Beware of phony phone promo

Scammers are impersonating cell service providers to obtain personal information.

CTV Calgary Consumer Specialist Lea Williams-Doherty looks into offers from cell phone companies that are designed to attract and keep customers.

Gloria Lowry has a Samsung flip phone but really wanted a new iPhone.

When she got a call from someone claiming to be from her service provider Fido, offering her the iPhone for free, she thought it was a dream come true.

"It was something I absolutely had been wanting so this was like a dream, I said great, thanks! said Lowry.

The caller asked her for some information so he could fill out her new contract and send her the phone.

She gave it to the caller but when he asked for her credit card number to run a credit check, she got suspicious.

"He said you know it's a $400 to $500 phone and it's being sent from Ontario by mail so it's quite costly and I said but you said it's free and now you want my credit card number?" said Lowry.

Lea contacted Fido and the company confirmed that it is not running an offer like this and added that it would never ask for personal information over the phone like that.

Lowry also wondered how the caller knew that she was a Fido customer.

Lea asked Fido if it was just a lucky guess or if the caller had actual customer information.

A spokesperson for Fido says that they think it is fairly common for scammers to randomly dial until they find someone and that the caller did not have a Fido customer list.

Lea also checked with the Better Business Bureau to see if it has heard about this scam or similar scams.

"This is a common scam information thieves run, not just Fido but I see it across the board for other companies as well,” said Sandra Crozier-McKee from the BBB.

Lea says there are a few things you can do to protect yourself from identity theft if you do give out your personal information: