Another door to door scam - Simply Green

[GoinAllTheWay]

Anyone notice an uptick in phone scams? Actually, I'm not 100% certain but it seems fishy...

In the past week, I have received a phone call from someone claiming to be from the National Post and another saying his alarm company would be in our area next week. Now correct me if I'm wrong, but Canada has laws against unsolicited phone call, no? And if so, these calls were 100% scams?

[4X4]

Originally Posted by Sr. Mints

So an update: I called the cops yesterday, and based on the info I gave her, the lady I spoke with said she "almost guaranteed it was a scam." And of course reiterated that somebody should have called 911 at the time, and they likely could have investigated or nabbed the guy, especially considering it happened in a gated community and the guy was on foot. No point dispatching a unit after the fact.

But she thought it was worth taking all the info I had, and created a case file or whatever they do.

I had to bounce one of these clowns from my neighbour's doorstep a few weeks ago. They're fresh off the boat immigrants, and the lady of the house was politely listening to the guy for probably 10 minutes before I happened to go out to my truck for something, and realized that the dick that was on my doorstep a few minutes ago was next door preying on someone that was too polite to tell him to beat it.

The thing that really pisses me off about these scammers is that they take money from people that don't know better. Like your close to senile grandmother. Or your barely speaking English neighbour.

I don't know how you sleep at night knowing that you took advantage of people all day. There's more merit in outright stealing a loaf of bread than ripping people off and then buying it with the money.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by GoinAllTheWay

Anyone notice an uptick in phone scams? Actually, I'm not 100% certain but it seems fishy...

In the past week, I have received a phone call from someone claiming to be from the National Post and another saying his alarm company would be in our area next week. Now correct me if I'm wrong, but Canada has laws against unsolicited phone call, no? And if so, these calls were 100% scams?

Only if you are on the do not call list, or you had a prior or current relationship with them, and I believe you have to renew the DNC list every 3 or 5 years.

[RedHot25]

Originally Posted by GoinAllTheWay

Anyone notice an uptick in phone scams? Actually, I'm not 100% certain but it seems fishy...

In the past week, I have received a phone call from someone claiming to be from the National Post and another saying his alarm company would be in our area next week. Now correct me if I'm wrong, but Canada has laws against unsolicited phone call, no? And if so, these calls were 100% scams?

In addition to what was posted already, I believe newspapers - don't ask me how - are exempt from the do not call list? I believe, anyway.

Haha, yup, I was right: https://www.lnnte-dncl.gc.ca/ind/edncl-dncle-eng

Telemarketers should understand that there are certain kinds of telemarketing calls that are exempt from the National DNCL Rules.

The exemptions include telemarketing calls made by, or on behalf of:

Canadian registered charities;
Political parties, riding associations and candidates; and
Newspapers of general circulation for the purpose of soliciting subscriptions.

Telemarketing calls that are made to persons with whom there is an existing business relationship are also exempt.

1 of these is not like the others...

[GP_Matt]

Planet Money did a great podcast last week called Anatomy of a Scam. They interviewed someone who worked for one of those "make $674 a day working from home". When you click on the link they ask for your name and number and then he would try to sell you a $5000 service to provide back end web support and tax help so that you can start working online. They played three recorded calls to the same old woman who was a victim. The first tricked her into subscribing, the second upped the amount and loaned her the money to do it and the third was from her estate trying to figure where all of her money went after she died.
The calls were awful to listen to but that company was shut down after collecting $200 million to help old people setup online businesses.

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

Only if you are on the do not call list, or you had a prior or current relationship with them, and I believe you have to renew the DNC list every 3 or 5 years.

Looks like it is permanent.
https://www.lnnte-dncl.gc.ca/faqs-eng#rn_link05

Is my registration permanent?

Once you register your number, it stays on the National DNCL indefinitely, and there is no need to re-register.

If you are changing your residential, wireless, fax or VoIP number (for example, if you are moving), we ask that you remove your number from the list by calling the National DNCL Service Line at:

• Call toll-free 1-866-580-DNCL (1-866-580-3625) or
• Call toll-free 1-888-DNCL-TTY (1-888-362-5889) only if you are calling from a TTY device

Remember that if you want to, you can register your new number(s) with the National DNCL.

[Fuzz]

I wonder if they changed that, I thought I had to renew it a few years ago.

Ah, according to the wayback machine, it used to be 5 year:
http://web.archive.org/web/201108131...-eng#rn_link05

Then it went to 6 years, then 7, finally March 2 2015 it went to permanent. Yay for archives! Proving me not crazy once again!

[GoinAllTheWay]

Originally Posted by RedHot25

1 of these is not like the others...

Geez, no kidding. I remember political parties and charities being exempt and that makes sense, but wtf would newspapers be as well?

[calf]

Originally Posted by Sr. Mints

Tonight at about 6pm in the NW community of Collingwood, we (siblings, spouses, etc) were all at my mom's house for her birthday, and a persistent SOB claiming to be with Telus came to the door and literally tried to push into the house several times, repeatedly demanded our Shaw bill, explain our current services, and would not take no for an answer.

My brother was the one who answered, and it pretty much devolved into a yelling match/battle of wills-type thing while the rest of us chuckled from the living room. But he eventually left. I just assumed he was a pushy, demanding mofo salesman. We've all seen those.

~30 minutes later, my mom's neighbour came over and said a guy (probably the same guy?) claiming to be from Direct Energy pretty much did the exact same thing to them, only her husband put on his assertive hat and got rid of him.

I regret not calling 911 to report this right away. Going to file a police report in the morning. Probably good info for the police to have. It all seems waaaay too suspicious.

Of course it could've just been some schmuck doing his #### job really well, getting people to sign contracts. But you never know.

This guy (or someone like him) was in Scenic Acres yesterday. He left our house pretty quickly, but my neighbor saw him just hanging out on our street for some time. He asked him for Telus ID or a business card so he could call back about the deal, but the "Telus employee" got belligerent and started yelling/swearing at him. He called the police/got his license plate as well, so hopefully won't be back anytime soon.

[Deelow]

New angle on this. I had Simply Green ring my door bell yesterday (in Edmonton BTW), they told me that because of the new carbon tax they have to inspect my furnace immediately.

Shut the door in her face, but isn't this supposed to be illegal now?

[sureLoss]

Originally Posted by Deelow

New angle on this. I had Simply Green ring my door bell yesterday (in Edmonton BTW), they told me that because of the new carbon tax they have to inspect my furnace immediately.

Shut the door in her face, but isn't this supposed to be illegal now?

It will be starting Jan 1, 2017. Probably hoping to scam a few more people before the law comes into effect.

[Hockeyguy15]

If they come to my door and try this I'm going to say wait here while I put my dog away, and never come back to let them in. See how long they wait there for.

[MoneyGuy]

Originally Posted by Deelow

New angle on this. I had Simply Green ring my door bell yesterday (in Edmonton BTW), they told me that because of the new carbon tax they have to inspect my furnace immediately.

Shut the door in her face, but isn't this supposed to be illegal now?

I just found out that my niece (she and her husband run a company that does heating and air conditioning) was instrumental in getting this law in place. Their company was victimized by scammers who essentially stole their company name and purported to be them. They got many complaints and the police became involved, at which time my niece lobbied for legislation and now they have it.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Simon96Taco

These guys (one guy) came to my door on Friday evening. Wanted to come in and look at my furnace ducting to see if I was eligible for an "upgrade". I shoo'd them away.

He was talking about checking for uninsulated ducting, etc. that would qualify me for some sort of efficiency upgrades. I didn't talk to him long enough to find out what the catch was, cost, etc. If you come to my door uninvited, I will almost certainly tell you to get lost.

I got that as well. Two disheveled looking young men came to the door asking if they could come in to inspect my furnace. They looked so unprofessional I sent them away on principal alone but even if they looked professional I wouldn't let a stranger in my house to inspect anything that wasn't appointment made by the energy company. Funny thing is that when I told them no the one guy looked at me like I was crazy which made me wonder if people were actually falling for it.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by sureLoss

It will be starting Jan 1, 2017. Probably hoping to scam a few more people before the law comes into effect.

Missed opportunity man.

What you need is some random crap from around your house that you dont want anymore, so invite the gentleman in and attempt to sell him crap he doesnt want.

[GoinAllTheWay]

Originally Posted by sureLoss

It will be starting Jan 1, 2017. Probably hoping to scam a few more people before the law comes into effect.

What law is this?

[MoneyGuy]

Originally Posted by GoinAllTheWay

What law is this?

New law prohibiting door-to-door sales of this stuff.

[GoinAllTheWay]

Outstanding.

Do these door guys know they are full of crap or do the think they are working for a legit company? Seems like they are pretty young for the most part.

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by Hockeyguy15

If they come to my door and try this I'm going to say wait here while I put my dog away, and never come back to let them in. See how long they wait there for.

If its two guys, find out how desparate they are to make a sale. Then tell them that you'll give it serious consideration if they re-enact the movie the Human Caterpillar in your front yard.

[Hockeyguy15]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

If its two guys, find out how desparate they are to make a sale. Then tell them that you'll give it serious consideration if they re-enact the movie the Human Caterpillar in your front yard.

Human Centipede....You're better than that.