I received a phone call this morning from an unknown number which was quite clearly a scam. Upon answering, I was told that my name had been entered into a contest to win $25, 000 through my credit card provider, and spoke to a woman called Jeanie (or something similar). I was also told that I had won a diamond watch for entering, and was asked whether I would like a woman's or man's watch. The woman on the other line then told me that I was also to get a free subscription for free for three magazines as a result of being entered. She subsequently gave me notice that I was eligible to get three additional magazines for around 3 dollars a month.
Somehow, she had quite a bit of personal information about me, such as my phone number, full name, and street address. The amount of personal information which was being parroted back about me originally made me think that the call might be legitimate. The woman on the line was clearly quite practiced. She made jokes such as saying if I won the money that I should remember her. She also said she was new, and thus was hoping for a good review from her supervisor who I had to be transferred to in order to confirm my entry into the contest.
When I was transferred to her supervisor, he asked me to rate the woman's performance given that she was apparently new. He then went through and confirmed the information the woman had told me. In order to pay for the three magazine subscription, however, he required my credit card number (I had never agreed to buying an additional subscription), and first asked me for my card's expiry date. I told him I did not have my card near me, and he told me he could wait as long as I needed with him on hold given he "never got a break" at work. I then started to ask him about details of the company I was receiving the phone call from, and he told me they were the "Magazine Publishers Service of Montreal, " and stated it was a rather small company and this was the only contest they ran per year.
I asked him whether I would find information about the contest on their website, and he did not answer directly I asked him for a website address, and he told me to google it. The website, www.canadamags.com, is clearly quite old and is copyrighted from 2004. The main address of this supposed company is a PO Box. I looked at the website while on the phone at him, and it looked completely illegitimate. I then asked how the company acquired my personal information, and he said it had been provided by my credit card company as I was one of their "preferred customers." At that point it was completely confirmed that this was a scam, as there is no way that my credit card company provides my personal information without my consent. I asked what credit card company I was with, and he told me he couldn't answer that question.
Based on the fact that at this point it was clearly a scam, I declined to give him my credit card information. He pushed back and tried to convince me that this was a legitimate reason to give him my credit card information. I simply said "nice try, " and he hung up the phone.
Bottom line, if someone calls you and says you won a contest you didn't enter and then asks for your credit card information, they're trying to scam you.
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