A Calgary man is struggling to reclaim his stolen identity after falling victim to a sophisticated scam.
Thieves broke into his southwest condo building’s mailbox.
Among the dozens of stolen letters was a new credit card belonging to Trevor Majeski.
He was first alerted to the theft when he received a call from a blocked number — the person claimed to be a police officer.
“I got suspicious and I gave them limited information,” Majeski told Global News.
He said he hung up, but moments later he got a second call.
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This time the caller ID showed the Calgary Police, a non-emergency number.
This time Majeski willingly gave his personal information, including his date of birth and middle name.
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“I figured I was dealing with the actual police.”
By the time Majeski became suspicious of the caller — it was too late. He had given all the information necessary for thieves to activate his credit card.
“I logged into my online banking and I saw that the credit card had multiple cash advances and purchases made on it in the twenty minutes since I received the first phone call.”
It turns out thieves had “spoofed” the Calgary Police number.
Police said it’s easy to do with today’s technology.
“I think what people need to know and be very aware of is police aren’t going to ask for sensitive details over the phone,” Sgt. Cory Dayley of the CPS cyber-forensics unit said.
Dayley said these types of tactics are used around the globe, and can be very convincing.
“No one should feel embarrassed,” the officer said.
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Majeski said he’s confirmed thieves have now tried to use his personal information several times.
“It’s a huge invasion of privacy,” he said. “I don’t know what my is going to look like with this information out there.”
So far no arrests have been made in Majeski’s case.
His condo building has now moved mailboxes into a secure room.
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