Got a scam call today

[dizneegirl]

I wonder if you can setup a forward on your phone to actually send the scammer to the police call center?

Pretty sure all your calls would go there. And that you'd be speaking to them real soon!

 

[AnnaS]

Also, be on the lookout for "Voice Impersonation"

I need to tell my mom about this one.

Heard about this one on the news this morning. Scammers think of everything

 

[AnnaS]

Also, be on the lookout for "Voice Impersonation"

I need to tell my mom about this one.

Heard about this one on the news this morning. Scammers think of everything

My husband, who is retired and bored, loves playing with the scammers. He answers the phone "City Morgue". Usually the caller will respond with something so he follows up with "Do you wish to report, claim or identify a body?" That gets a real quick hang up. His other favorite is "City Morgue, you kill them and we chill them."

I have gotten the IRS call a couple of times and they were going to arrest me if I didn't pay. I usually respond with can I use my own handcuffs and make sure you have a sheriff with you as they are the only ones that can arrest us. My husband was a Deputy Sheriff. One time the guy kept on that this is not a joke. I told him to take it out if the many thousands I am owed by the IRS. They hung up. When I called the number back the guy got really angry. So I asked for someone who speaks English. He told me that my father speaks English. I laughed and responded that I know my father does but you sure don't. They refused to answer any more calls from me and stopped calling for a while.

Retirement does bring boredom at times and the urge to play around with these people.

I have heard of another one.

The person answering will tell the caller they need their name and number and how they know the deceased. they are calling a crime scene. If one has time on their hands, I like it.

 

[barkley]

i never answer 'hello'. i wait and if nothing is said i hang up. occasionally someone will speak up with what i know is scripted so i just hang up without saying a word. this is WHEN i pick up the phone-i mostly just let it go to voicemail/decline it if it's on my cell.

 

[sam_gordon]

The person answering will tell the caller they need their name and number and how they know the deceased. they are calling a crime scene. If one has time on their hands, I like it.

I've done the "Do you know how to get blood out of a carpet? I mean a LOT of blood. I didn't know a body held that much blood." Click.

 

[bcla]

In my case, the caller had my name, so the initial part seemed legit. But then again it probably wouldn't be that hard to find a combination of my phone number and name if it was on some list to make it sound more legitimate.

But then when I figured the call spoofed the phone number of a private prison in Louisiana, I knew they'd pulled out all the stops, except maybe the called trying for accent reduction.

 

[Sacahara]

Sometime earlier this year, can't remember when exactly, but I got a call on my cell from what was my cell phone number and who claimed to be me.... I asked for the date and time and said 'well this is awkward but uh hey me, how am I doing today?' I still talk about that one and how quickly they hung up on me.

 

[GoingSince1990]

This happened in my town a couple of weeks ago. Stay safe out there!

On March 23, Westport police responded to M&T Bank on a report of a possible scam. Responding officers located a victim in the bank who said she received a call from a man that said he and the victim’s daughter had been involved in a car crash.

The man claimed to have taken the victim’s daughter hostage and demanded that she withdraw money from the bank in exchange for the safe return of her daughter. The victim was told not to text or call anyone.

According to police, the victim could hear a female in the background, screaming and crying. The victim went to the bank afterward, and attempted to withdraw money from her account.

A bank employee felt something was wrong, as the victim seemed obviously upset, said police. In talking with the victim, the employee immediately recognized the incident to be a scam.

The bank contacted the Westport Police Department, and they had the victim contact her daughter who turned out to be OK.

Police said they had seen this scam and similar ones, and banks such as M&T were able to prevent them, some within the last week.

Some quick tips from the WPD:

• Do not send any money or gift cards to an unknown person.
• Make contact with family who claim to be in danger prior to sending money.
• Call the police if unable to contact family members.
• Report any potential scam.

 

[MillauFr]

I get several of these per week. I never answer the phone anymore.

 

[_19disnA]

Apparently enough people fall for these various phone scams for some to hire people & run a business doing this. NO legit company calls you to ask you to 'verify' personal information (i.e. SS#, date of birth, credit card #, account #, etc.) If you have elderly relatives probably a good idea to make sure there are aware that various scams are around and be wary of calls from unknown parties asking for either personal information or money/gift cards to pay off some bogus debt they claim you have. There isn't ANY legit company who will ask you to pay them with a gift card................ALL of those are clearly scams.

If something seems 'off', they should hang up and use the 800# from an official website if they think the call was for some legitimite purpose.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

In the U.K., doctors, hospitals etc. call from a ‘no caller ID’ number. It is very annoying.

Same here in the US. When I'm expecting a call back from my doctor, it's from some generic phone number with no name.

 

[_19disnA]

Some legit businesses do show unknown # when making calls. I assume they don't want you to call them back on what is apparently a private line. When those types of calls come in, they will ALWAYS leave a message. So it isn't like you are going to 'miss' those calls. For me, it still isn't a reason to answer unknown numbers. Scammers NEVER leave a message.

 

[GoingSince1990]

Apparently enough people fall for these various phone scams for some to hire people & run a business doing this. NO legit company calls you to ask you to 'verify' personal information (i.e. SS#, date of birth, credit card #, account #, etc.) If you have elderly relatives probably a good idea to make sure there are aware that various scams are around and be wary of calls from unknown parties asking for either personal information or money/gift cards to pay off some bogus debt they claim you have. There isn't ANY legit company who will ask you to pay them with a gift card................ALL of those are clearly scams.

If something seems 'off', they should hang up and use the 800# from an official website if they think the call was for some legitimite purpose.

Also, tell any elderly people you know to watch out for the scam that goes “Hey Grandpa! It’s your favorite grandson! Grandpa, I got into some trouble, I need you to send me some money, but don’t tell Mom or Dad, they’ll freak out!”

 

[sam_gordon]

Some legit businesses do show unknown # when making calls. I assume they don't want you to call them back on what is apparently a private line. When those types of calls come in, they will ALWAYS leave a message. So it isn't like you are going to 'miss' those calls. For me, it still isn't a reason to answer unknown numbers. Scammers NEVER leave a message.

The problem is, it could be the doctor (or nurse) actually calling you back. Sure, they leave a message, but when you call back, THEY'RE busy.

 

[AnnaS]

My primary will call me the day after my visit to give me blood test results. It comes up as Unknown. The first time - I did not answer. Now I know and answer it (cell).

Those are rare occasions when I answer. It will not say "scam likely" or show some random long distance number. It will say "unknown" - and I only answer if I am expecting a call.

 

[GoingSince1990]

The problem is, it could be the doctor (or nurse) actually calling you back. Sure, they leave a message, but when you call back, THEY'RE busy.

Yep. And it’s often near-impossible to work your way back through the switchboard when you call back to reach the person you need to speak to. When I am expecting a medical call I will always pick up.

 

[kymom99]

Some legit businesses do show unknown # when making calls. I assume they don't want you to call them back on what is apparently a private line. When those types of calls come in, they will ALWAYS leave a message. So it isn't like you are going to 'miss' those calls. For me, it still isn't a reason to answer unknown numbers. Scammers NEVER leave a message.

The guy who tried to scam me left a message.

 

[bcla]

The guy who tried to scam me left a message.

I've gotten any number of synthesized messages left behind. I think what they have is the recorded message goes first and then they'll connect to a human if the mark does something like press # as requested.

Some of the messages are bizarre - especially in a robotic voice. Something like "The local cops are coming to your door" or something that just clearly is not professional sounding.

 

[GoingSince1990]

I've gotten any number of synthesized messages left behind. I think what they have is the recorded message goes first and then they'll connect to a human if the mark does something like press # as requested.

Some of the messages are bizarre - especially in a robotic voice. Something like "The local cops are coming to your door" or something that just clearly is not professional sounding.

I like when they say "have you been contacted by your local sheriff's office?" My town doesn't even have a sheriff's office.

 

[bcla]

I like when they say "have you been contacted by your local sheriff's office?" My town doesn't even have a sheriff's office.

I've seen sheriff's deputies around here though. It's kind of random what they do. Mostly patrols of unincorporated areas, and obviously civil actions like evictions and property seizures. And then the contract transit police service. Mostly to shoo away drivers illegally parking at bus stops. I'm not sure where they are though.

I used to work in San Jose, California and I would occasionally pass near Santa Clara VTA headquarters when riding my bike to work or a few times to do some business with them (like get a fare card for my kid). But they actually had a sheriff's detachment there including a fenced in area for law enforcement vehicles. Once I was passing by and saw a deputy with a shotgun.

But yeah - it's pretty clear that almost all of these originate overseas. I've heard some suggestions that sometimes the language they use is purposely poorly formed because they're hoping that the extremely gullible respond. I've even heard that some people working in Indian call centers doing this sort of thing are under the impression that they're actually working on behalf of American law enforcement who are just using them to save money on enforcement collection efforts.