Yet another scam

[momcat]

Hi PT friends -
We all know that scams are running rampant these days so I'm giving all of you a heads up and I hope a laugh with this one.

I got a phone call this afternoon, the caller had a very heavy foreign accent. He told me he was from the federal government and said I was selected to receive a $9,000 federal grant because I pay my bills on time and I don't have a criminal record. That's not something the feds would do so I terminated the call right there. A little while later I went to the call list on my cell phone, found the phone number and tried to call back just for grins. A message came on saying this number doesn't accept incoming calls. That may be so but this didn't feel right at all.

Even though Mike and I laughed over it, my fear is for those who will fall for it.

[Karen]

Boy, you'd sure have to be gullible for that! Hopefully no one will fall for it!

[Grace]

We have a Panasonic phone that we can program to block up to 250 phone numbers. It has been a God-send. Whenever one of those calls come through, I just program it to be blocked - because you know they won't take one "no" for an answer. We can also block all calls from "private", "out of area", or "unavailable".

When one of those numbers call, we hear one ring - and then nothing. The calling party just gets disconnected.

[mon]

I'm eloping tomorrow in Las Vegas!

[mon]

I'm so happy, how come no one gives a s*it? Oh well, never mind. :p

[mon]

Thanks SO much! Back at ya! Bye forever.

[cassiesmom]

I'm eloping tomorrow in Las Vegas!

Wait, what? Tomorrow is today now. What did I miss?

And Momcat, what was the catch to "get" that $9,000? Good for you for spotting a hoax.!

[phesina]

I'm eloping tomorrow in Las Vegas!

Congratulations, mon! Best wishes to you and your sweetie.

:love::love::love::love::love::love:

[pomtzu]

Thanks SO much! Back at ya! Bye forever.

Dear Mon,

Seriously - if you would post and start an appropriate thread, you just might get a response. You eloping has nothing to do with any scam...........or does it????? :rolleyes:

And if I remember correctly - you posted a "bye forever" once before, when you got up on your high horse with that attitude of yours. You're a grown woman - start acting like one, rather than a spoiled brat kid. Sheeeeesh..........

And if you don't know how to start a new thread with an appropriate subject title - why not just ask?????????

[Lady's Human]

Okay, I'm confused.

Posting something like that in a thread about scams almost guarantees that:

a) No one will believe you

and

b) No one is going to comment on the announcement because they think it's part of the scam thread.

[momcat]

Well, tonight I got another call from some guy saying he's with the federal government and this time my grant amount from the Federal Reserve is $10,000! He said the money doesn't have to be paid back and I can use it for anything I want as long as it's not something criminal. This guy never said I was picked because I pay my bills on time and don't have a criminal record. This time I decided to listen to the entire pitch. He gave me an ID number then said I could get the money by direct deposit to my bank account, apply it to my credit card or I could pick it up at a Western Union office. My response was "This sounds like a scam" and his response was pretty evasive. He then said the amount will be kept on a prepaid card for 5 years if I change my mind. Strange, they never asked for me by my name (never gave it to them or any identifying or personal information)

This time I wrote down everything he said then I called the Trenton police to report it. Within a half hour, 2 police officers came here. They took my statement about both calls then said they have this on file with the police because I called it in. One of the officers said these scammers often call seniors and retired folks because they tend to be easy marks. He also said these scammers are extremely difficult to catch especially since they know all the techno tricks to hide their tracks. The police said if they call again don't answer since I wrote down the number that came on my caller ID. They both emphasized that if anyone shows up at my house about it to call 911 immediately.

[pomtzu]

Wow Eileen - these scammers are getting really bold. I've never had a phone call from any, but I also had my land line disconnected well over a year ago - too much money for nothing. I have my cell, and that's enough for me.

As far as the number that they use to call you - well that might be a problem to just not answer. I'm pretty sure that they have many different lines, so recognizing an incoming call from them might not be as easy as it sounds.

I'd just hang up once they started to spew their line of bull. When I still had the house line and got a telemarketing call, I gave them an unwanted response. I kept one of those very loud personal security alarms at the phone, and they would get a good dose of that piercing siren. I KNOW that hurt their ears - big time. A police whistle works good too. They tend not to call back for more! :D

[phesina]

Oh, that's a good idea about the whistle for those callers! Thank you, Ellie.

:love::love::love::love::love::love:

[smokey the elder]

You should let any caller you don't know roll to voice mail. Chances are scammers won't leave a message.

It's rare for them to show up in "real" space, but if you see anything suspicious calling 911 isn't a bad idea.

[momcat]

You should let any caller you don't know roll to voice mail. Chances are scammers won't leave a message.

It's rare for them to show up in "real" space, but if you see anything suspicious calling 911 isn't a bad idea.

Thanks, Smokey the Elder. That's exactly what the police told me to do when they were here last night should they try to call again. I'm also going to record the date and time should they try to call again. As for anyone connected showing up at my door, the police told me to call 911 if that happens. I hate to sound paranoid and think it's highly unlikely they'll come but I'll only answer the door if my son or a friend is here.

[smokey the elder]

I'm not sure about the laws about recording in New Jersey; in New York they're weird: if one person knows a recording is made, then it's legal. Well the person doing the recording knows, so is it automatically legal? I guess this is why I'm a chemist and not a lawyer..;)

[momcat]

I'm not sure about the laws about recording in New Jersey; in New York they're weird: if one person knows a recording is made, then it's legal. Well the person doing the recording knows, so is it automatically legal? I guess this is why I'm a chemist and not a lawyer..;)

I'm not going to record the actual call. If a call comes in on my phone with that number I'm going to write down the date and time for documentation should it be needed at some future time. I'm a retired paralegal and know to let the police handle any recording of an actual call. When the police were here they told me not to answer any incoming number I don't know, if the call is legitimate they'll leave a vm.

[momoffuzzyfaces]

Since I'm on both my states and the national no call list it really irks me to get calls from people I don't know! If a call comes in on my caller ID from a number I don't know I ignore it. On the rare occasion I pick it up, I just hang up when they start their speech. To heck with manners in those cases. They are invading my privacy!!!:love:

[Lady's Human]

And for yet another scam/spam, I've won the Liberian lottery.

:rolleyes:

[phesina]

I just got this phone call, or series of phone calls.. Three or four attempts in which the sound was so garbled I had to ask the person to call me from a different phone. (Since I work as a cat-sitter, I sometimes get calls from people I haven't heard from before but who are looking for a sitter, so I want to hear enough of what they have to say to tell if that's the case.)

Well, the guy just called me from a different phone, and this time his voice was much clearer. His accent was difficult to place and I couldn't tell what country it was from, definitely not anywhere in the Americas.. but the University does get many foreign students so he could have been a potential customer. Anyway, he starts out asking if I have a computer and then saying many computers are being infected with... I said, "I DON'T think so, and don't call me again," and hung up. Darn, I didn't have the police whistle handy!

What fun! :eek::D:p

:love::love::love::love::love:

[smokey the elder]

I get calls all the time and I'm on the do-not-call list. If there are many calls from the same number I google them, then if they're clearly not a charity or political entity, I file a complaint with the FTC. This does have deterrent value in that I don't get calls from that number anymore. Filing a complaint isn't too hard.

[Litterati]

I'm going to share a technique that was shared with me by a former colleague. The instant thta scammers begin their pitch just say "Sorry, I don't have a phone". This generally totally floors them and as they try to grasp the illogic you just hang up. Works. ;)

[momcat]

I'm going to share a technique that was shared with me by a former colleague. The instant thta scammers begin their pitch just say "Sorry, I don't have a phone". This generally totally floors them and as they try to grasp the illogic you just hang up. Works. ;)

I LOVE this! :eek: ;) What a great idea!!! Do you mind if I share it with my friends?

[Catty1]

There is a do-not-call list in Canada and some companies get around that by basing their calls out of the USA. So maybe people in the US are getting scam calls from companies that base their calls in Canada. It's a plot!

However, a number of call centres are in Pakistan and other non-North American companies which means the laws don't apply to them...

[smokey the elder]

I got the fake summons last Friday.

Friday night I got ten (!!) calls from the same number. There kept being no one on the end of the line. Well my husband caught them and chewed them out royally! I also filed a formal complaint on ftc.gov. I must get 100s of these showing up on my call log. I can't imagine if I WEREN'T on the do-not-call list.

[cassiesmom]

Today I received this scam call for the second time. It was my pleasure to tell the caller I knew full well he wasn't really from the IRS. I got this information from IRS dot gov.
---
IRS-Impersonation Telephone Scam

An aggressive and sophisticated phone scam targeting taxpayers, including recent immigrants, has been making the rounds throughout the country. Callers claim to be employees of the IRS, but are not. These con artists can sound convincing when they call. They use fake names and bogus IRS identification badge numbers. They may know a lot about their targets, and they usually alter the caller ID to make it look like the IRS is calling.

Victims are told they owe money to the IRS and it must be paid promptly through a pre-loaded debit card or wire transfer. If the victim refuses to cooperate, they are then threatened with arrest, deportation or suspension of a business or driver’s license. In many cases, the caller becomes hostile and insulting.

Or, victims may be told they have a refund due to try to trick them into sharing private information.

If the phone isn't answered, the scammers often leave an “urgent” callback request.

Note that the IRS will never: 1) call to demand immediate payment, nor will the agency call about taxes owed without first having mailed you a bill; 2) demand that you pay taxes without giving you the opportunity to question or appeal the amount they say you owe; 3) require you to use a specific payment method for your taxes, such as a prepaid debit card; 4) ask for credit or debit card numbers over the phone; or 5) threaten to bring in local police or other law-enforcement groups to have you arrested for not paying.

[Karen]

My church organists's husband nearly fell for one of those IRS schemes yesterday, thankfully she managed to convince him to hang up and not give them a penny! She is the one who has always done their taxes, so when someone claiming to be the IRS said they owed nearly the entire contents of their bank account in back taxes, he believed them! They even told him if he hang up the phone without giving them bank or credit card info immediately, he'd be hit with a lawsuit!

[smokey the elder]

Rachel from Card Services has now gotten my cell #...grr. I have unlimited minutes but it's the principle of the thing. With cell phones sometimes you get unusual area codes or exchanges so you can't use the area code or exchange to judge a call. I let most of them roll to voice mail. A lot of phones have a block caller option.