More than 600 Canadians lost a total of $1.2 million to a job scam using the Amazon name, run out of B.C. by Chinese criminals, according to the Edmonton Police Service (EPS).
Police said they’ve charged three individuals in connection with the scheme, where about 30 local residents lost a total of $84,000.
Officials said that local residents Chen Chen, 36, Jiameng Wang, 29, and Dalraj Gill, 35, have been charged with fraud over $5,000.
An investigation was launched in 2022 after Edmonton police received several complaints about a work from home job scam.
On the platform, victims were required to invest funds based on the size of the order to get a return, the release said. They were expected to process 20 to 40 tasks per day to earn guaranteed investment returns.
It was called an “order-grabbing job,” where victims would access fake Amazon orders and purportedly process them for reviews and shipment, police said.
Orders would earn a commission based on how much the victim had invested, according to the police release.
“Like a pyramid scheme, the scam also encouraged victims to recruit others to the platform to generate greater investment returns with more recruits.”
Victims were taken in by making an initial investment on the platform and getting a return to show the platform was legitimate, police said.
Those initial returned investments were paid for by other victims, who thought they were investing in the platform.
Police said scammers also encouraged some victims to allow access to accounts to earn higher investment returns.
“The scam is sophisticated as it uses Amazon’s name recognition to manipulate victims into a complex pyramid scheme that initially yields investments, which builds trust and credibility, but results in greater losses,” said Const. Brian Mason, of the EPS Police Electronic Response Team.
Mason cautions those randomly offered a job that promises high payouts for investments, as it’s likely a scam.
Police said the group behind the scam was an organized crime group from China that operated out of B.C.
Data showed links to funds that are believed to be associated to human trafficking in finances and shell companies in the United Kingdom and China, according to police.
A spokesperson for Amazon said these types of scams put consumers at risk.
“Amazon will investigate and help hold bad actors accountable,” Wendell said.
Edmonton police said anyone who believes they may have been impacted by this scam is encouraged to report it to the EPS at 780-423-4567.
