Scammer had me going for a while...

[The HalfBreed]

If a Federal Agency wants to talk to you, trust me...
They KNOW where you live and would show up in person.

 

[AbbA]

I will have to save this thread in my files to read once in a while to refresh my memory on all these various scams.
Once I almost fell for the "We're calling from Windows. Your computer has a virus" scam. They promised to clean out malicious stuff from my PC and maintain it, so it's faster, etc. What tripped them and saved me was when I asked to translate 'DNS' acronym from the list of programs running on the PC because there were so many. I don't recall what they said for D and S, but they said "nuclear" for N. To this day, I don't know what that DNS stand for, but I bet it's not nuclear (to me at least)

Anyway, yesterday I wanted to start a thread after reading this newsletter describing two scam examples. If you're curious, read it. The 2nd described scam is very scary. This is when a scammer has already broken into your bank account but cannot complete the final step w/o a PIN and hence you get a call:
https://wealthyretirement.com/finan...al-scams-avoid-retirement/?src=email#comments

 

[JoeWras]

Be careful immediately calling back using the number on the credit card. A couple in my hometown was recently scammed out of $35000 this way. The original scam caller actually suggested to the couple that they hang up and call back to the number on their bank card. This made them feel secure of course. But the scammer had some way to keep the line open after the couple thought they had hung up. The couple then dialled the number on their bank card, or they thought they had. The scammer was still on the line, and pretended then to be a rep from their bank. He helped the couple transfer their money to a “new account” so it would be safe. The sad part is that the bank won’t reimburse the fraudulently-obtained cash because the customers themselves did the transfer!!

Oh geez! These creeps are getting sneaky. Man, I want to yell and swear right now.

Let's amend that to: hang up, get your other phone, or your spouse's phone, and call the number on the back of the card.

Man, these creeps are really pissing me off.

 

[JoeWras]

My new neighbor just had this happen....

Received wiring instructions on the closing company’s letterhead in an email for her new house. Everything looked official. Money was wired. Someone at Wells Fargo caught it and said the person at the receiving end was not legit. The money was held. It took almost two weeks to get it back, even though it never hit the bad guys account. The closing was delayed, but eventually happened.
Apparently the email at the realtor was hacked. Never, ever put closing instructions in an email. We were told that when we bought our last house. Not everyone knows that.
We did a wire from Fido and we did everything over the phone with multiple security checks, i.e. they only called us at the number they had on file. Codes were texted only to that number as well. I was impressed with Fido’s handling.

This is no joke. And it is more than theory. It is real. Thanks for bringing this up.

Realtors are under huge attack. The creeps are focusing on them just for this scam. They get in the email, and they have a gold mine of clients and upcoming closings to pose for.

We sold dad's house 6 years ago and did too much of it over unsecured email. Thankfully, it all worked out, and the account numbers and stuff are now all on closed accounts.

Proceed with extreme caution with R.E. deals. Do not use open email.

 

[fh2000]

I normally do not answer calls. One time I was curious enough so I picked up. It is IRS from India calling me. Or someone who works in US IRS with very heavy Indian accent.

After I said few times IRS never calls. They will just send me a letter. The guy started to yell f**K you.... He must had a bad day.

I now block all calls that is not in my contact list with my OOMA machine.

 

[JohnML]

Most of these scammers are really unsophisticated. Some are pretty stupid actually. There are a lot of call centers in India staffed with losers who can't get a decent job so they do this. No deep technical skills to speak of. It is kind of sad in a way.

I have Nomorobo on all my phones and I never answer any unknown numbers. And if the caller doesn't leave a message the number goes on the blocked list. I kind of miss getting these calls because they are sometimes quite entertaining.

If you ever want a laugh watch some Kitboga Youtube videos. He makes a living by wasting scammers time and is pretty funny doing it.

 

[Lvus101]

I can tell you all from experience that law enforcement will not call you on the phone. Just hang up and record the date and time along with any other information.

 

[Koolau]

IIRC, this subject (scammer calls) came up a year or so ago. A news program interviewed someone official (can't recall if IRS or some other FED agency.) Upshot was "If we are going to threaten you (my words, heh, heh) we'll send you an official letter and tell you how to respond. NO ONE will call you." YMMV

 

[scrabbler1]

Be careful immediately calling back using the number on the credit card. A couple in my hometown was recently scammed out of $35000 this way. The original scam caller actually suggested to the couple that they hang up and call back to the number on their bank card. This made them feel secure of course. But the scammer had some way to keep the line open after the couple thought they had hung up. The couple then dialled the number on their bank card, or they thought they had. The scammer was still on the line, and pretended then to be a rep from their bank. He helped the couple transfer their money to a “new account” so it would be safe. The sad part is that the bank won’t reimburse the fraudulently-obtained cash because the customers themselves did the transfer!!

This sounds like a third-party conference feature some phone systems allow. You hang up, briefly, then dial another number to conference the previous caller into a call with the new party you have called. This can be disabled but I am not sure if the caller can simply do it himself or he needs his phone service provider to do it. I'm also not sure how long the person has to have hung up before conference call feature won't work.

 

[Maidensong]

How to Deal with the Grandchild in Trouble Scam

My mom, who's 82 and incredibly sharp, recently got a call from someone posing as one of her many grandsons. The conversation went like this:

Scammer (in a sad, pitiful tone): Grandma? I need--
My Mom (who knows full well what all her grandsons sound like): Oh! I'm so glad you called, honey. I've been so sick and I'm broke and you need to come take care of me and--
Click

It made her day!

 

[gwraigty]

Be careful immediately calling back using the number on the credit card. A couple in my hometown was recently scammed out of $35000 this way. The original scam caller actually suggested to the couple that they hang up and call back to the number on their bank card. This made them feel secure of course. But the scammer had some way to keep the line open after the couple thought they had hung up. The couple then dialled the number on their bank card, or they thought they had. The scammer was still on the line, and pretended then to be a rep from their bank. He helped the couple transfer their money to a “new account” so it would be safe. The sad part is that the bank won’t reimburse the fraudulently-obtained cash because the customers themselves did the transfer!!

So maybe something else to add to the list of how to keep ourselves "scam-proof" is to wait a length of time before calling. Just enough time for the scammer to get impatient and move on.

 

[Mdlerth]

I promise you a chicken in every pot

What do young con artists turn into?

Politicians

 

[Sunset]

Be careful immediately calling back using the number on the credit card. A couple in my hometown was recently scammed out of $35000 this way. The original scam caller actually suggested to the couple that they hang up and call back to the number on their bank card. This made them feel secure of course. But the scammer had some way to keep the line open after the couple thought they had hung up. The couple then dialled the number on their bank card, or they thought they had. The scammer was still on the line, and pretended then to be a rep from their bank. He helped the couple transfer their money to a “new account” so it would be safe. The sad part is that the bank won’t reimburse the fraudulently-obtained cash because the customers themselves did the transfer!!

Landlines take a while to actually hangup. Try it yourself, by phoning a friend then say bye but don't put down the phone, if your friend picks up the phone within a couple of seconds the connection will still be there, and you can talk.

I've done it before.

 

[JohnML]

My mom, who's 82 and incredibly sharp, recently got a call from someone posing as one of her many grandsons. The conversation went like this:

Scammer (in a sad, pitiful tone): Grandma? I need--
My Mom (who knows full well what all her grandsons sound like): Oh! I'm so glad you called, honey. I've been so sick and I'm broke and you need to come take care of me and--
Click

It made her day!

If Grandma is on Facebook, there is a good chance she has identified everyone in her family and allows anyone in the world to see her family relationships. Facebook is a scammer's dream. Lots of old people telling every detail of their life to the world.

 

[COcheesehead]

If Grandma is on Facebook, there is a good chance she has identified everyone in her family and allows anyone in the world to see her family relationships. Facebook is a scammer's dream. Lots of old people telling every detail of their life to the world.

Add in Ancestry.com for all the maiden names and you're good to go.

 

[SunBlueSky]

Politicians

 

[Palmtree]

It's easy to spoof an incoming call phone number. I read an article that you can buy the app for only $8.99. It allows you to spoof any number you want. White House, IRS, FBI, etc. For a few dollars more it will change your voice to a teenage girl/boy in distress.

It's a strange new world.

 

[RVplusDog]

“Call me” I texted. And that was the end of it. But by this time I’m embarrassed to say I had revealed DH and I would be out of town for the weekend. If the scammer knew my name and my priest’s name, did he have the church directory with my address?
.

In many cases, your address (and age, relatives, etc) are available online with a simple google search. I tell people that all Crooks need to find your address is your name (if very unusual) or name plus state/town. Please do google yourselves and see what free, publicly available information is out there so that you won’t be surprised if callers know it.

I see RVers all the time that potentially give away the farm by putting up the pretty/friendly signs on their campsite: Gerald & Millie Jacobson, Indiana. Now the crooks know that these two are camping. They can google to find their home address & info about relatives. They could call posing as delivery person from something perishable (Incredible Edibles, etc) & the vacationer might verify they’re not home...

One more online, public gold mine of information for scammers is obituaries. Names, locations, relationships, dates, ages, hobbies, careers: all published with the best of intentions. Scammers can target elderly widowers, posing as old friends from that workplace, church, hobby club. They will know so much, it’d be hard to resist.

Speaking of charities, online information is often not well-protected from small, budget-constrained, volunteer-staffed, or newer organizations. Think about everything from your homeowners association to the golf group: really any time you’ve done or joined something, information might be available online.

Be careful out there!

 

[COcheesehead]

I assume all my information is known. SS number, address, phone...everything and then I take action and precautions from there.

 

[JoeWras]

Most road race (running) information ends up online and shows your age.

Tax records are a gold mine since they include actual addresses. Minor celebrities are at risk since many use their real name. (Big celebrities probably put the stuff in a shell corp.) Everyone is at risk if a scammer is willing to dig deeper. Value of home? Neighborhood? What cars you drive?

Basically, your footprint is out there and a profile has been made for you based on your age and gender (easily known), your home value, the type of cars you drive, political affiliation, and much, much more.

 

[Taxman59]

I got a call from my credit card fraud department and told them I need to call back using the number on the back of my card. She said she understood and encouraged me to do so. They won't be belligerent about it. Turns out it was real fraud.

Same thing happened to me. I told the caller I would call the number I had for the CC fraud dept and ask for them by name. They laughed. I called the fraud dept, asked for the person by name and the same person answered the call. They apologized for laughing, but they said I was the first person in a long time who hung up and called them back on the CC listed phone #. They had sent out many warnings about fraudulent "fraud" calls, and people still were willing to give out info to the scammers.

 

[scrabbler1]

Same thing happened to me. I told the caller I would call the number I had for the CC fraud dept and ask for them by name. They laughed. I called the fraud dept, asked for the person by name and the same person answered the call. They apologized for laughing, but they said I was the first person in a long time who hung up and called them back on the CC listed phone #. They had sent out many warnings about fraudulent "fraud" calls, and people still were willing to give out info to the scammers.

I assume you didn't call the scammer back re: not really disconnecting from the previous caller!