Rogers Free iPad Scam: How Canadians Lost $2,300
- Michael Routhier
- 1 day ago
- 5 min read
They called it a free iPad. It cost her $2,300.
I want to tell you about two real women, both Canadians, both targeted by the same scam, both left holding a bill for a device they never actually wanted. And I want to tell you about the company that, when they found out what happened, offered a $50 credit and said essentially; not our problem.
This is one of the most sophisticated scams currently targeting Canadians. And the reason it works so well is the same reason it's so hard to spot.
It doesn't feel like a scam at all.
Here's What Happened
Brianna McKay got a call in March from someone claiming to be from Rogers. They were offering a promotion — a cheaper phone plan and a free iPad. It seemed completely legitimate. In fact, Brianna had actually received a free iPad from Rogers before, so the offer made sense. She agreed.
They walked her through signing up on the Rogers app. A few days later, an iPad arrived in the mail.
Then came the second call.
Another Rogers employee, this time from the "activation department", explained that there had been a mistake. There was a data plan attached to the iPad that she'd have to pay for unless she returned it. But don't worry. They'd send a return label. Simple fix.
Brianna shipped the iPad back.
It went to a house in Brampton. Not Rogers. A house.
She was now locked into a two-year contract, $120 a month for an iPad and data plan she never wanted and no longer had. When she called Rogers to cancel, they said no.
It Happened to Someone Else Too
Dung Park got the same call in December. She was actually in the market for a new internet plan, so the timing felt perfect. The fraudster signed her up for the iPad himself, after she sent a copy of her driver's licence.
Her iPad went to an address in Edmonton.
The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre explained what happens next: the scammers track the package and intercept it when it's left outside, or use vacant home addresses as drop points. By the time you realize something is wrong, the device is gone and you own the contract.
Park's son-in-law tried to get Rogers to cancel the bill. Rogers declined.
After CBC News got involved, Rogers agreed to remove the $20 monthly data fee. They also mentioned they'd previously offered both women a one-time $50 goodwill credit.
The iPads cost more than $2,300. Each.
Fifty dollars. That was Rogers' answer.
Why This Scam Is Different And Why That Makes It More Dangerous
The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre has been tracking this type of fraud since 2022. They call it unique because it breaks every rule we've taught people to watch for.
There's no urgency. No threat. Nobody says you'll be arrested. Nobody asks for your banking password or a gift card.
Just a friendly voice. A reasonable offer. A deal that, for Brianna, had literally happened before with the same company.
That's the design. Remove the red flags, and the only thing standing between the victim and the scam is the assumption that the person on the phone is who they say they are.
They're not.
The Part That Should Make You Angry
Let me be honest with you here and I'm going to be more direct than a press release would allow.
Rogers knew this scam existed. The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre has been tracking it since 2022. Rogers' own statement to CBC mentioned "return scams targeting customers globally." They know. They've known.
And yet, in 2026, someone could still call a senior citizen, get a copy of her driver's licence, sign her up for a $2,300 financing contract, and have a device shipped to her door, all without her ever walking into a store or speaking to a verified employee.
Marcus Aurelius wrote: "If it is not right, do not do it."
Simple. Absolute. No asterisks.
It is not right to leave a senior citizen paying for a device she was tricked into financing while the company that allowed the transaction to happen offers her fifty dollars and a statement about customer education.
It is not right to build systems so permeable that a fraudster with a stolen driver's licence can execute a multi-thousand dollar financing contract from a lawn chair in another city.
Epictetus would have something to say about power used without virtue. He spent his life as a slave, he understood better than most what it looks like when those with power choose their own comfort over the dignity of those they could protect.
A $50 goodwill credit is not protection. It is the appearance of concern without the cost of actually having it.
I'm not saying Rogers created this scam. They didn't. But they have the infrastructure, the data, and the financial resources to make it significantly harder to execute, and they haven't. That is a choice. Choices have moral weight.
What You Need to Know Right Now
Here are the things that will actually protect you:
Rogers will never call you out of the blue offering a free device. If someone calls claiming to be from Rogers with a promotion, hang up and call Rogers directly at the number on your bill or on their official website. Do not call back any number they give you.
Rogers will never ask you to return a device by mailing it to a third party. If you receive a device you didn't order, and then a call asking you to return it, that is the scam in progress. Stop. Call Rogers directly.
Never send a copy of your driver's licence to someone who called you. Your ID should never travel by email or text in response to an unsolicited phone call. Ever.
If you've already shipped a device: Call Rogers immediately. File a report with the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre at 1-888-495-8501 or antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca. File a police report, you'll need the number for any dispute process with Rogers or your bank.
If Rogers refuses to cancel your contract: Escalate in writing. Contact the Commission for Complaints for Telecom-television Services (CCTS) at ccts-cprst.ca, they are the independent body that handles unresolved telecom complaints in Canada, and Rogers is obligated to respond to them.
One More Thing
Dung Park's son-in-law said something in the CBC interview that I haven't stopped thinking about.
"It feels very simple to be able to go online with a copy of a driver's licence and sign up for a large finance amount, especially when they know these things happen."
He's right. And that simplicity is not an accident of technology. It's a result of a company that made the sign-up process as frictionless as possible because friction costs conversions and then, when that frictionlessness was weaponized against their own customers, they responded with a $50 credit and a press statement.
Musonius Rufus, one of the Stoics I come back to again and again, wrote that a person of genuine virtue does not wait to be asked to do the right thing. They do it because it is right.
That standard applies to corporations too. Or it should.
Has anyone in this community received a call like this, from Rogers or from any other telecom company? And if you've gone through the process of trying to dispute a contract you were scammed into, I'd genuinely like to know how it went. The more we share these experiences with each other, the harder this becomes for the people running these operations. Drop it in the comments.
— Michael Routhier, Founder of Tech 4 Grown-Ups. I run free digital safety seminars for adults 55+ and write about tech threats as they happen. Learn more about me →
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