Match 3 Game Card Scam

Last year, I published a post about an earlier version of the same scam when it was called Match 4 Scratch N Win. You can read more about it here. Hundreds of visitors from all across Canada got the same card and complained how it was a deceptive marketing scam. In 2019, the scam took a new name. It is now called Match 3. The game card is still delievered by mail through Canada Post.

This year’s game card has similar look and feel as its predecesor, Match 4. Every card is a winner. The back side of the card has 6 symbols which align with 6 winning prizes. This gives an impression of what the matching symbol may amount to. In my case, I had three clover leaves line up. This gives an impression that I either won a Samsung 65″ 4K Smart TV or a new Apple iPad Air with keyboard.

The card contains a phone number printed on the back side. The terms and conditions require the entrant must be a home owner and agree to a product demonstration which may lead to entering into an agreement with whatever company they represent. The product demonstration is usually a water treatment device. I have had my share of dealing with aggressive salespersons when door-to-door sales for such devices were permissible. Due to the misleading sales tactics, this practice was banned in Ontario.

As always, my advice if you got this card is to avoid calling them altogether. There is never a good reason to trust a company which tries to lure innocent home owners through deceptive winning tickets.