Hockey Alberta warns of scam aimed at minor hockey tournaments

Hockey Alberta is warning families about a new scam targeting minor hockey associations in the province by using seemingly legitimate channels to request money for fake tournaments.

In a social media post on Tuesday, the provincial hockey governing body said it has been seeing a "high volume of suspicious tournament emails" closely mimicking official email accounts and registration forms.

"It's despicable," said Angie Thiessen, a tournament co-ordinator with the McKnight Hockey Association in Calgary. "You're scamming these kids that are trying to play hockey and have to do bottle drives to play in tournaments."

Thiessen said fall is a busy time for newly formed minor hockey teams as they rush to secure limited spots in high-demand tournaments. 

"I've had 120 teams apply for our U18 tournaments," she said.

A Hockey Alberta Instagram post says the organization has been seeing a 'high volume of suspicious tournament emails' that closely mimic official email accounts and registration forms. (Hockey Alberta/Instagram)

Thiessen first became aware of the scam after receiving an email from a member of another hockey association asking if an email, saying they had been accepted into one of McKnight's upcoming tournaments and requesting a fee, was legitimate. 

Thiessen said it was a fake email, and she's since learned of other associations across the province that have experienced the same thing.

Knights Hockey Club in southeast Calgary, Trails West Hockey Association in southwest Calgary and Devon Minor Hockey southwest of Edmonton are some of the other minor hockey associations that have warned their members about the tournament scam. 

A Hockey Canada spokesperson told CBC News in an email it is not aware of any similar scams