This story about sports organizations being hit by scammers sending fake invoices goes back almost three years to when an Arnprior association first contacted OPP about it in April of 2019.
Police refer to this type of fraud as spear phishing- and it wasn’t just Arnprior that was stung.
A lengthy investigation revealed multiple sports associations fell victim to spoofed emails directing the Treasurer(s) to electronically transfer (e-transfer) funds to fake vendors.
As a result of the investigation, Renfrew OPP, with the assistance of the OPP Anti-Rackets Branch – Ottawa Unit, have arrested and charged two Toronto residents in connection with the scam.
A 35 year-old woman (Tracy Olajumoke EKUBOR) has been charged with false pretenses, two counts of fraud under 5 thousand dollars, fraud over 5000 dollars and benefitting for the proceeds of crime.
A 39 year-old Toronto man (Ibrahim Abayomi EKEMODE) faces counts of Fraud over $5000, Theft or forgery of a credit card and benefitting for the proceeds of crime.
Since 2020, the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC) has received 1,510 reports of spear phishing frauds resulting in over 29 million dollars in losses.
