Dim scammers didn't get one by this bright sleuth
I received a surprising email from Amazon recently saying my latest shipment was “en route.”
Hmm, what shipment? In these Covid-harried times I sometimes order small items from Amazon I can't easily get at stores, without lining up. But this was no small item:
A Sony Bravia 77-inch, 4K OLED TV costing $6,800 was being delivered, along with a fancy recording device, for a total bill of some $8,861.
The only problem was I hadn't ordered them, though in these sleep-perturbed days maybe I did in my dreams?
I studied the Amazon receipt carefully, which looked exactly like others I'd received — but at the bottom was a small red warning saying: “If you haven't ordered an item, call this Amazon Fraud Department number.”
I quickly searched the email's web address and saw it came from a fake Amazon.17654 address, not Amazon.ca.
I knew if I called the “fraud” number they'd offer me a refund — by asking for my Visa info online — and next thing I know I'd have bought a real $6,800 TV and plenty more.
There is no end to these “phishing” scams nowadays: Hydro announcements my power will be disconnected for nonpayment; Visa warnings that my card is cancelled; $100 Videotron “loyalty gifts” — and if you try to open these emails they all request you sign in with your passwords.
Yesterday, an RBC “overdrawn account” warning asked me to sign in, although I don't bank there.
It's exasperating to sort the real messages from the fakes. It makes me nostalgic for those vanished “Nigerian” email scams. They brazenly asked you to loan $10,000 to some down-and-out prince who would eventually share his soonto-be inherited $500-million gold mine with you.
Where did those guys go — have they been job retrained in Amazon scams? Or is there a new gang of thieves from Steal.your.password.com?
Who are today's scamsters, I wondered. So last week, after getting several phone messages from “Service Canada” warning I'm being investigated for “major tax fraud,” I decided to investigate.
As instructed, I dialed back the Ontario number, prepared to meet my latest tormentors.
The guy who answered had a strong East Indian accent. He introduced himself as Officer Christopher James, senior investigative chief of Service Canada, Badge No. 417J2954.
He asked for my home address and SIN, so I gave him fakes. Then he excused himself for several minutes “to pull up your file” — perhaps so I could hear all the other investigators busily typing in the background.
Three minutes later, Inspector James returned and informed me my SIN had been used numerous times for money-laundering and drug deals of over $50 million in seven countries.
I was under investigation by Revenue Canada and the RCMP'S narcotics division. He warned me to be honest, then asked where I banked and approximately how much I had in my chequing and savings accounts.
I gave some hugely exaggerated fake amounts, but I was quickly losing respect for this fraudster's fraud abilities.
He called me “Mr. Fred” repeatedly, despite my constant corrections — the only person to do that since Premier Lucien Bouchard. Eventually, he switched to simply “Mr. Josh.”
I could still hear the busy office buzzing behind him, but by now it sounded like a tape loop.
Soon, to my surprise, he asked me for the phone number for the Montreal police. I pretended to check then said 514-872-5520, which is my Jeanne-mance Park's tennis court, but that didn't deter the inspector.
He noisily dialed the number and carried on a one-way chat speaking loudly so I could hear — first asking for a senior police officer, then reading out my money-laundering and heroin charges to the senior (tennis) investigator.
Soon after, I heard him say: “Yes, that's the culprit, Sgt. Reilly, just as we thought. I'll leave the rest to the RCMP!”
Then he hung up and informed me I faced a possible 30 years in jail if I failed to cooperate. “A senior RCMP official will phone you soon, Mr. Josh, so please stay by the phone to pick up.”
At this point, I asked politely who his superior was, but he said it was confidential. Then I asked exactly what “Service Canada” was and he was evasive.
When I asked what city or country he was calling from he paused, then the line went dead and he never called back.
Overall, he was a pretty sad fraudster, but these scams are a real threat. According to the RCMP, they are successfully targeting many seniors.
Lately, the most common scams are COVID -linked, offering fake virus tests, or home sanitation teams that will literally “clean out” your home.
So if anyone calls wanting to sanitize your house, just say no. And if you get advised any pricey OLED TVS are being delivered the next day, ignore the message.
These scamsters are second-rate — take it from Mr. Josh.
By the way, I never got called by the RCMP, or the senior investigating tennis official at Jeannemance Park.