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The following are statements from people who have been targeted by scam artists at their workplace. To protect individual privacy, the names of people and companies have been changed.

#1: Caught in a Phoney Invoice Fraud

On March 29, I was paying my bills, and along with a stack of 50 other things I had to get done that day, I paid a bill from a company called Global Business Solutions and Surprises (GBSS). The invoice looked like any other invoice in the pile, and it wasn't a large amount. I assumed someone from our company had authorized it.

A few days later, in early April, Michael from GBSS called. He said he was calling to confirm our address so he could send us the final invoice. I thought this was a little odd, so I asked how many invoices there were. He said the next invoice would be the final one. Curious, I asked what the invoice was for, and he simply said to visit his company's corporate Web site. When I asked him who initiated the service contract with our company he said that I did. But I did not recall initiating anything with that company. He sounded official about it, so I let it go.

In early May, I got the next invoice. It was marked "FINAL" and because of the previous conversation with Michael, I paid it.

Then, the following month, I got several more calls from Michael, confirming the previous payments and saying again that he was going to send me the final invoice. I said I already paid the final invoice, based on the conversation we had in April. He said this was impossible because there were three invoices in total, and the third had not even been sent yet! So I said I would not send any more payments until he provided me with a contract that stated we were paying in three monthly installments, and confirmed what we were actually being billed for, since the description on the invoice was very vague. Well, this made Michael defensive, and he got rude, saying I had agreed to the three installments. Then he said he had my voice recorded where I had agreed to the installment plan, and that he could play back the tape recording. So I suggested that he do that, but he didn't bring it up again in the conversation.

Meanwhile, I received an invoice from a company called Data Data Data Now in June. A fellow named Mark called about it, saying it was past due. I said we had never ordered any goods from them, to which he replied that he said he would be forced to send the bill to collections and our business credit rating would suffer! The invoice reminder came soon after, along with phone calls. Then Mark said he had taken over the account for Michael (of the first company!), and played a recorded conversation back to me over the phone where my voice was saying "yes" to a certain question - but the recording was such bad quality, I couldn't even tell what I was saying "yes" to. I think it was just me confirming "yes" to the address they had for us on file.

Well, the harassing threats to hurt our credit rating really became stressful, and we decided to just pay on the condition that we got a letter saying there would be no further invoices. So, they sent us a written note confirming this was the last invoice, and we paid it in full.

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#2: Targeted by a Directory Scam

In July, I got a call from a man who asked me if I wanted to renew a subscription for a business directory. I asked for some details about the business directory, and he said it was a Web-based advertising registry. I said our company wasn't interested. That's when he said the cost of the final invoice would be approximately $300, and asked me if I would be taking care of this invoice. I wasn't sure what the previous arrangements were with his firm, so I said I would take care of it. Basically, I thought that because he said it was the "final invoice" that we must have received some service from them in the past.

Then I got another call from a woman, also from the same company, confirming my agreement to pay the invoice they would be sending, so I said I would. I still thought that our company had done business with them, but wanted to check. I dropped an email to Nancy in our accounting department, asking if we'd ever done business with this company before. She confirmed that no, we hadn't. My manager, Jim, called the company. They told him they had a recording of a conversation with me that they could use to prove my agreement. He said that anyone could tamper with a recording to make it say whatever they wanted, and that our firm would not be paying that invoice.

We reported it directly to the Competition Bureau.

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#3 Web Services Scam on a Seniors' Home

In January, I got a call from someone named Sophia. She was calling to renew our subscription for a Web service. I told her that we didn't have a Web site or need Web services, but Sophia said that they had already done business with us, and that she was going to be sending an invoice for the previous year.

Then I got another call, this time from a woman who was calling to confirm our mailing address, and asking how payment for the invoice would be made. I just said that we pay all invoices by company cheque, so she thanked me, and hung up.

Then I got another call from another woman, confirming the call from Sophia, and saying we'd soon be receiving our Web services invoice. Again, I asked what for, because we don't have any Web services. They insisted that yes, we do, and that I had ordered it over the phone. We argued back and forth, and then a few days later, I got an invoice for over $300!

The invoice had a Web site address on it, as well as a login ID and password on it for their Web site. I wanted to get a hold of them about the invoice, so went on their Web site to try to contact them. There was no contact information on the site. I saw there was a client area to log in, but I didn't use it because I was afraid this might mean I was using their service. But later that day, I thought that maybe logging in to their site would be the only way to reach them, so I did so. But the login and password were not accepted.

I decided to write them a letter to the address on the invoice, explaining that we're a non-profit organization, and that we only have fixed budgets, so there is no way we would have ordered Web services over the phone. But before I could send it, I got a call from someone named John asking when I would be paying the invoice. I read him the letter, and asked him about what a virtual listing was. He said it's when you go into their Web site, log in, and then enter your information which creates the Web page for you. I said again I did not request this service, but he insisted I did. He also said he had a taped conversation of the phone call in which I authorized the service. I agreed to hear it. It was a very fast speaking woman speaking to me to confirm our mailing address, and I was saying "yes," and "uh huh" and "we pay by company cheque." It was clear that I was only confirming information, not saying I would pay the invoice.

But when the recording playback was done, John said, "There you go," in a tone of voice that implied he had proven he was right. I was shocked he took this as agreement to accept the service or pay the invoice, and I told him so. He raised his voice, and asked me what my title was, and asked to speak to my boss. I told him I was the manager, and explained again that we are a not-for-profit organization, and that this could not have been approved. He got more angry, interrupted me and kept loudly saying, "When are you going to pay?" every time I tried to talk. Then he said, "You'll pay this!" and hung up.

I got another invoice marked "Final Notice," but this time it had my name personally on it, not our organization's! It requested payment in 10 days or the account would be re-allocated to the services of a collection agency.

It was at that stage I finally reported it to the Competition Bureau. The company was charged with fraudulent telemarketing and prosecuted.