Canadians have fallen victim to a cell phone delivery scam that has resulted in over $17 million in reported losses in the first six months of 2026, according to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre. A B.C. resident, Jeannie Moss, was scammed out of over $4,000 and thousands more on a loan taken out in her name by fraudsters. Moss says she was convinced she was speaking with a Rogers representative when she received a series of scam calls that ultimately led to her providing personal information and shipping devices back to the caller. The scam is spreading across the country, with the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre noting it's one of the more prominent types in the service fraud category.
Written by the local model on 2026-08-20,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Canadians continue to fall victim to the cell phone delivery scam where fraudsters are impersonating telecom providers.
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fraudsters → continue → providers
According to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, the scam is spreading across the country.
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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.
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she → ’ → 4,000
“They had my phone number, my address, everything,” Moss told Consumer Matters.
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Moss → have → Matters
Back in April, Moss says she received a phone call about a special promo to upgrade her mobile device.
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she → say → device
Moss says she was convinced she was talking to a Rogers representative.
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she → say → representative
“I had no qualms that I was speaking to somebody other than Rogers,” Moss said.
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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.
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she → accept → order
“From there things just went from bad to worse,” said Moss.
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Moss → go → worse
The device arrived, but in the wrong colour.
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device → arrive → colour
Moss says she was contacted again by the same caller apologizing for the mistake.
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she → say → mistake
“For your trouble, we’ll send you the iPhone Pro Max and we will send a case with it,” said Moss.
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Moss → send → it
Moss was sent a prepaid shipping label and was instructed to courier back the device.
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Moss → send → device
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She says at the time she believed she was sending the phone back to Rogers.
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she → get → Rogers
Days later, another package arrived at Moss’s home, except this time she says it contained two devices.
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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.
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she → say → order
“I was starting to think after the second time I sent something back that it was a scam,” said Moss.
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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.
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she → say → answers
You can’t get through and talk to a person,” said Moss.
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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.
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payments → make → company
Moss says she later discovered someone took out a loan in her name and owed the company over $2,500.
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someone → say → 2,500
Moss says she tried contacting Affirm, but got no response.
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she → say → response
“I continually got bills from them.
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I → get → them
It seemingly had no effect on them,” said Moss.
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Moss → have → them
Consumer Matters reached out to Affirm, but never received a response.
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Matters → reach → response
However, Moss received confirmation from the company that she wouldn’t be responsible for the loan.
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she → receive → loan
“It was you advocating for me that solved that problem,” Moss told Consumer Matters.
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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.
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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.”
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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.
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Moss → confirm → address
Rogers also told Consumer Matters it recently increased its visibility of scam warning messages when ordering devices.
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it → tell → devices
As a goodwill gesture, Rogers is waiving Moss’s late payment fees and service charges associated with two fraudulently activated lines.
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Rogers → waive → lines
Still, Moss owes Rogers thousands of dollars for two devices.
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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.
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scammers → fall → that
So I think Rogers has work to do,” said Moss.
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Moss → think → work