It seems the Bell / Virgin customer data base has been hacked and a new wave of phone scams is occurring.
Scammers phone up a Bell customer and claim to be phone salesmen for Bell. They give fake Bell ID's. And initially they seem legit because they know all about the customer and the products the customer has purchased from Bell. They don't ask for banking or credit card information. They offer a "30% discount on all products for your customer loyalty".
So far so good, right?....... So here's where the sketchy begins. To "authorize the 30% discount" they get Bell to text your cell # with a code and they prompt you to repeat to them the code. Weird, huh?
The code is not an authorization code for a 30% discount however. (Although you will get a fake email from the scammers telling you that you have the 30% discount that appears to be a Bell email).
The code authorizes the purchase of a top of the line super-expensive phone. (Because the scammers are in the process of ordering it for themselves on your account). In my client's case, things got weird because he was looking at his email inbox during the call and Bell informed him that he had just bought a $2k android phone on his mobile account and his rates were going to double each month to pay for the phone.
My client confronted the scammers and was told "Relax. It's just an error on our corporate side."
Then my client got another (genuine) email from Bell telling him that his online customer profile was now disabled and he would only be getting snail mail bills and no longer receive e-bills. (This is the second stage of the scam which allows the scammers to conceal that the phone order is still in place and then to change their billing - and delivery address - to their own location without you knowing what is going on.)
That prompted my client to tell the scammers to go suck a donkey and he called the Bell fraud centre and got his access to his online profile reinstated and the android phone purchase cancelled.
What made the call initially not suspicious was the fact that the scammers knew who he was and all about what accounts and services he had with Bell. Clearly there has been a leak or a hack and your info is out there and in the wrong hands.
Bell told him that NO LEGIT BELL CUSTOMER REPS ARE MAKING CALLS OFFERING DISCOUNTS. THESE CALLS ARE ALL SCAMS.
This scam is likely to persist for the next while. None of these calls are legit and all should be terminated right away.
Scammers phone up a Bell customer and claim to be phone salesmen for Bell. They give fake Bell ID's. And initially they seem legit because they know all about the customer and the products the customer has purchased from Bell. They don't ask for banking or credit card information. They offer a "30% discount on all products for your customer loyalty".
So far so good, right?....... So here's where the sketchy begins. To "authorize the 30% discount" they get Bell to text your cell # with a code and they prompt you to repeat to them the code. Weird, huh?
The code is not an authorization code for a 30% discount however. (Although you will get a fake email from the scammers telling you that you have the 30% discount that appears to be a Bell email).
The code authorizes the purchase of a top of the line super-expensive phone. (Because the scammers are in the process of ordering it for themselves on your account). In my client's case, things got weird because he was looking at his email inbox during the call and Bell informed him that he had just bought a $2k android phone on his mobile account and his rates were going to double each month to pay for the phone.
My client confronted the scammers and was told "Relax. It's just an error on our corporate side."
Then my client got another (genuine) email from Bell telling him that his online customer profile was now disabled and he would only be getting snail mail bills and no longer receive e-bills. (This is the second stage of the scam which allows the scammers to conceal that the phone order is still in place and then to change their billing - and delivery address - to their own location without you knowing what is going on.)
That prompted my client to tell the scammers to go suck a donkey and he called the Bell fraud centre and got his access to his online profile reinstated and the android phone purchase cancelled.
What made the call initially not suspicious was the fact that the scammers knew who he was and all about what accounts and services he had with Bell. Clearly there has been a leak or a hack and your info is out there and in the wrong hands.
Bell told him that NO LEGIT BELL CUSTOMER REPS ARE MAKING CALLS OFFERING DISCOUNTS. THESE CALLS ARE ALL SCAMS.
This scam is likely to persist for the next while. None of these calls are legit and all should be terminated right away.
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