There's a new scam that's been reported in the area, and it comes in the form of an e-mail sent by someone claiming to be MTS. The e-mail has the MTS logo on it, but it's mis-spelled in one place.

Portage RCMP Constable Sean O'Keefe says it's the first time he's seen anything like it recently.

"This is the first instance of this kind of scam within the last little while. Of course we're always receiving updates for internet scams -- fishing scams -- all the time, it's a constant thing, but this is the first time I've seen it with the MTS logo."

O'Keefe explains how the scam works.

"Well, certainly the common tactic that these people take are a bit of urgency, you might be at risk or could be putting yourself in harms way if you don't act upon something right away. I'll say this, if it is an emergency someone will probably be at your doorstep, or you'd receive an actual printed letter."

O'Keefe says the best way to be prepared is to educate yourself.

"There are a lot of great online resources. The best right now that I can recommend is the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre. They're also available by telephone, and they have wonderful resources there including the book called 'The Little Black Book Of Scams'. Anyone could educate themselves on what to look for, and how to recognize these things before they're taken advantage of."