Cell phone scam costs Edmontonians $600K: EPS

A person using a cell phone. (File)

Edmonton police are warning residents about a cell phone scam that has so far defrauded victims of more than $600,000.

As of Dec. 18, police had received 91 reports of the scam, which involves a fake cell phone promotional offer.

In it, police said victims are contacted by a scammer posing as a call phone carrier representative – with most claims being associated with Telus.

The scammer offers a new phone deal with a low monthly rate and requests personal details, including the victim's security code and password, to complete the transaction.

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Police said the scammers then log into the victim's account and order a new phone to be shipped to the victim's home, telling the victim to call back when it arrives.

When the victim calls to "activate" the phone, police said the scammers tell them there is a problem with the phone and it needs to be returned to an address given by the scammer.

The victim then sends the new phone to the scammer, while being left with the bill for the phone by their provider.

"The scam can be hard to spot at first, because the scammer is using the complainant's actual cell phone account to order and ship them the phone," said Edmonton Police Service Det. Linda Herczeg.

"That's why we are warning citizens of this sophisticated scam. If you have lost money or provided personal information to this scam, please don’t hesitate to contact police."

To avoid scams like this, police recommend the following tips:

• Never provide your account passwords to anyone you don’t trust. Legitimate phone company representatives will never ask for your login credentials.
• If someone calls you claiming to be from a certain organization, you can hang up, find the phone number yourself and call the organization. You can then verify if the phone call you just received was legitimate.

More information on fraud and how to protect yourself can be found on the Edmonton Police Service website, as well as the Government of Canada website.