Two Ontario men charged in scam on post-secondary campus

We have charged two men from Ontario after it is believed they stole money from a university student after scamming him with an offer to buy an overstock projector at a discounted rate.

At approximately noon on Tuesday, March 25, 2025, the victim was at the University of Calgary, located at 2500 University Dr. N.W., when he was approached by two men claiming they worked at the university installing projectors and had excess inventory.

The suspects offered to sell the victim a projector at a discounted price. The victim agreed to purchase a projector and accepted a ride to the bank from the suspects in their vehicle. Once at the bank, the victim withdrew funds to pay the suspects for the projector.

The suspects transported the victim back to the university campus, and when he handed the money to the suspects, they quickly entered their vehicle and left the area without providing the victim with a projector.

The victim reported the incident to campus security who a short time later, located the same two suspects near a student residence building interacting with a group of students and once again, offering to sell discounted projectors.

Police were immediately contacted and launched an investigation. It was determined the suspects were not employees at the University of Calgary, rather posing as employees in an attempt to execute the scam.

Investigators believe the suspects have attended multiple post-secondary campuses across Canada in relation to this scam.

On Thursday, March 27, 2025, at approximately 10:30 a.m., police located the two suspects off-campus in a parking lot located in the northwest community of Collingwood. They were arrested and charged, and several projectors, screens and $9,000 in cash was seized.

As a result, we have charged Yousef HILAL, 24, of Mississauga, Ont., and Arpit RASELA, 28, of Georgetown, Ont., each with fraud under $5,000 and with proceeds of crime over $5,000.

They will next appear in court on Wednesday, April 23, 2025.

Anyone with information about these, or similar incidents, is asked to contact police by calling 403-266-1234. Tips can also be submitted anonymously to Crime Stoppers through any of the following methods:

TALK: 1-800-222-8477
TYPE: www.calgarycrimestoppers.org
APP: P3 Tips

CA25124099/5960