A catalogue of recent cons

Sickly behaviour 

Toronto police have arrested a 34-year-old man, accusing him of impersonating a canvasser for the SickKids Foundation, a charity attached to one of the city's best-known children's hospitals. 

Police say they’ve received reports of a man who spent months knocking on doors in Toronto’s downtown core asking for cash donations to the foundation, which supports the Hospital for Sick Children. 

Officers say the man had a false identity badge and became "physically intimidating" when residents questioned his credentials. 

The man, from the city of Vaughan, faces more than a dozen charges, including fraud-related and parole violations. 

Police believe he duped multiple victims but no details were available on how much money he made off with. 

In a press release, police said canvassers for SickKids are forbidden from asking for cash donations. Legitimate canvassers have an ID number and a QR code that can be scanned for more information about them. 

Forever young 

Think being young and internet savvy will prevent you from falling victim to an online scam? Think again. 

Nearly one-third of Canadians between 18 and 34 have lost money in a web-based fraud, according to a recent study by TD bank. 

"Growing up as a digital native and being more technologically savvy doesn't mean you're immune to the dangers of online scams," said TD fraud expert Sophia Leung.

So why exactly are so many Millennials and Gen Zers falling for internet fraudsters? 

TD says in part because scams have become remarkably elaborate. In a series of recent cases, fraudsters built phoney cryptocurrency trading apps, duping people into forking over real money for worthless digital portfolios. 

The kicker in this whole situation: TD believes fraudsters may have swindled many more young people than the survey suggests. More than 40 per cent of respondents said they would feel too embarrassed to report being defrauded. 

Frequent flyer 

Scams don’t get much bolder than this. British police arrested a former airline employee for allegedly orchestrating a $5 million immigration fraud from a check-in desk at London’s Heathrow Airport. 

Police said the 24-year-old accepted bribes from passengers bound for Canada, waving them through check-in even though they did not have a valid visa. Some passengers forked out more than $40,000 CAD for their flights. 

Once in Canada, the flyers applied for asylum, according to reports. 

The 24-year-old suspect was arrested earlier this year. But after making bail, he reportedly fled to India, where he owns multiple homes.