In order to prevent others from falling victim to the same experience, senior Cochrane resident Marketa Stenzel is sharing her story of a scam that happened to her while she was out shopping for groceries on Feb. 1.
Stenzel’s regular trip to the local Safeway seemed to going the same as usual, but when the time came for her to pay for her groceries at the checkout, she noticed something odd.
“Two women approached me, one stayed to the side of me, the other behind me, and they were asking the cashier random questions,” Stenzel said. “Both wore masks, they both had heavy accents, and I was kind of annoyed that they were intruding on my personal space.”
Upon finishing her transaction, she went back to her car, packed up her groceries, and was ready to return home.
“As I opened my front door, I put my purse on the passenger side and I went to get inside my car when a man approached me from behind, grabbed me by the arm and said – ‘Madam, you have to come and see this,’” Stenzel said.
Stenzel said the man drew her attention to one of her tires where there was a tack stuck to the side of it.
“I was puzzled by it, but I said I would take it to a tire shop and I started to walk back towards my open door again,” Stenzel said. “He pulled me back and he said - ‘No, No! You have to see this. Bend down, bend down.’”
She did what the stranger asked and assured the man that she would take care of it. She then got up and returned to her vehicle when she noticed another man walking quickly on the other side of her vehicle.
“I came home within minutes and realized my wallet was gone,” Stenzel said. “So, I returned to Safeway, they didn’t have it, so I went to my bank and changed my debit card and dealt with all of that.
“This morning I woke up and checked my bank balance and it was $-88. They totally emptied my bank account.”
Upon seeing this, Stenzel immediately contacted her bank’s fraud department.
“They could tell that [the scammers] tried to take out $1,000, and couldn’t several times because my limit isn’t $1,000,” she said. “However, they then spent money at Walmart, Save-On, and some other place.”
She unfortunately had to cancel all her credit cards and replace her driver’s licence, health-care, social insurance number, and Alberta Blue Cross insurance cards.
“And I’ve lost some things in my wallet that I have had for 50 years,” Stenzel said with tears in her eyes. “So that’s really hard on me.
“Plus, I had $220 [cash] in my wallet, and they took that too.”
Although she could not make out the appearance of any of the scammers because they were wearing masks, the only characteristic that was notable in her opinion were their heavy European accents. She also filed a report with the Cochrane RCMP, and provided additional information related to the incident.
But for now, all Stenzel can do is wait.
“They just told me it happens a lot, not particularly this kind of scam with a tack, but just to fill out the report and they will get back to me,” Stenzel said. “They did say that most likely Safeway has those security cameras and they will look into it.”
Stenzel said the series of unfortunate events has been upsetting, and added everything that has transpired has left her emotionally drained.
“Surprisingly I’m not angry, I’m just shocked that people prey on people like me,” Stenzel said. “Being 70-plus-years-old, I still work to support myself, so all that effort of mine is gone.”
The local senior said she hopes her story will help other remain vigilant to prevent them from falling victim to the same scam.
“I know times are tough for everybody, right?” Stenzel said. “And so, I have a feeling some of this may happen over and over again.”
