The new phone return call that sends your device to a stranger

According to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, a scam is targeting people who just received a new cell phone through a carrier promotion. The fraud only starts once the phone is already in the customer's hands.

The Nanaimo RCMP has received several reports describing the same pattern. A resident gets a new smartphone through a legitimate promotion. Days later, someone calls claiming to represent the provider. The caller says the wrong device was shipped and asks the customer to send it back, using a prepaid shipping label sent by email.

How the return request works

The victim believes they are speaking to their own provider. The call arrives after a real purchase, referencing a real order, so there is no obvious reason to doubt it. The customer prints the label, packs the phone, and sends it off.

The label does not go to the telecommunications company. It routes the package to a private address or a mail drop. The customer is left without the phone, and potentially liable for its cost, since the provider never received the return.

What the scam depends on

The scam does not depend on stealing account passwords or card numbers. It depends on timing and detail. R/Cst Gary O'Brien, Nanaimo RCMP Media Relations Officer, said scammers have appeared to know details about recent cell phone purchases and deliveries, though the source of that information is unknown. That knowledge is what makes the call convincing. Without it, a stranger asking someone to mail back a brand new phone would sound absurd. With it, the call sounds like routine account admin.

The step that makes the fraud work is not the phone call itself. It is the shipping label. Once a customer accepts a label sent by email instead of one generated through their own account or a verified call to the provider, the destination of the package is out of their control.

The tell

A genuine provider does not usually ask a customer to return a device using a label emailed after the fact, especially days after a promotion has already been fulfilled. The RCMP advises contacting the provider directly, using a verified phone number found independently, before acting on any return request. Free email accounts and addresses with spelling errors are also flags worth checking before anything gets packed and sent.

Anyone who has already sent a phone back under these circumstances is encouraged to contact their provider immediately and report the incident to local police. In Nanaimo, that report can go to the RCMP non-emergency line at 250-754-2345.