WARNING: Questionable “Scratch Tickets”
Manitouwadge and area residents are advised to be cautious regarding a recent promotion by a company believed to be from London Ontario which disguises itself as a lottery of sorts distributed through Canada Post recently.
While the tickets claim there is “no purchase required” and that all Canadian and US residents (except Quebec residents and prior winners) are eligible to win, the go on to state that entrants must be employed or retired homeowners who request a presentation with the “view to possibly enter into an agreement” with them to supply a homecare product. When we called the person on the other end quickly became very irate when we asked some basic questions about the nature of their business eventually, before hanging up, shouting that “we sell $5000 pieces of equipment, of course you have to be a homeowner” which seems to imply that they expect callers to do more than ‘view a presentation’.
This isn’t a new ploy by the company listed as 2164909 Ontario Limited on their “scratch ticket” promotional cards as a quick Google Search brings up years of complaints and warnings by OPP detachments from throughout the province which describe very similar misrepresentations of who they are and what they offer.
- CTV covered the distribution of similar cards in Calgary in 2011 which appeared to connect back to the same Ontario Company https://calgary.ctvnews.ca/claiming-prize-a-surprise-1.603264 .
- An Edmonton blogger’s experience is shared here
https://edmontonmama.ca/canada-post-delivered-magic-match-scratch-n-win-tickets-today-to-edmonton-residents-is-this-legit-or-a-marketing-scam-lets-find-out-part-1-of-2/
A representative from the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Commission that we spoke with suggested that residents can contact the Better Business Bureau [ https://www.bbb.org ] to report any misleading or fraudulent practices they believe they’ve fallen victim to.
When we searched the Better Business Bureau website using the name 2164909 Ontario Limited has provided during our call “Home Service Professionals” from London, Ontario only one complaint appeared (this may be in large part because that name is NOT identified on their “Scratch Tickets”) from 2017. Unfortunately, the details are not shown.
Consumer Protection Ontario may be the best place to start when in doubt as they are an awareness program from Ontario’s Ministry of Government and Consumer Services and other public organizations, known as administrative authorities, that promote consumer rights and public safety. The ministry and these administrative authorities enforce a number of Ontario’s consumer protection and public safety laws, investigate alleged violations and handle complaints. They have a toll-free number 1-800-889-9768 and a Consumer Beware List as well as plenty of information on their website at https://www.ontario.ca/page/consumer-protection-ontario.
For anyone who might argue whether these tickets should be referred to as a scam I would share my experience 2 days ago:
An older gentleman, ahead of me in line at our local gas station, first purchased a Lotto 649 ticket with Encore and then offered the “Scratch Ticket” he’d received in the mail and scratched revealing four 7’s to the cashier telling her he’d won a laptop and thought he could claim that prize there as well – clearly he believed there was a chance this was a legitimate lottery – the cashier suggested he call the number on the card. Unfortunately, I hadn’t yet looked through my mail and so didn’t realize what he had in hand or I would’ve warned him to think twice before calling. It seemed to me the man believed this “scratch ticket” to be of the same legitimacy as his OLG tickets and this is not surprising as many times in Ontario we take for granted that businesses or individuals attempting to scam, steal from, or mislead people will be held to account but this just isn’t always the case and there are obviously many loopholes less-honest businesses can take advantage of to prey on consumers.
This company clearly preys on people by misrepresenting themselves. The tickets do NOT make clear that they are not a real lottery, they do NOT clearly identify the “scratch tickets” as promotional / marketing materials and they are NOT willing to answer basic/simple questions when called at the toll-free number listed on their “scratch tickets”.
