Canadians continue to fall victim to the cell phone delivery scam where fraudsters are impersonating telecom providers.
asserted
fraudsters → continue → providers
According to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, the scam is spreading across the country.
uncertain
scam → accord → country
It’s not only to this type of fraud, but it is one of the more prominent types in the service fraud category,” said Jeff Horncastle with the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre.
B.C. resident Jeannie Moss says she owes Rogers over $4,000 after being scammed.
asserted
she → ’ → 4,000
“They had my phone number, my address, everything,” Moss told Consumer Matters.
asserted
Moss → have → Matters
Back in April, Moss says she received a phone call about a special promo to upgrade her mobile device.
asserted
she → say → device
Moss says she was convinced she was talking to a Rogers representative.
asserted
she → say → representative
“I had no qualms that I was speaking to somebody other than Rogers,” Moss said.
asserted
Moss → have → Rogers
Moss accepted the offer and says she received another call the next day, during which she provided her driver’s license to confirm her order.
asserted
she → accept → order
“From there things just went from bad to worse,” said Moss.
asserted
Moss → go → worse
The device arrived, but in the wrong colour.
asserted
device → arrive → colour
Moss says she was contacted again by the same caller apologizing for the mistake.
asserted
she → say → mistake
“For your trouble, we’ll send you the iPhone Pro Max and we will send a case with it,” said Moss.
asserted
Moss → send → it
Moss was sent a prepaid shipping label and was instructed to courier back the device.
asserted
Moss → send → device
Get daily National news
She says at the time she believed she was sending the phone back to Rogers.
asserted
she → get → Rogers
Days later, another package arrived at Moss’s home, except this time she says it contained two devices.
asserted
it → arrive → devices
Again, Moss says she was instructed to courier the phones back with a prepaid shipping label provided by the same caller from the previous order.
asserted
she → say → order
“I was starting to think after the second time I sent something back that it was a scam,” said Moss.
asserted
Moss → start → something
Moss says she contacted Rogers but says she received little support and even visited a Rogers retail location to try and get answers.
asserted
she → say → answers
You can’t get through and talk to a person,” said Moss.
asserted
Moss → get → person
Making matters worse, Moss says she started receiving emails from a buy now pay later lending company called Affirm stating her payments were overdue.
asserted
payments → make → company
Moss says she later discovered someone took out a loan in her name and owed the company over $2,500.
asserted
someone → say → 2,500
Moss says she tried contacting Affirm, but got no response.
asserted
she → say → response
“I continually got bills from them.
asserted
I → get → them
It seemingly had no effect on them,” said Moss.
asserted
Moss → have → them
Consumer Matters reached out to Affirm, but never received a response.
asserted
Matters → reach → response
However, Moss received confirmation from the company that she wouldn’t be responsible for the loan.
asserted
she → receive → loan
“It was you advocating for me that solved that problem,” Moss told Consumer Matters.
asserted
Moss → advocate → Matters
In an email regarding Moss’s case, Rogers stated in part: “We are continually updating our processes and sharing information with our customers on how to stay protected as scammers evolve their tactics.
asserted
scammers → regard → tactics
“We use a variety of ways to warn our customers about return scams, including prominent alerts when shopping online, in customized shipping notifications emails, and in information sheets inside the box when their device arrives.”
asserted
device → use → box
The telecom giant also confirmed two new iPhones were ordered and delivered to Moss’s address after completing the account authentication and ID verification process and Moss sent the devices to a non-Rogers address.
asserted
Moss → confirm → address
Rogers also told Consumer Matters it recently increased its visibility of scam warning messages when ordering devices.
asserted
it → tell → devices
As a goodwill gesture, Rogers is waiving Moss’s late payment fees and service charges associated with two fraudulently activated lines.
asserted
Rogers → waive → lines
Still, Moss owes Rogers thousands of dollars for two devices.
asserted
Moss → owe → devices
“This was a scam I fell for and I know they are trying to keep up with things like that, but it seems the scammers seem to be one step ahead.
asserted
scammers → fall → that
So I think Rogers has work to do,” said Moss.
asserted
Moss → think → work
The Aporia
