#Fraudchat: Door-to-Door Sales

Toronto Police Service News Release

#Fraudchat: Door-to-Door Sales Thursday, May 1, 2014, 9 p.m.

Thursday, May 1, 2014 - 10:00 AM
Financial Crimes:  416-808-7300

During the spring, police receive many complaints about high-pressure door-to-door sales for services such as driveway paving and lawn care services.

Tonight at 9 p.m., Consumer Protection Ontario will participate in #fraudchat and will answer questions on consumers’ rights when dealing with door-to-door salespeople.

Consumer Protection Ontario is an awareness program from Ontario’s Ministry of Consumer Services. It offers information on consumer rights and public safety.

Members of the public can follow Consumer Protection Ontario on Twitter at @ontarioconsumer and can find information about consumer protection topics on the Consumer Protection Ontario website and Facebook page.

To follow #fraudchat, members of the public simply need to log on to Twitter from 9 p.m. to 10 p.m., on Thursday nights and follow the #Fraudchat hashtag. An application such as Tweetdeck, which allows users to separately view tweets containing this hashtag, is also helpful in following the chat.

About #Fraudchat

#Fraudchat is a weekly Twitter chat that takes place every Thursday from 9 p.m., to 10 p.m., on Twitter. Launched in November 2012, this program seeks to educate and exchange ideas with the public about financial crimes and fraud. The moderators for this program are Detective Gail Regan and Detective Natalie Hegarty of the Financial Crimes Unit and Kristen Rose, Senior Communications Officer at the Financial Services Commission of Ontario.

Transcripts of all chats can be viewed on the #fraudchat Storify channel.

Media Inquiries

For information about home renovation scams and door-to-door sales, please contact the Financial Crimes Unit at 416-808-7300 or Sandra Bento, spokesperson for the Ontario Ministry of Consumer Services, at 416-327-9708.

For general information about #fraudchat, please contact the Financial Crimes Unit at 416-808-7300 or Kristen Rose, Senior Communications Officer at the Financial Services Commission of Ontario, at 416-226-7803.

For more news, visit TPSnews.ca.

Constable Jenifferjit Sidhu, Corporate Communications, for Staff Inspector Mary Lee Metcalfe, Financial Crimes Unit