A B.C. woman is out thousands of dollars after falling for a cell phone delivery scam, and her story is a warning for other Rogers customers and cellphone users in general, according to a Global News Consumer Matters report.
The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre says these scams are spreading fast. “So far, in the first six months of 2026, over 17 million in reported losses to service fraud,” said Jeff Horncastle with the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre to Global News.
Jeannie Moss now owes Rogers more than $4,000, for two iPhones ordered in her name (likely iPhone 17 Pro Models). It started in April with a call about a promo to upgrade her phone, and she was convinced it was really Rogers. “I had no qualms that I was speaking to somebody other than Rogers,” Moss said.
After she accepted, phones started showing up at her door. The scammer, posing as Rogers, sent prepaid shipping labels and told her to courier the devices back, but it was to a third-party address, which is the crux of the scam. “I was starting to think after the second time I sent something back that it was a scam,” said Moss.
When she turned to Rogers for help, she hit a wall. “There’s just constant roadblocks. You can’t get through and talk to a person,” said Moss. Someone also took out a $2,500 loan in her name through the lender Affirm.
Rogers confirmed the phones were ordered after its ID verification process, and that Moss shipped them to a non-Rogers address. As a goodwill gesture, the company is waiving her late fees and charges on the two fraudulent lines, but she still owes for the devices, which is where it really hurts.
“This was a scam I fell for and I know they are trying to keep up with things like that, but it seems the scammers seem to be one step ahead. So I think Rogers has work to do,” said Moss.
It’s not just happening in B.C., these cellphone scams. Toronto Police warned citizens this week about ongoing scams where criminals pretend to be legit telecom employees, and that’s what happened here, following the same timeline of what happened to Moss.
How to protect yourself? Never answer unknown phone calls or reply to unknown text messages. Only call back your carrier at their legit phone number, as caller ID spoofing can trick people easily (especially some seniors that are not tech savvy).
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When the phones arrived why would you then ship them off to a random third party. The article mentions nothing about this.
The scammer tells the customer that there is an error with the phone (wrong model, for example), and that they need to send them back and that a replacement device will be sent. Of course no replacement device appears.