Mobility Scam

[Beanwelder]

Just got a call from "Telus" on my daughter's phone offering an iPhone 14 Pro Max and 30 gigs of shareable data for $45 per month. Did not speak very clearly so that was part of the reason we were on the phone so long. Can't imagine a $1,600 phone with plan would be that little ever - too good to be true so we told them to call back on my spouse's line and provided an email address. Not ideal sharing some info but want to share to make sure someone else doesn't get caught in this scam. Well, pretty confident it's a scam. Telus?

Phone number was +1 (905) 741-3964 and the number they gave to call back was 1-888-484-4117 and to speak to "Jenny".

By the way, people answer that 1-888 number too. Scammers suck.

[dru]

Your spidey-senses were correct. Nevermind I couldn't find those two numbers in our corporate directory but $45/month doesn't even cover the cost of the phone over 24 months. 

It's best to block those numbers on your end and be skeptical of offers such as these in the future. 

[Beanwelder]

Absolutely. I worry about seniors that fall for it.

Thanks for confirming for sure.

[LostinNL]

Just got a call offering a free phone, no connection fee, no cost at all. Seemed skeptical and only asked me for some information, address, email and then wanted my Telus PIN number. At that point I said I needed to call someone to verify this deal and him. He gave me his name as Adlas Corrigan ID # TID10151, and to call 613-683-8691 to verify him. I looked up the number to find no info on it. Been on hold with Telus customer service for over 30 minutes to get some help , still waiting

[Nighthawk]

Scam. That's not even the correct format for an employee ID.

[dru]

I couldn't find an employee by that name and @Nighthawk is correct about the employee ID format. 

Really good call cutting off the call before handing the info over, @LostinNL. Can you fill out this online form for the Canada Anti-Fraud Centre to report the fraud: https://www.antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca/report-signalez-eng.htm#a1a

[xray]

If someone is answering the 1888 number then it might be useful to pass that on to customer care. Maybe they can trace the owner.

From https://www.telus.com/en/about/security/report-a-problem:

Phishing phone call: Report the call to the TELUS Customer Care.  Dial  1-866-558-2273 or *611 from a TELUS handset

[Beanwelder]

Thank you. Here's the thing: I tried to report it and the customer service agent was arguing with me whether it was an active line and that he "Googled it" and it was for another company. I spent 5 minutes trying to explain that I had called and the number was live and they were claiming to be Telus so perhaps their security team would want to pursue only to have the guy say he was going to try calling it himself first (which could ruin any possibility of tracking them).

Not much more I can do, sadly.

[dru]

You've done lots by posting here so future visitors can find your post with a simple search. 

What I'll do is flag it internally. Since you were so close to the incident, can I trouble you to fill out this online form for the Canada Anti-Fraud Centre: https://www.antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca/report-signalez-eng.htm#a1a

[Beanwelder]

Of course - I'm happy to do so. Thanks for the link!

[Nighthawk · Accepted solution]

The 1-888-484-4117 number belongs to a supposed US "marketing firm" according to Google. Their generic website that lists the number reeks of scam and the address associated with that website points to an apartment building in Santa Monica, CA. The 228 area code of the phone number on that website belongs to Mississippi. In my opinion, it's a total scam.

[QQ]

any updates to this, got a similar call for a plan that seemed too good to be true, 1-888-484-4117 was the call back number.

[Nighthawk]

@QQ As I've already said, it's a scam.