by Glenn Taylor
Northern News Services

INUVIK (Oct 31/97) - Scam artists from around the world are prowling Inuvik businesses, looking to take your money.

On Oct. 27, a local business received an invoice from a Spanish company, asking for $996 for a CD-ROM which the local company had apparently ordered.

That wasn't the case, however, according to RCMP Cpl. Rob Gillan. World Communications of Barcelona's invoice -- for a product neither ordered nor received -- is just the latest example of frauds designed to hoodwink accounting departments into paying for products under the assumption they were ordered by someone else in the office.

"There's scams like this going on all the time," said Gillan. "This is just the latest."

Gillan said another company is also reaching out to tangle local businesses into forking over cash for free. The Great Western Publication Company of Montreal is currently calling local businesses, telling accounting departments they are selling phone directories. The pitch: somebody else in your department already approved an insertion in the directory, or the company has been automatically been entered into it.

The directory is on its way, the company claims. Some local businesses have been asked to pay $155 for the order they neither placed nor want, said Gillan.

The Inuvik Drum has several times over the last year received similar calls, stating the xxxDrum has been placed in national publications or directories, and now must pay money for the service.

Another recent attack against unsuspecting residents came in the mail last month, in the form of scratch-and-win blackjack cards. According to one resident, every card she and other received were winners. The catch: to receive the small-change gift, "winners" were to call a 1-900 Ontario number, at a substantial per-minute cost.

The resident told the Drum this was probably a scam, as charges to the phone number likely exceed the gift costs.

If anyone receives these types of calls or invoices, and you did not order anything, then here is what you should do, according to Gillan:

1. Don't pay any money unless you know what you're paying for.
2. If you receive any merchandise that you did not order, then send it back, along with a letter stating that you did not order the product, and will not be paying for it.
3. Request proof from the company that you did indeed make the order.
4. Keep a receipt of whatever it is you sent back to the company.
5. Call the Inuvik RCMP if you have any questions.