Walpole Island assault leads to arrest: OPP
An arrest has been made following an alleged assault on Walpole Island First Nation.
On Wednesday just before 2:30 p.m., police responded to a report of an assault at the intersection of Old Ferry Road and Union Hall Road.
OPP and Walpole said the victim was assaulted with an 'edged weapon' and sustained non-life-threatening injuries.
The suspect was found in a home nearby and arrested.
A 30-year-old Walpole Island First Nation man has been charged with:
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CBC
43 minutes ago
- CBC
Costco customers shocked after someone drains all the funds from their gift cards
A number of Costco digital gift card customers are reporting that their cards have been mysteriously drained of all their money. The big-box retailer has offered few details about what happened, and some affected customers, like Shelly Xu of Perth, Ont., are still struggling to get a refund. Xu says, in late June, she discovered roughly $200 missing from her Costco gift card, called a Shop card. "[I] checked my balance and was shocked to find that there were zero dollars on there," she said. "I was very upset." Xu regularly uses Shop cards, because the big box retailer doesn't accept her Visa credit card. She says she has spent hours on the phone, and in-person at her local Costco store, trying to resolve the problem. But more than a month after her money disappeared, her case remains in limbo. "It's just unacceptable," said Xu. "They haven't provided any guidance whatsoever. The only information I've been able to dig up has been through online forums where other people have experienced the same issue." posted on social media, and on Costco's online shopping site from people who said the money on their Shop cards had vanished. CBC interviewed five affected customers from B.C. and Ontario. They said they discovered in June or July that between $150 and $1,000 had been drained from their digital Shop cards. They also said they found dealing with Costco frustrating, saying the retailer provided little to no information about what went wrong. Three reported Costco eventually provided a refund, one said she was denied, and Xu is still waiting for a resolution. "If it was $2.00, I probably would have let this go, but at $200, that's a good chunk of money that I'm not willing to give up on," said Xu. What went wrong? U.S.-based Costco Wholesale Corporation did not reply to repeated requests for comment. Consumer advocate and professor Daniel Tsai says he gives the retailer a failing grade for not going public with the Shop card issue. "Costco has a duty to the public as customers to ensure that they're aware of any compromise of their gift cards," said Tsai, a law and business professor at University Canada West in Vancouver. "From a business perspective, this is a real marketing fail because you're going to have customers lose trust in the brand," he said. "The proper thing for Costco to do right now is to admit there's a problem and not let this fester." It appears fraudsters may be responsible for the thefts. The three customers who got refunds shared with CBC News an identical letter Costco sent them, stating that its "ongoing investigation indicates that a limited number of digital Shop cards may have been used by unauthorized individuals." Costco also temporarily suspended online sales of digital Shop cards. According to customer complaints posted on the retailer's e-commerce site, the retailer halted sales of the cards around July 5 and resumed selling them near the end of the month. WATCH | Warnings about gift card scams: Warnings about gift card scams ahead of the holidays 3 years ago Scammers are finding new ways to deplete money from gift cards ahead of the holidays. Victims of these scams share their stories as cautionary tales. while experts offer tips for how to protect yourself from fraud. Refund denied Gift card fraud is big business in Canada. The Retail Council of Canada says that in 2021, Canadians reported $3.8 million dollars in losses due to the crime. Federal rules mandate Canadians be reimbursed in many cases of credit and debit card fraud. But when it comes to gift card scams, victims are often on their own to battle it out with the company that issued them. Cybersecurity and tech analyst Ritesh Kotak says that needs to change. "It is important that we create better mechanisms in place, more protection and also remedies to make people whole that have been victimized by these fraudsters." Lisa Mannella of Niagara Falls says, in early June, she discovered $150 missing from her two Shop cards. She says, in her case, Costco denied her a refund, citing Shop card terms and conditions, which state the retailer isn't responsible for stolen cards. "They are such a huge business and they make tons of money," said Mannella. "For a big company to not even care, or not even offer to help you, that's pretty sad." Mannella says Costco suggested scammers may have accessed her Shop card by hacking her email account, but she's not buying it. "They need to take responsibility," she said. "I suggested to [Costco], 'Well, maybe your account was hacked.' And they said, 'Well, that's never happened to us.'" The four other Costco customers interviewed also said the retailer had suggested their email may have been compromised. Costco also hinted at the issue in the letter it sent three of them, by including a reminder to keep their email accounts secure. One theory Kotak says it's possible scammers infiltrated Costco customers' email accounts. But he says that because a number of people were affected, it's also possible that scammers figured out the sequencing of the numbers on Shop cards' barcodes, and recreated ones that were already in circulation. "It's really simple to recreate barcodes. There is software available online," Kotak said. "You just have to put in the string of numbers, the type of barcode you're looking for and, with a click of a mouse, you're able to generate the barcode that you could use in stores." Shop card users told CBC News that, to buy goods in-store, the cashier only needs to scan a copy of the barcode; the card's secret four-digit PIN isn't required. The same rules apply for Walmart gift cards. 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CBC
43 minutes ago
- CBC
StubHub refunds 3 more people targeted by a scam on its platform
Peter Dickson left his Belleville, Ont., home on July 6 with hotel rooms booked and Blue Jays tickets in hand, thinking he was in for a nice weekend getaway. But instead of enjoying his pre-picked seats, he stood in 35 C with his pregnant wife, elderly parents and a couple of invalid StubHub bar codes. Dickson is one of three people who contacted CBC Toronto about StubHub's failure to help them after their accounts were hacked, following a story about a Blue Jays fan whose pricey tickets were sold from his account. All three say they received an initial email from the ticket reseller telling them no "fraudulent activity" took place. "This was supposed to be a good weekend away … it just turned into pretty much a nightmare," Dickson said. The scam targeting StubHub users goes like this: hackers take hold of the accounts and transfer or sell tickets to themselves for cheaper than they're worth. Then, they use the ticketholder scam account to resell them for their actual price or higher. Dickson purchased four StubHub tickets for a Blue Jays game back in May. In July, just one day before the game, he received an email saying his attempt to transfer the tickets was unsuccessful. "It was very bizarre. I'm tech savvy enough. I'm 33 years old," he said. "I logged on to my StubHub account as tickets were being bought and I was … panicking." 'We make it right,' StubHub says after CBC steps in Dickson locked his account and called StubHub. He says he was told his tickets were still there and assured there would be no issue. But there was — Dickson wasn't able to scan his tickets at the arena and the Blue Jays box office told him his tickets had, in fact, been transferred to a different StubHub account. After CBC Toronto reached out to StubHub about the incidents, the ticket reseller said it would be processing refunds for all three orders. "In the rare instance of an issue, we make it right," StubHub told CBC Toronto in an emailed statement July 30. They pointed to FanProtect Guarantee, StubHub's AI-powered risk screening and fraud prevention team. Two of the ordeals were mishandled by customer service agents, StubHub said. "We regret that this was the case; we are reviewing the details further to ensure we learn from this," the email says. A bucket list trip for father and son Cam Molinski flew from Vancouver in May with his 13-year-old son — a bucket list trip that involved watching a Blue Jays game behind home plate. Molinski realized his account had been hacked just three days before they flew out. He says he called StubHub within minutes of receiving an email saying his tickets had been transferred. "To me, that's something that needs to be dealt with immediately. They just put it off ... saying don't worry, it'll be no problem, we'll look into it," he said. Molinski logged into his account two days before he left, only to find his tickets were now being resold by another user. He phoned StubHub again. 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She says the entire situation is frustrating, particularly as she was hoping to put funds from the sales towards her wedding. StubHub has a choice to make, prof says It wouldn't make sense to refund every customer this happens to, says Dave Valliere, a business strategy professor at Toronto Metropolitan University. "When you start setting a precedent for some customers, eventually that becomes the norm for all customers," he said. "Things like this can escalate or become large expenses for a company." Platforms like StubHub could turn to something like two-factor authentication, Valliere says, though that's expensive, requires sophisticated IT and would put the onus on the company. "They're not obligated to," he said. "That norm in the business world is kind of fluid these days." Ultimately, Valliere says StubHub has a choice to make: refund customers affected by the scam or invest in better technology. "They've got to size up which of those two numbers is smaller," he said. Dickson, Molinski and Sneddon are set to be refunded by StubHub. But Molinski says the refund and coupon he was offered doesn't change his view on the ticket reseller. "I will never use StubHub again," he said.
CBC
43 minutes ago
- CBC
Here's how Windsor hotels are training staff to recognize signs of human trafficking
Hotel and motel staff can play a vital role in recognizing the signs of human trafficking, the chair of the Ontario Restaurant Hotel and Motel Association says. Dharmesh Patel says he's particularly encouraging Windsor owners of independent hotels who don't have access to corporate training programs on the topic to take advantage of a free course for staff and managers called Not in Our Hotel. The course teaches students to spot the signs of possible human trafficking and to safely report them, said Patel, who is also the general manager of the Quality Inn Leamington. "So if someone's adamant about paying in cash or doesn't have a bank issued credit card," he said. "Then you're also looking for things like … if you see signs of fear on the people that are with them." Staff might also notice a person bringing in guests through a side door, he said. The biggest red flag But the biggest red flag is a lot of traffic to and from one room. Windsor's status as a border city and travel hub makes it a target for traffickers, Patel added. "This is being proactive and protecting vulnerable individuals. And then for us in hospitality, it's not just about the guest's comfort anymore. It's about guest safety and … community responsibility." Just over 4,500 incidents of human trafficking were reported by police services in Canada between 2013 and 2023, according to Statistics Canada. There were 570 in 2023 alone. Ontario's rate of 2.1 incidents per 100,000 population puts it well above the national average of 1.4 per 100,000. Trafficking activity at hotels appeared to die down at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic when hotels had much stricter controls on how people came and went, Patel said. But now, he added, authorities tell him it's on the upswing again. "A lot of this happens or originates for some reason from the Montreal area coming down the 401, and then they make stops along the way," he said. "So they'll hit up different cities in smaller secondary markets as they make their way." Training staff isn't about putting them in dangerous situations, he said. It's simply about letting them know when to alert authorities about possible suspicious activity. But he said it's also about making hotel owners responsible and accountable for what they allow to happen on their properties. "If none of us rent to these people … then they don't have anywhere to go, right? And that obviously is going to help the cause," he said. "Then it's not happening here anymore, which is our ultimate goal." The executive director of Legal Assistance of Windsor said she's always happy when sectors like the hospitality industry realize they have a role in preventing human trafficking. And ongoing training is really important, Shelley Gilbert said. "The issue of trafficking really is evolving," she said. "So having ongoing conversations about what people are hearing ... so that they can be prepared is really important." Gilbert said it's critical to call police in emergency situations, but a range of strategies are needed to help victims. "We've seen other strategies where there's a particular sign up with … 'If you're in trouble, ask for Mary for instance,'" she said by way of example. But ultimately, she added, victims trying to flee traffickers need housing, income support, training, mental health and trauma support. "Most of the people that we've worked with, this is unfortunately not the first experience of violence and exploitation that they've experienced in their lives," Gilbert said.
