Alberta man harassed with hundreds of dollars worth of pizza
Justin Rybicki doesn't order pizza often, but pizza often arrives at his home and work.
"Every time I see Pizza 73 commercials it gives me nightmares," Rybicki said.
In the past six months, hundreds of dollars worth of pizza have been ordered in Rybicki's name – and he's not sure why.
It started in November one night as his family was sitting down for dinner.
"All of a sudden the doorbell rings and there's Pizza 73," Rybicki said. "None of us in the house had ordered a pizza from them, and they're bugging us to pay for it."
At first it seemed like a simple mistake, but when Rybicki checked his email he saw a confirmation order from the restaurant.
He sent the pizza back and decided he would go to the police the next day to report that someone was using his identity and phone number.
Before he arrived at the station, he got a call from Pizza 73 to confirm a pre-order that had been made in his name.
Despite explaining that it wasn't him, a delivery driver showed up with a hefty order to his workplace the next day.
"He started losing it because he has $150 worth of pizza that I'm not paying for," Rybicki said. "He left all cranky and swearing at me, being kind of rude to me."
After one more expensive delivery to his home, and one more confused delivery driver, Rybicki called Pizza 73's head office to tell them to cancel any orders made under his name.
"Then they stopped and went to Domino's," he said.
'It's quite frustrating'
Early on, police told Rybicki to change his phone number. He did, but it didn't help.
Since January, Rybicki has gotten three Domino's deliveries, with the latest arriving two weeks ago.
None of the calls have cost Rybicki anything, but he's still angry and upset to see so much food go to waste.
"It's quite frustrating," he added. "I don't know where it goes – I'm hoping the homeless or they sell it by the slice."
Cpl. Troy Savinkoff, an RCMP officer and former pizza delivery driver, said what's happening to Rybicki is unusual, but it happens more often than people might think.
"It was a common thing that we used to see where you get a call, it would always be a fairly vast amount of pizzas to a residence, you deliver them and you're speaking to the homeowner … and they didn't order it.
"So it is something that from a delivery driver perspective that we did see quite often and back then we didn't, we didn't call the police," Savinkoff said.
While a fake pizza call is not uncommon, Savinkoff said Rybicki's case has passed the point of prank.
"We're into more of a mischief, fraud, and now harassment," he added. "So that continuing behavior is concerning."
It's also worrying how the calls are being made.
"These suspects are using some form of technology to manipulate the phone number that's coming in to appear to be our victim's phone number," Savinkoff said.
Rybicki said he's unsure who could be behind the pizzas. He suspects perhaps a disgruntled former coworker, but he can't be sure.
"Either someone hates Pizza 73 and Domino's or they're getting revenge on me or something. I have no clue," he said.
Police are investigating the case, and Rybicki said he is trying to protect himself by changing his information and beefing up his computer security.
With files from CTV News Edmonton's Nav Sangha
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'A beautiful soul': Funeral held for baby boy killed in wrong-way crash on Highway 401
A funeral was held on Wednesday for a three-month-old boy who died after being involved in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 in Whitby last week.
Police handcuff man trying to enter Drake's Toronto mansion
Toronto police say a man was taken into custody outside Drake's Bridle Path mansion Wednesday afternoon after he tried to gain access to the residence.
Biden says he will stop sending bombs and artillery shells to Israel if they launch major invasion of Rafah
U.S. President Joe Biden said for the first time Wednesday he would halt shipments of American weapons to Israel, which he acknowledged have been used to kill civilians in Gaza, if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu orders a major invasion of the city of Rafah.
U.S. presidential candidate RFK Jr. had a brain worm, has recovered, campaign says
Independent U.S. presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had a parasite in his brain more than a decade ago, but has fully recovered, his campaign said, after the New York Times reported about the ailment.
What is whooping cough and should Canadians be concerned as Europe declares outbreak?
There is currently a whooping cough epidemic in Europe, with 10 times as many cases compared to the previous two years. While an outbreak has not been declared nationwide in Canada, whooping cough is regularly detected in the country.
Pfizer agrees to settle more than 10K lawsuits over Zantac cancer risk: Bloomberg News
Pfizer has agreed to settle more than 10,000 lawsuits about cancer risks related to the now discontinued heartburn drug Zantac, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the deal.
Quebec premier defends new museum on Quebecois nation after Indigenous criticism
Quebec Premier Francois Legault is defending his comments about a new history museum after he was accused by a prominent First Nations group of trying to erase their history.
B.C. theatre to pay $55K to neurodivergent actor in discrimination case
British Columbia's human rights tribunal has awarded a neurodigergent actor, who was diagnosed with sensory and learning disorders, more than $55,000 after finding that a Kelowna theatre company discriminated against him because of his disabilities.
Who's responsible for regulating cannabis stores operating under the sovereignty banner?
It's not quite clear who is supposed to be regulating so-called sovereign cannabis stores or even ensure they're benefiting Indigenous communities.