Spams and scams

» lam so tired of getting calls from scammers!

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Craig Allan
Staff Writer

 

s I was in the middle of our pitch
eeting at the Other Press, my phone

rang. The caller was an 1888 number.
Knowing what it was likely going to be,
I dragged the red phone icon left and
ignored it. They did leave a message,
however. It was from the Bank of Montreal
(BMO). Apparently, there is some
important information about my account,
and I should contact them immediately.
One problem with that though, I don’t
have a BMO account. This was another call
from the growing nuisance that has been
dominating my life in the past month:
spam and scam callers.

Whether it’s BMO calling about
my fictitious account, Services Canada
calling to say that there is a problem with
my social insurance number and that the
police are coming to arrest me, or just a
call with someone speaking Mandarin,
these calls are happening more and more
frequently. It’s gotten to the point where I
get one of these calls every day! You can’t

Over the counter

» A look into the life of a pharmacist contractor

Morgan Hannah
Life & Style Editor

 

e meet new people every single

day: some of whom we grow
personal relationships with, some we grow
professional relationships with, and some
we never see again. I had the opportunity
to meet the lovely Tanya Elizabeth, a
pharmacist contractor in Calgary, Alberta,
with a unique lifestyle. She and I had a
chat about her profession, family struggles,
travels, and where she is today:

Where do you work?/What do you do?

lam not situated at any one particular
pharmacy as I work for myself as a
pharmacist contractor. Essentially, | cover
shifts for employers needing vacation and
sick coverage for their staff in community
pharmacies, hospitals and long-term
care facilities throughout Calgary and
surrounding rural settings. I’ve been a
pharmacist for 17 years and I’ve been
making efforts to stay current with my
skills and maintain work experience in

all sectors of pharmacy so that I’m always
employable.

Do you enjoy what you do?/If not a
pharmacist, what else would you do for
a profession?

Truthfully, I went into pharmacy mostly out
of parental expectations and not because

I was passionate about it. My mother
expected me to go into a “respectable
profession” (by her standards, of course),
meaning something related to medicine. I
wanted to pursue something more creative
like interior design or architecture... I did,
however, enjoy studying the sciences, and
considered some sort of teaching position.
Tam thankful too, as choosing to go into
health care has been pretty recession-proof
and finding work has never been an issue
for me. Do I enjoy it? To be honest, I’ve

made the most of it but it isn't and never
was where my heart was. I love helping
people, but I’ve come to realize that I will
never be happy in a 9-5 position where

I’m cooped-up inside. So, the next best
thing...I’ve created an opportunity where I
can be my own boss and choose the shifts
and locations I want to work at, so that I’m
able to travel when I want to. | live at a level
of income to be able to do this.

Can you provide me with a brief
day-to-day in the life of a pharmacist
contractor?

Well, the scope of the profession has
changed dramatically over the last few
years, so the range of my responsibilities
has expanded a lot to include more
cognitive services and beyond traditional
dispensing duties. To offset the pressure on
primary-care physicians, a pharmacist is
now able to do vaccinations (any injection,
really), prescribe medications (with the
exception of narcotics and controlled
drugs) through sitting down with patients
and going thorough medication history
assessments (called care plans). In the
long-term care and hospital settings, I
will also participate in multidisciplinary
team meetings with allied health care
professionals and work to optimize
medication regimens mostly in three
primary areas: pain control, mood, and
bowel care. Every workday is a different
adventure for me.

Who is/was your greatest influencer in
life?

Thad to think about this one...I’d say my
greatest teacher was my dog, Yoshi, who
taught me (through example) to live in the
moment and to be happy today. She was a
Mexican street dog who had a tough go at
life, but overcame her fears by putting all
her trust and love into a complete stranger.

even call these numbers back, because
every time I try to, I just get a message that
the number is not in service.

The truth is | am not worried about
myself with these calls. am smart enough
to never fall for them. There was even a
time where someone was asking me to
give them my credit card number because
of a problem with my card, and while
deliberately leading, I caught them in their
lie causing them to hang up the phone. The
people I am worried about, however, are
the foreigners and immigrants who are in
this country. When they hear that someone
is coming to arrest them if they don’t do
something like put $2500 on gift cards and
mail them to this government address, they
may be confused and scared about being
deported that they just do whatever the
person wants. All because they are simply
unfamiliar with Canadian customs and
these shady calls.

With the election on now, and new
player has entered the ring: Sarah from the
Conservative Party. She keeps asking if]
am going to vote for them this election.
“Sarah” calls and texts asking for an answer.
The voice on the call is so realistic, that it

w

What is your favourite quote/motto?

What resonates with me now is: I'd rather
live a life of “oh wells” than a life of “what
ifs”.

You said you travel. Any favourite trips?

Probably would say island-hopping
throughout the islands of Micronesia.

I love diving, and on the island of Truk,

I was able to do some wreck diving.
Micronesia is rich in WWII history and
was occupied by the Japanese during that
time. Consequently, there are over 100
WWI warships that were sunk in the Truk

almost sounds like you are talking to a real
person, which is creepy.

A couple of weeks ago she texted me
asking again if I was going to vote for her
and since I am writing this article now, I
decided to give her a message back. That
message said “Sarah, at least take me out
toa nice dinner before you try to f**k me!”
(The f-word was not blurred).

What do I have to do to get these
calls to stop? Hunt down the call centre?
Destroy all cellular towers? Get a new
phone number? (The hardest of the three)
Unfortunately, they all seem unrealistic. I
think the only thing I can do is remember
to block the number when I see it, and to
stop getting excited every time the phone
rings, because I’m sure it’s not going to be
Publishers Sweepstakes.

Just as I left the meeting, I got a
text telling me to “Accept your GOV.
REFUND**65” from a site called
mimiedwards.com, because I am sure
that’s how the government does business.
Sorry spammers and scammers, but unless
you want me to help catch my running
refrigerator, I have no time or patience for
you.

Lagoon, so exploring the ocean floors there
was a surreal experience for me.

What kind of advice would you give
someone who is interested in living a
life like yours?

Well, don’t follow in anyone's exact
footsteps. Be inspired by others but follow
your own heart. Don’t live vicariously (1
don’t own a TV—I want to live my own life
rather than sit around and watch someone
else’s). If you want to do it, opportunities
won't wait for you, so just go and try it out.
Live at the level of your income.