Charlottetown police are warning about a new scam that targets people looking to work from home.

Darrell Williams thought the job ad would fit in with the way he works. (CBC)

Darrell Williams was caught up in the scheme after he saw an ad in the local newspaper asking for something called retail researchers.

"Because I work at home, and I'm always looking for extra work, I thought I could do some telephone surveys from home," Williams told CBC News on Thursday.

"I went to the website and filled out the information and thought that they'd be sending me an information package."

But something very different came in the mail, what appeared to be a bank draft from CIBC for $2,500. An accompanying letter instructed him to cash the draft, and go to the local Western Union wire all but $200 of it back to the company.

Williams was to fill out a form evaluating Western Union's service and keep the remaining $200 as payment. But he was immediately suspicious.

The bank draft looked convincing, said Williams, the letter less so. (CBC)

"The first thing I noticed that looked suspicious was 'Western Union.' The spelling of it is different each time it's listed in the letter," he said.

"That kind of made me suspicious of a company that couldn't even get their spelling right."

Charlottetown police are already on to this scam. The bank drafts are phoney, and if Williams had cashed it and wired the money, he would have been out $2,300.

Const. Gary Clow said police are getting complaints about similar schemes almost daily. Clow described another scam that took in a Charlottetown woman. She sent $1,000 to Nigeria on the promise she would get a new BMW in return.

"If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is," said Clow.

"Any time you get a cheque like that, check with the bank, check with the police, because most times if not all, it's a scam."