw their earnings, the platform demanded additional deposits and fees before any funds could be released
• Despite making these payments, the victims were ultimately unable to withdraw any funds or receive any earnings from the platform

The Toronto Police Service urges the public to remain vigilant and exercise caution when responding to online job advertisements. Legitimate employers will not require employees to pay money in order to continue working, restore a rating or performance score, or access their wages. Requests for such payments are often signs of an employment scam.

If you believe you may have been a victim of a scam like this, please contact police. Anyone with information is asked to contact police at 416-808-3200, Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-TIPS (8477), or at www.222tips.com.