Scam Phone call for winning a lottery.

[Sunset]

I missed a phone call.
Minutes later I get called again, and I answer.
Turns out I won a lottery of a new car, and they were calling to check it had been delivered to me, along with $3.5 million.

I told them I hadn't picked up my mail yet, so I don't know.

The fellow spoke very slowly, without any accent, and he explained how if I had shopped at: Walmart, CVS, Target, ........ I had been entered into the drawing.

I can't believe my luck
He went on to tell me to write down a bunch of stuff , his name, badge # etc.
Then he asked me to confirm the badge # I wrote down.

I hadn't written it down as I was thinking about the new car, so I asked him what address do they have for me.

After a bit of a delay he said: 87 Stone Lane, Pensacola.

I said, oh well that's my other house, and I haven't been there in a while, maybe the car is sitting delivered in the driveway, I'll have to phone the neighbor to find out.

He hung up..... I guess I'm not going to get the $$$$$$$$

He called me from

876-xxx-xxxx which turns out is from JAMAICA. (glad I didn't get to the part of returning his phone call).

 

[mickeyd]

I'd recommend deleting that phone # in the post so that no one here is tempted. Just sayin'.

 

[Sunset]

I'd recommend deleting that phone # in the post so that no one here is tempted. Just sayin'.

I had put it in so folks would know it was a bad number, but perhaps you are right, someone might want to steal my $3 MM and NEW car awards

 

[scrabbler1]

I'm glad you posted the number because I then went to a good website for reporting info about phone numbers, most of which are robocalls and other junk and scam calls. Nobody had posted anything on this number, so I mentioned something about it to warn others.

 

[GalaxyBoy]

Link to FTC blog post about this scam ("winning" the Jamaican Lottery):

https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/blog/2014/07/did-you-get-call-area-code-876

LOVED reading your account of it!

 

[aja8888]

Hmm....maybe your new car is stuck at the port awaiting customs inspection. You never know..

 

[braumeister]

Hmm....maybe your new car is stuck at the port awaiting customs inspection. You never know..

If it's a Nissan, it may take a while yet.

3,500 Nissans Are Floating Aimlessly In The Pacific Ocean

A 650-foot (198-meter) car carrier with 21 crew members and about 3,500 Nissan vehicles on board caught massive fire on Monday while traveling from Japan to Hawai.

 

[easysurfer]

...

After a bit of a delay he said: 87 Stone Lane, Pensacola.

I said, oh well that's my other house, and I haven't been there in a while, maybe the car is sitting delivered in the driveway, I'll have to phone the neighbor to find out.

He hung up..... I guess I'm not going to get the $$$$$$$$
...

Well played.

 

[Lucie]

Yesterday I made the mistake of picking up the phone, only to find that Roy from the Windows Security team was calling me to inform me that my computer had "malicious events" occurring without my knowledge. I acted very grateful that he was protecting me against these "malicious actions." I asked him for the Windows computer License number which he said was compromised, asking him to repeat the 18 digits several times to be sure I had it written correctly.

He walked this clueless American woman through a series of computer clicks, which I couldn't seem to navigate. After 5 minutes I asked "is it under the APPLE menu?"

He was irritated that I wasted his time, but I explained that my husband works long hours in the Internet Security Department at the University and that I was lonely and it was nice to have someone to talk to. I don't know why he hung up on me.

 

[CaptTom]

He was irritated that I wasted his time, but I explained that my husband works long hours in the Internet Security Department at the University and that I was lonely and it was nice to have someone to talk to. I don't know why he hung up on me.

I love it!!

One caution, however. Much as it seems justified to waste their time, ticking off scammers may have repercussions.

Remember, they trade in phone number lists, and lists of likely targets. I suspect they have a way to pass along "difficult" marks, just as we try to pass along their phone numbers and scam details to each other. In theory, it wouldn't cost them much to put you on a "call constantly" list and feed it into their mass calling computer.

I did have a huge up-tick in calls when I started trying to waste their time, and a big reduction since I stopped doing that. Now I just hang up and mark the number as spam. Maybe it's just coincidence, but I find it's less stressful to ignore them than to fight them.

Although a good "zinger" is deeply satisfying.

 

[Alan]

The fellow spoke very slowly, without any accent, and he explained how if I had shopped at: Walmart, CVS, Target, ........ I had been entered into the drawing.

I listened to a podcast last year about phone call scams and apparently a soft Scottish accent is the most believable here in the UK so the serious fraudsters, trying to get you to give out bank details etc, usually appear to be soft spoken Scots.