Has anyone here had a scam phone call?

[Gingerbread Demon]

Just wondering how many of you have had one?

I just got off the phone with one indian caller saying I had a $1900 Amazon iphone purchase....... I know this one is an old scam but I've never had an actual person doing the scam usually it's email.

 

[Avro Arrow]

"Has anyone here had a scam phone call?"

Isn't that a little bit like asking "does anyone here breathe the air?"?

I don't know, maybe it's not that common in Australia, but they are very common where I live. Just as a guess, I would think that a scammer calls at least once per day. That's why I have caller ID and only answer calls from people I know.

 

[Laughing Dragon]

I have been getting tons of calls and hang ups (don't leave a message... hmmm...) over the years and the few times, I pick up; I screen my calls like most people, it was indeed someone trying to sell me something. Many things I could not buy even if I wanted to because I am not a homeowner. I rent. They tried to sell me something anyway one time. I don't necessarily think they are scammers but that has crossed my mind. I do sometimes actually think some of the calls are stalking that are not trying to sell me stuff. Won't go into that. I do get the occasional scam gram in my email box about crooks trying to get your social security number (among other things) which is required in many legit places like banks and medical services. I agree about not giving it out willy nilly but not at all?

ETA: We have been getting tons of ad spammers at a comic book forum I go to after they switched over to another host. Damn they are persistent. One was in actually Indian, I think. Which the forum is English speaking wherever you are in the world. Do they think they can wear us down? They could be scams or legit. Don't want to find out. A bit off topic..

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

"Has anyone here had a scam phone call?"

Isn't that a little bit like asking "does anyone here breathe the air?"?

I don't know, maybe it's not that common in Australia, but they are very common where I live. Just as a guess, I would think that a scammer calls at least once per day. That's why I have caller ID and only answer calls from people I know.

In Australia it's a big problem. I don't have any stats on hand about it but it is a reasonably bad thing.

 

[Kraig]

When I get a phone call from a number I don't recognize, I put the phone on speaker and wait for the other party to speak. If they hang up without speaking they go on the blocked list. "If they ask who is this?" I tell them it is the number you called and ask them "Who do you want to speak to?" If they don't know my name, I won't give it to them. I have had bill collectors call me for someone else's debt and the someone else (the name is the same every time) who I don't know is using my phone number on what ever form they filled out for what they were buying. The debt collection agency has purchased the debt from another agency and try to call all the contact numbers they were given starting the calls all over again. It is for someone named Renee (I also remember the person's last and middle names and tell the agent I have never met them, but I sure would like to). Another person is a Spanish speaker I don't know that uses my phone number as a contact for doctor's offices. Most of them were on my land line that I scrapped about 4 years ago when they added some cell towers in my area.

I get a lot of wrong numbers because my cell number has the same area code (first three digits), the same first digit of the prefix, and the same last 4 digits as a chiropractor in a different city and county. The caller will transpose the second two digits of the prefix. If they ask for the chiropractor, I tell them they transposed the last two digits of the prefix and I give them the number they should have called. If my phone number was the letters: (abc) dEF-hijk, the chirpractor's number is (abc) dFE-hijk.

 

[Alexander Corrino]

I never answer my phone if it's a number I don't know (and even if it's a number I know I think twice about answering... I hate phone calls). I'm the type who googles the number once the phone has stopped ringing.

So I guess my phone anxiety protects me from scam phone calls.

 

[Australis]

Get a lot in Chinese, robocalls, "press 1 for this, press 2 for that" and so on. My phone also flashes red for suspect calls, as listed by other phone users.

 

[Rowdy Roddy McDowall]

When they scam they begin with a beep-sound to record us. I instantly beep back, and they always wait 30 seconds before beginning. Once they talk, I never waste more than four seconds on them, cutting them off or putting them on imaginary hold.

 

[John Clark]

Yeah, they're fairly common though it's usually "I work for Windows and there is a problem with your computer".

If not that (Which is a person), it's an obvious robot.

 

[vandevere]

Unless I know the caller, I just don't pick up. If it's important, they'll leave a voicemail...

 

[Kor]

Yes, it happens fairly regularly. If you never get these calls, then maybe your phone provider is really good about blocking these. Mine usually shows "possible spam" when the call is coming in.

I like the ones that claim to be the postal service or customs holding a shipment of contraband that arrived for you from another country, and trying to extort a "fine" from you under threat of arrest.

Kor

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

"I work for Windows" that one is so painfully obvious.

But I am not ar all surprised that in this day that one still catches people

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

"I work for Windows" that one is so painfully obvious.

"Yeah, and I have a Mac."

<CLICK>

 

[Velocity]

Unless I know the caller, I just don't pick up. If it's important, they'll leave a voicemail...

My feeling exactly.

 

[PlainSimpleJoel]

I did a few years ago. Had someone calling from Microsoft Technical Department. Lost around $4000, but was able to get some money back.

Since that moment, had a few other calls - but have been able to ignore them.

 

[Aragorn]

I don't answer the phone if I don't recognize the number. Usually they're debt collectors who want money from someone not named me who didn't ever have my phone number, but they don't care that I'm not that person.

Lately there have been a lot of fake political texts asking for donations but they're scammers. They also never name drop any politicians I can actually vote for. The majority of them involve Ted Cruz.

I wish there was a way to block texts based on key words because the ones that open with a name don't actually know my name. I am not Candi!

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

I did a few years ago. Had someone calling from Microsoft Technical Department. Lost around $4000, but was able to get some money back.

Since that moment, had a few other calls - but have been able to ignore them.

How did you get tricked?

 

[Alexander Corrino]

"I work for Windows" that one is so painfully obvious.

But I am not ar all surprised that in this day that one still catches people

I work in IT support. Can confirm. People (mostly older ones, granted) even fall for e-mail scams where they're being promised free stuff once they put in their data on a sketchy site. I only had a case the other day where some guy wrote "that website stopped working after I put in my credit card details". I was like "you did WHAT now"... so yeah. People fall for phone scams, e-mail scams all the time. No matter how obviously fake they are.

 

[The Wormhole]

If I don't recognize the caller, I don't answer the phone. My parents on the other hand, love answering the scam calls and having fun with them. "We need access to your computer." "I don't have a computer, I go to the library and use their computer." "Then can we access that?" They do have a computer, that's just the line they use on the scammers.

Anyway, that ended up biting them in the ass one time when an Amazon delivery driver called to say he'd be dropping of their order. Unfortunately, he slipped up, it was around 4 pm and he said he'd be by "between 5 and 6 am." This combined with the fact he had an Indian accent prompted my mother to scream "you're an obvious scammer" and hung up. Thing is, she really was expecting something from Amazon due that day, and when it still hadn't arrived the next day, she contacted me to see if I could figure out what was going on (my parents are dreadfully ignorant about computers, and I was the one who put the order in for them anyway." When I looked at the tracking information, there was a note there that said "delivery cancelled by request of recipient" and the time of the update corresponded with the phone call from the delivery driver." My mother's defense "someone should teach them the difference between am and pm"

The parcel did arrive two days later.

 

[Victoria]

In a similar vein, I received an email with all the hallmarks of a scam :

apparently from a company with whom I have dealingst but not the usual address;
unexpected;
screaming urgency; and,
a BIG RED BUTTON to take me to where I could fill in my financial details.

So I deleted it.

Turned out to have been genuine. I did point out to the company that sending emails that look just like scam emails really wasn't helpful.