A retired tax collection officer says she was bilked out of $4,000 in an elaborate mystery shopper scam being investigated by Victoria police and RCMP in Ontario.

Lydia Edwards, 71, said she signed on with an Ontario company called Consumer Solutions and Consulting to be a secret shopper.

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Over a period of two weeks, the Victoria resident was sent five cheques for $1,295. Her “supervisor” told her to deposit the cheques into her account, keep $170 for each day of work and use the rest to carry out her secret shopper duties.

Edwards was frequently in touch with her supervisor, who gave her several instructions during her training period. In one case, the man told her to buy four $250 prepaid Visa gift cards from a Petro-Canada station, read out the serial numbers over the phone, then send the cards to an address in Ontario. He also got her to wire $990 from Western Union on several occasions.

Edwards inspected the cheques before she deposited them and researched the company listed on the cheque, First Capital Asset Management LP. The company had a triple A rating on the Better Business Bureau website.

“All of a sudden at the end of the week, one cheque bounces,” she said. She received a message from her bank saying it was a counterfeit.

When Edwards called the supervisor, he blamed the bounced cheque on a glitch in the computer system.

Edwards said the supervisor seemed kind, talking about how his children were upset after the family dog died and how he would like to visit Victoria one day.

“It just seemed so genuine,” Edwards said.

But after further cheques bounced, calls either went unanswered or were disconnected right away.

Edwards phoned First Capital Asset Management in Ontario and an employee confirmed that the company name had been falsely used on the cheques. The counterfeit was reported to the RCMP. Victoria police are investigating Edwards’ file.

In total, Edwards said, she is out more than $4,000.

“I feel so degraded. I feel so used,” she said.

“I always thought that I was a smart person, but I’m a nice person, too,” she said, adding she was obviously too trusting.

Edwards said when she realized it was a scam, she went to all the businesses where she did her mystery shopping, including Wal-Mart, Shoppers Drug Mart and Western Union. A manager at Wal-Mart told her other people had also been caught by the scheme.

Edwards spent 25 years as a senior tax collector for the Canada Revenue Agency, even collecting taxes from the Hells Angels. She feels that if she can be duped, others could fall victim as well, and she hopes telling her story can prevent that from happening.

“A lot of university students who can’t find full-time work, they’re being approached by this company,” Edwards said.

“Can you imagine how heartbroken they must be at the end? Here they are, trying to get into the workforce and this is the kind of experience they’re getting.”

kderosa@timescolonist.com