Beat the clock and bad guys: New escape room aims to tackle 'huge problem'

Canadians got scammed out of half a billion dollars last year and that's only from people who reported getting swindled.

Now, a fun opportunity in Calgary aims to tackle the serious situation.

The Canada Revenue Agency escape room is stationed at Market Mall from Oct. 4 to 6.

You have to try and work your way out by sorting the swindlers from the real message before the clock runs out, and it is not as easy as it seems.

"The average score is about 60 to 70 per cent, so the vast majority of people are still kind of falling victim -- well, 'victim' in the escape room -- to some of these scams," said CRA spokesperson David Nunes.

He said the interactive experience to help people detect the latest fraud techniques is inspired by a growing number of real cases.

"Canadians were scammed last year alone for over $500 million. This is a huge problem and it's not getting any better, so that's why we are here to bring this kind of awareness."

Those scammed for real include Loren Siemens, who uncovered a phone scam, but not before losing nearly $30,000 shortly after his wife died.

"They go to obituary sites. You know people are grieving at the time and they're not thinking straight," Siemens said.

Con artists often use personal details and try to mimic reputable organizations.

Siemens says his scammer knew personal details about his account.

A call display showing his bank convinced Siemens to e-transfer himself money, believing he was helping uncover a fraud.

Instead, he was defrauded and his real bank said they couldn't help.

He thinks banks should offer more protection.

"Where's the protection for the consumer? I mean, they do it for your credit card. How about e-transfer scams?" he said.

Experts say not to feel bad about politely hanging up and calling a company's general line instead if you suspect something is wrong.

Terrence, of Calgary, completed the escape room but was surprised he didn't catch more of the scams.

"It really teaches you how easy it is to be scammed on a day-to-day basis and how careful you should be as well," he said.

The escape room is free and takes about 10 minutes to complete.

For more info on some common scams, you can head to the CRA website.