Vancouver - watch for scam at Waterfront Station

[Sally Forth]

After living in Vancouver for over 10 years and then retiring to the country, my husband and I decided to do a Vancouver staycation day last week. We took the West Coast Express into town and with a day pack and walking shoes, looked like tourists.

 

As I was topping up my Compass card at Waterfront Station, a woman wedged in next to me and tried to sell me her Compass card with "$100 loaded on it" for only $50 because she was leaving town the next day. She was right in my face, so I said, "Sure, give it to me and I will do a quick tap to check it" and she quickly took off.

 

I reported it to Security and they said others have complained. File this in "if it sounds too good to be true."

[puppycanducruise]

Thanks for the warning!

[Kamloops50]

Now you can use your credit card directly to board the transit system.

[martincath]

Thanks for posting that warning Sally, no harm in giving specifics of a scam for the benefit of the more naive. I doubt it's just visitors they're targeting though, since $100 on a Compass card is useful only to locals or very frequent visitors!

 

In case anyone else reading hasn't been hit with this type of line before, the details vary, but this kind of scam happens all over the world and has even since before reloadable cards - reselling a paper transit ticket was the closest equivalent decades ago.

 

Last time it happened to me in Vancouver was in Timmie's a couple of years back - the 'gift card my wife bought me but I have quit caffeine' story. Like you I said 'sure, come up with me and I'll buy my coffee with it then pay you" and suddenly the guy was no longer interested. First time it happened I was 16 in Edinburgh on a college scouting trip, a guy who wanted to sell me his bus ticket.

 

It's happened at least once in every city I've lived in between those - there are always going to be chancers looking for an easy mark!