If a deal seems too good to be true, that’s probably because it is.
That’s a lesson that Simon Lake resident Donald Lipsett had to learn the hard way last week. Lipsett said he got a call from a man claiming to be from Telus offering him a new deal on phones. The caller was convincing enough that Lipsett gave him his credit card information before realizing his mistake. While he didn’t lose a large amount of money, he still wants people to know how he got scammed.
“It’s certainly aimed at seniors, although I suppose you could modify it for anybody,” Lipsett said. “I certainly won’t be the first senior they’ve approached, I’m sure, and I won’t be the last.”
The original call came in on Thursday, Nov. 13. Lipsett said a fellow called them with an Alberta-area number, claiming to be a promotional representative of Telus. He told Lipsett that Telus was embarrassed that so many customers were complaining about high bills and was offering them a seniors loyalty account, which would reduce their monthly bill and an offer to purchase new phones.
Lipsett said that he and his wife had been thinking about buying new phones and decided to engage with the purported representative. This was despite Lipsett admitting there were a few red flags they overlooked in the heat of the moment.
“We’re Koodoo clients, not Telus clients, but Koodoo is under Telus, so we thought it might be legitimate,” Lipsett explained.
After getting the information from him, Lipsett said the caller led him through accessing his Koodoo account and seemed to know exactly where he was from screen to screen, further enhancing his legitimacy in Lipsett’s eyes. After walking them through the new promised rate and the new iPhone 17-pros they could purchase, Lipsett said he told them there would be a $28 shipping fee for each phone.
“He took, and I gave him, my credit card information and processed two fees that, when they showed up for the next three days (on my) CIBC Visa account, as two $28 fees. The name on my CIBC statement was Koodoo Web Store 9871, Edmonton, Alberta,” Lipsett recalled, adding he also provided his driver’s license number.
On Friday, Lipsett said he called back the man to talk about some potential computer and satellite TV options, noting that Telus’ High Speed Fibre Optic Internet is coming to his area. Once again, the caller spoke with confidence about it to him, making him feel he was legitimate.
The scam fell apart, however, on Saturday, Nov. 15, when Lipsett received a text message from Koodoo telling him there was a lot of suspected fraudulent activity on his account. Growing concerned, Lipsett went to Andre’s Electronic Experts, the local Telus dealer, for answers.
“They just looked at what I’d said and said, ‘this is fraudulent. There’s no such senior’s account,’” Lipsett said. “So I went back home and cancelled the card.”
Lipsett said he then went to the 100 Mile House RCMP to report the fraud and called the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre to report the scam as well. Later on that same day, Lipsett said the scammer called him back and tried to get him to click on a Google verification notice.
“By that time, I did know it was fraudulent, so I told him he wasn’t getting any more information and I’d gone to the police. He hung up,” Lipsett said.
In the end, Lipsett only ended up losing just under $60 and now has to get a new credit card after cancelling his old one. Thinking back, he noted that what he should have done was not pick up the phone and just let the call go to voicemail. He noted that if it’s important, people will typically leave a message.
“I should not have given out any personal information and should have gone to my Koodo account or to Andre’s to question it before getting further involved,” Lipsett remarked. “Heck of a learning experience, but boy, slick. The way he walked me through the account just sounded like he knew what he was doing. He certainly did know what he was doing.”
Lipsett said following this incident, he’d like to remind the community to be really cautious about any unsolicited offers they receive. He also strongly recommends against giving out any credit card or personal information to someone you don’t know.
“Be cautious, very cautious, about any offer that might sound too good to be true,” Lipsett said. “Absolutely don’t give out personal information over the phone. Telus and Koodoo have both told me since they would never ask for credit card information on the phone, as did the Canadian Fraud Centre when I contacted them.”
Suspected fraud can be reported to 100 Mile House RCMP at 250-395-2456.