SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - A 47-year-old Yellowknife woman will have to repay $2,500 she was duped out of after responding to a job advertisement she read in Yellowknifer on Jan. 27.

The advertisement claims to be accepting applications for a position as a customer service representative with "Sunlife Financial." No experience is necessary, and the position promises paid training and quarterly bonuses.

"I haven't slept. I've been beating myself up over this since Saturday, when I found out (it was a scam)," she said.

When she called the number advertised the woman was prompted for an extension not provided in the advertisement and had to apply via an e-mail address.

On Feb. 15, she received a letter claiming to be from Mark Fisher at Sunlife Resource Group, complete with details she provided in her resume. The letter informed her she had been selected to be a mystery shopper for the company.

Included in the letter was what appeared to be a draft cheque for $2,500 issued by the Bank of Montreal and instructions detailing her duties as a mystery shopper. Her task was to deposit the cheque into her bank account and then go to Western Union and evaluate the employee's performance while sending $2,175 to a fake name. After paying Western Union a fee of $125, she was then supposed to keep the remaining $200 as earnings.

After the money was wired her final task was to submit a questionnaire on the quality of service she experienced, and fax that to a number provided in the letter. She was also told to send the Money Transfer Control Number, which aids in the collection of the funds by the recipient.

"I ended up getting this letter and I had it until Friday and I decided to go do it. I hadn't heard anything about scams or anything like that until Saturday morning. My husband phoned and told me about the scam (which he had heard about on the radio)," she said.

But she had already deposited the cheque and sent the money. The cheque was fake and bounced.

"Now I'm stuck paying it back. I've got to pay back $2,500."

She said she is still unemployed, which is making it hard to pay back such a large sum, but the bank is working with her on a plan to pay it off over time.

"Police said the chances of finding these guys are nil," she said, adding RCMP told her she wasn't the first person in Yellowknife to fall for this trick.

Yellowknifer called the number provided on the letter sent to the woman; the call was answered by a man with an East Indian accent. After being told he was speaking to a Yellowknifer reporter the man promptly hung up.

Sun Life Financial is a real company which offers life insurance and financial planning services.

"It comes to our attention from time to time that people use our name when they shouldn't," said Steve Kee, vice-president of communications for Sun Life Financial. He said there is also an area on the company's website that identifies scams the company is aware of.

Yellowknife RCMP Const. Jarret MacDonald said, as of yesterday, a total of about fake 50 cheques had been turned in to the RCMP since Feb. 16.

"They'll seem to target certain areas at different times," said MacDonald.

He said the perpetrators are hard to catch, as the phone numbers they give are often forwarded through several phones to a temporary cell phone. They'll use that number for a week then dispose of the phone.

As well, the money is often sent overseas to a person operating under a fake identity. Not only does this make it hard for anyone to be identified, but it also becomes a jurisdictional issue for the RCMP. Essentially, the best method to use against these criminals is prevention.

"Don't be sending money to faceless or unknown people over wire transfers," said MacDonald.

"No legitimate employment company is going to ask you to send that money through means of wire transfers or money orders."