Disturbing phone call accusing us DD of illegal chat rooms

[Girls Scout Leader]

Late last night, I got the wierdest phone call. The caller asked fi this was _______ and I said yes, then asked if my daughter's name was _________ and I said "Why?". She said that my daughter is using illegal chat rooms and that I have to pay up! I said "who is this?" and she said she is a moderator. Would I please ask her? and I said no way, who the heck is this? Then my DH asked what was the matter, since I was getting pi---ed
off. I heald the phone away from my ear and told him. He said "hang up" and I did. But does anyone know what the heck it was? How could it be legit?

 

[JulesMom]

Sounds very weird

 

[Briar Rose 7457]

as far as I know, most places that ask you to pay for use of the site do so up front.

how old is your dd? does she know not to put certain ifo out ther for the scam artisits?

 

[jfulcer]

What does your DD say?

 

[Saffron]

That sounds like a scam to me. Like someone else said, if there is a site that wants you to pay to use it, they'll ask for the payment up front. I doubt someone would let you use their product for free, then ask you to pay for it???? I don't know much about the Internet though, so I could be all wrong.

 

[Jeff in BigD]

Mondo bizzarro!

There was a weird message on my cell phone from this guy. The only thing I could really understand was "Nigeria" & a sequence of numbers.

 

[JºoºhnG]

The message that you received is a phone scam. It is run through phones, e-mails and Snail mail. Someone claiming to be a Government Official in Nigeria wanting to move some Government money around wants to get your bank account info and promises you a percentage of the money.

I know of this scam as I am a Police Dispatcher in Canada and we run across this one quite often up here. Of course everyone knows do not give out this information to just anyone who asks for it....and if it sounds too good to be true..it usually is...

Be carefull !!!

Have a Disney Day!

 

[Jeff in BigD]

I think I remember hearing about it. I didn't plan on calling the guy back anyway, especially since I couldn't even understand the guy. I thought everyone knew better than to give out information like account & social security numbers, but I guess unfortunately some people have to find out the hard way.

So in the investigations of these, are the cons from Nigeria, other offshore locations or internal (N.America)? It basically sounds like a slightly modified version of the Spanish prisoner scam.

 

[Claudia1]

My DH occasionally gets scam email thru his work (a usually bonafide access point) abouta similiar money-moving venture.

It is always wierd that it comes thru his heavily protected business account.

 

[piratesmate]

...illegal chat rooms and that I have to pay up!

If the chat rooms are illegal, how would paying to use them correct the problem? Sorry, couldn't resist.

Seriously though, I never answer directly when someone asks if they've reached a certain number. I just ask what number they're dialing. If they insist on knowing the number, I'll ask who they're trying to reach. If they still don't answer to my satisfaction, I hang up.

Yeah - I'm rude.

 

[Girls Scout Leader]

I answered anyway automatically for a couple of reasons.

1. Between Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, it seems there is always a young person who is still learning the ropes of phone etiquette.

2. We are in the phone book anyway, so what's the difference?

Thanks for the reasurance that it's just bull. And when I approached my daughter, she got a mouth dropping look on her Face. She says she's never tried a chat room at all. All her friends are on her buddy liast and with talking to 5 or 6 at a time that way, she says why does she need to talk to complete strangers?

And by the way, she is 14, and with our small house and only one computer, it sits in the living room, not in her bedroom. Not to say I look over her shoulder, but I'm USUALLY aware of what she's up to. (I admit not always)

 

[piratesmate]

Um....I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to imply that you didn't handle that correctly. It's much easier to offer an opinion in this forum than to deal with someone on the phone - esp when you're stunned by what they're saying.

Our children are 10 years apart. The older one's friends are well versed in phone etiquette & the younger one hasn't really started to get calls yet. I'll revert to MrsNiceMom when the time comes.

As for being in the phone book - We got so many calls for a while from telemarketers & the like that were randomly dialing numbers, that I don't identify who they've reached. Often when I ask, they don't even know who they've dialed. Thank goodness I'm in PA & the "no call list" went into effect on Friday!

Anyway, I'm sorry - I should have just hit the Back button.

 

[DVC-Don]

Scam, if you had stayed on the line they would have asked for check account and/or credit card info.