Yet another scam

[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!

[phesina]

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

[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!!!

[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!

[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.

[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.