Scam alert

[Michelle]

If this isn't in the right place I apologize. I've gotten more than 20 phone calls in the last two days. They tell me that $349 has been charged on my VISA account to Amazon and they needed to verify it. If I didn't respond today the order would go through. Needless to say, I checked our Amazon account and no such order had been placed. Next I contacted VISA and there was no suspicious activity. I gave them all of the numbers that the scum had called me from. Each one was different.

Normally, I let them leave a message and ignore it, but I was ready to have a few choice words with one of them a couple of hours ago. Hey, if you want to let loose on someone wait a few hours on a telemarketer or a scammer. 

[SHaYap]

The cyber security agencies are bogged down with tracking suspected militant group individuals ...

Amidst the chaos, the cat away, the mouse will play 

~

[Hankenhunter]

Reporting the numbers won't achieve anything.

Next time it happens, write down the number. Go to You Tube, and type in "scammers cisco'd" in the search bar. Then give the number to one of the computer scammer hunters via the comment section. I've done it and watched him copy their files, then lock them out of their own computers. It was hilarious watching him acting as an old lady calling back, and then keeping them busy as he gave them some comuppance. I highly recommend it. Bonus, it's legal

Edited January 17, 2021 by Hankenhunter

[jmccr8]

39 minutes ago, Hankenhunter said:

Reporting the numbers won't achieve anything.

Next time it happens, write down the number. Go to You Tube, and type in "scammers cisco'd" in the search bar. Then give the number to one of the computer scammer hunters via the comment section. I've done it and watched him copy their files, then lock them out of their own computers. It was hilarious watching him acting as an old lady calling back, and then keeping them busy as he gave them some comuppance. I highly recommend it. Bonus, it's legal

Hi HANK

If they are local you can always ask me and my partner Louis Ville-Slugger to drop by and inform them of their fractures

jmccr8

[Bed of chaos]

I would (as previously mentioned) contact credit card company and bank. I get scam calls all day. One (from California) recently claimed there was a warrant out for my arrest, unless I paid them hundreds of dollars.

I worked at numerous telemarketing companies (about 20 yrs ago). They were sleazy but didn't outright steal from you. More about 'congratulations you won a two night stay..yada yada'. Come in, buy a timeshare.

Oh, the sweet memories. My manager would return from break every night (always sniffing) completely coked up. Then give us a motivational speech about attracting new customers.

[+susieice]

I got a call on Thursday where my phone actually alerted me to possible spam. Did not answer it, but I seldom do anyway. Only if I know the number or are expecting someone's call. Leave a message and I'll get back to you.

[Amaryllis]

We would have messages on our phones from the "IRS" telling us we owed hundreds of dollars and if we didn't send the money we would be arrested. LOL. My husband called back one of the numbers and was going along with it pretending he was scared. He had them on the phone for about twenty minutes wasting their time when he finally called them out on their BS scam. It was hilarious. Ultimately they were cursing him out and hung up. I wish we had it on tape.

[bison]

I've had these dunning messages, supposedly from the IRS, several times. I always ignore them. The real IRS won't phone you without arranging it before-hand, by mail. Any such 'cold calls' are from a particularly odious type of scammer. They end up frightening a lot of vulnerable people.

I get occasional emails, supposedly from my Internet Service Provider, telling me that my service is about to be canceled  for any one of various reasons. They're sometimes flagged as 'junk' by that same ISP, which is something of a tip-off  that they're illegitimate.

I get some scam emails, ostensively from banks, where I don't even have an account, telling me about some problem with my account, which I must attend to at once.

If only people could use all this ingenuity and effort for constructive purposes!

Edited January 18, 2021 by bison

[Princess Serenity]

I got an email from "The FBI" in my spam folder. I deleted it then later checked if they actually did this. They don't. I was a little scared by it. Also I don't answer numbers that aren't in my contact list. I usually block whatever number it is.

[RoofGardener]

WE rarely get phone calls like this in the UK. 

Billions of - fairly cunning - email messages. But relatively rarely to get a phone call.

When it comes to email messages: loads stating that my email account is about to be shut down. Various others requesting money from either the Nigerian Minister of Oil, or from Sergeant Padowlski of the US Marine Corps in Iraq. 

But never from a UK government department... the equivalent of the IRS emails in America. 

[Jon the frog]

At least one phone call a day... One of them is from some ''sponsorised'' company wanting to go visit the house free for ''green'' solutions to make me save money. In reality, they are thief organizations scouting and evaluationg taking security system. Lot's of robbery occur after their visit...