Three Cochrane businesses were broken into sometime during the early morning hours of Oct. 24.
According to Cochrane RCMP Constable Jennifer Brewer, someone broke into West Valley Chiropractic Centre on West Aarsby Road by prying the front door open. The office was rummaged through but nothing was stolen.
Ideal Weight Loss on 5th Avenue West was also broken into and an undisclosed amount of cash was stolen. Brewer said someone entered the business by breaking the lock on the main door.
The Cochrane & Area Humane Society on Griffin Industrial Point was also broken into. Brewer said someone cut the lock and stole several bags of bottles from the business.
She said officers aren’t sure if the break-ins were related because the businesses are scattered throughout the town of Cochrane.
“We’re not sure if they’re connected or not. We’ve seen both incidences where things are spread apart but they’re still connected, it’s still the same person,” Brewer said. “We’ve also seen them where they’re spread apart but they are different people doing it.”
Meanwhile, a large number of tools were stolen from a construction site in Balzac in the High Plains Industrial Park early in the morning on Oct. 14.
According to Airdrie RCMP Constable Jennifer Weedmark, the tools were stolen from Sea-Cans that were being used for storage.
She said three suspects were captured on video surveillance around 4:44 a.m.
Online scam
Cochrane RCMP officers are warning residents to be cautious of online scams after one resident was the victim of a pop-up scam Oct. 25.
According to Brewer, the resident was on his computer when a “Click 4 Support” advertisement popped up, offering him a refund.
The advertisement directed him to call a number and when he did he talked to a man who asked for his banking information to deposit the refund.
The victim provided the man with his information and did see a refund in his account but was then contacted by the company again and told he was given too much money and needed to send some back.
“The reason it didn’t raise flags right away was because the victim themselves had just had computer work done and so they thought it was in conjunction with the repairs that were done to his computer and that they had overcharged him for that work,” Brewer said.
“That’s why initially they did return the phone call and follow through with giving information.”
Click 4 Support representatives continued to contact the victim and ask for more money, which is when the victim realized it was a scam and reported it to the RCMP.
Brewer said the man did lose money through the scam but she would not disclose how much.
“It’s not a new type of fraud but it’s also not something we see all the time,” she said.
If you have any information about any crime, contact your local RCMP detachment or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) or online at tipsubmit.com
