Wedding dress Kijiji scam doesn't fool Calgary couple

A Calgary couple is warning about thieves trolling on the popular online classified siteKijiji.

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Sara Hughes put her wedding dress up for sale on the site this past weekend and says there was immediate interest. But as emails went back and forth, something wasn't sitting right with her.

"The fact that someone's willing to pay that much for a dress they've never seen is questionable to me, being a bride myself," said Hughes.

Her fiance, Ryan Stock, says the person offering to buy the dresswas using PayPal.However, Stock noticed the logo and email addresses were a bit different.

When the prospective buyer said they had sent Hughes an extra $450 to cover shipping and asked her to wire that money back to them the couple knew it must be a scam and contacted PayPal.

Within minutes, the company told Hughes and Stock the offer was a scam.

PayPal is now investigating.

For Hughes and Stock, the scam highlights the need to make sure people are aware of the potential for dishonesty on the internet.

"People that, you know, maybe are more elderly or not as tech-savvy, or maybe a bit more desperate to sell something online, and hopeful that they could get their sale processed faster might fall for a trick like that."

Report any and all suspected scams

Canadians lose millions of dollars every year to online fraud and other scams. However, many don't report it or aren't sure whether what they have encountered meets the criteria of a scam.

According to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, anyone targeted by a scam whether or not they actually fall victim to it should report it to investigators at the centre.

As soon as money is sent by wire transfer, such as Western Union or Money Gram, it is gone and cannot be retrieved, so the RCMP recommends Canadians be wary of requests to wire money.

If it's necessary to send money online, the RCMP suggests considering using an escrow service and says shoppers (or sellers) should always verify the site they are using has a secure connection.

Rather than using links to the site, type the website address directly into the internet browser to avoid being a victim of a phishing or pharming operation.