OMG! Linda from the I.G.'s office just left me a final voicemail warning.

[Mme. Defarge]

Last edited Thu Oct 4, 2018, 02:10 PM - Edit history (1)

My Social Security number has been suspended and I was urged to call the emergency helpline immediately. Linda’s deep baritone voice made the warning sound especially ominous.

[zipplewrath]

1. Don't forget to have your credit card ready

While you are talking to them, ask them if the "suspension" means they aren't collecting payroll taxes.

[Demovictory9]

25. lol

[wryter2000]

2. The IRS called me

They’re going to charge me with tax fraud.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

3. And a warrant has been issued!!!

[wryter2000]

5. I'm so scared

They’re going to arrest me if I don’t pay them immediately.

[MyOwnPeace]

7. Technology fails again...........

that message was meant to go to IQ45 - it must have been diverted when he sent out his national cell phone tweet!

[wryter2000]

8. lol

[Mme. Defarge]

10. Yes! That's the unkindest cut of all,

being mistaken for a Trump voter.

[woodsprite]

4. Are you sure it was Linda? It might have been "Peggy".

Those Russian women sometimes have booming bass voices.

[MineralMan]

6. LOL! Emergency! Emergency!

[Turbineguy]

9. Wow. I suggest

you give Linda access to all your credit cards and bank accounts subito!

[wundermaus]

11. Oh what to do, What to do!?

https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/blog/2018/01/scammers-impersonate-social-security-administration

If you come across one of these scams, please report it to the Social Security Administration’s Fraud Hotline at 1-800-269-0271, or 1-866-501-2101(TTY), and then tell the FTC about it. ( https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/#crnt&panel1-1 )

[Separation]

12. Happened to my elder mother in law

While we were out taking care of her she got this same phone call. She was about to pay for it when I intervened. I told her that this was a scam. Thankfully she sent them no money.

Unfortunately after we left she recieved another call except this time it was from Edison Power. She sent them a $500 money order. After she sent it she was talking to the grocer at the store. After talking with him, he told her that it was a scam and he would not have sent it through initially had he known what was going on.

He immediately called the police for her and from there the police got involved. I doubt they will ever catch anyone though.

Obviously the majority of us know that these are scams. It's the elderly that are normally alone that get conned into these scams. The scammer uses threatening language, i.e. they will turn the power off, suspension of their accounts, warrants for there arrest. It's a very targeted scam that does work.

[in2herbs]

21. I feel sorry for the people who are scammed but I don't understand how they've succeeded in life

being so naive.

[Separation]

22. Think elderly

75, 80. Poor health and normally living alone. Possible onset of dementia, but still able to do day to day chores. Hpw many 80 year olds do you know that are internet savvy.

Please dont blame the victims.

[DownriverDem]

28. My mother-in-law

is internet savvy. She's 93.

[Separation]

35. Good for her

And that isn't some passive-aggressive internet thing either. I would venture a guess once again though, that the sick, living alone elderly, with possible onsets of dementia, probably aren't as internet savvy as your mother in law.

[in2herbs]

43. The article alluded to use of a telephone for scamming, not the internet. And, please, stop jumping

to the conclusion that I am blaming the victims as I said no such thing in my post.

[Hekate]

23. What part of "they target the elderly" don't you get?

I have friends/relatives who were always sharp as a tack throughout their lives, not easily taken in by anything. But in old age they -- softened around the edges. Not quite dementia, not yet, still living on their own -- and vulnerable.

[Separation]

36. Thank you

[BigmanPigman]

32. I got those calls and I screen so I called them back.

This was an IRS fraud issue since they said I would have to pay all the legal fees if I didn't contact them immediately and an audit. This happened three times. Then about a month later at the supermarket an announcement went out to the whole store saying there are phone scams and do not pay them, report them.

[deurbano]

39. My mom almost sent money to bail my 15-year-old son out of jail in Mexico...

during a school week! Of course, if she had ever deigned to spend time with him she would have noticed the "kid" in the phone scam had a different voice and called her "grandma" instead of "Nana." She was told he didn't want us (his parents) to know where he was, so she called me and at first behaved in this weird way where she was trying not to reveal the real reason for the call, but I finally squeezed it out of her. Of course, she watches hate TV/listens to hate radio 24/7, so her critical thinking skills (never great to begin with) are completely shot. My rightwing, nutcase sister and BIL are always conning her out of money, and now she says she needs to sell her home because she can no longer afford the upkeep. I've tried to persuade her to stop subsidizing their lavish lifestyle, especially given her complaints that they treat her like crap, but since they share her racism and other GOPerve values (they all went to that vile thing's inauguration together), she's willing to endure the verbal and financial abuse. Sad.

[Hekate]

40. Local cops told me scammers like that get all their info from grandma's FaceBook posts...

I called in with a complaint about a call to me and he had enough time to chat some more, so I learned that too. As to my own fradulent caller, he said there were too many for them to even try to keep up with, so I should just tell my neighbors about it so they could stay alert.

Sorry about your family dynamic. That's a tough one.

[peacebuzzard]

13. Still waiting on my "documents issued coming in the mail"

Probably got lost.

[LuckyCharms]

14. Scan the front and back of your credit card and

send the resulting jpeg images to me.

I'll take care of your problem with Linda.

[Mme. Defarge]

15. Great!

What a friend!!

[ProfessorGAC]

16. You Forgot To Ask For The Canceled Check That's Required

And it doesn't count if the routing or account numbers are not legible.

Can't believe you forgot such an important piece!

[eleny]

17. Don't worry! Rachel will call because she has you approved for a $250,000 line of credit

She calls me all the time. Im sure you'll soon hear from her generous self.

[iscooterliberally]

18. I had a call like that once.

The person calling had a very thick Indian accent and said they were from the IRS. The person said I hadn't paid my taxes and I was going to be arrested. Then they asked me for my SS number. I told them that if they were from the IRS and knew enough to call me on my cell phone, they should already have my SS number. Click! And that was the end of it.

[Oneironaut]

19. PS - They've switched over to using Target Gift Cards and Bitcoin as currency

[Danmel]

20. Watch out! The Local Cops are coming for you.

😱

[George II]

24. In the last month I've gotten five or six warning that my Bank of America account has been...

....compromised and my Chase and Navy Credit Union accounts have, too.

I don't have accounts at any of them!

If the body of the email isn't text but a graphic (the pointer changes to a "hand" ), it's a link to somewhere.

DON'T click it, just delete it!

I also got one that, when I went to delete it, asked me to confirm a read receipt, wouldn't stop. I had to go through machinations to delete it.

[oswaldactedalone]

26. I had the fake unpaid power bill scam call come into my business

when I was out for a moment one day and my employees called me worriedly saying that a man from the power company was going to cut our power off if I didn't have the money ready when he arrived at our door.

I called the number and while playing the guy for a fool on the phone, I casually mentioned to one of my staff members to bring me my pistol from under my car seat (I don't actually have a pistol under my car seat) that someone was coming to our door asking for money and he was going to be greeted with my pistol.

This guy starts backtracking with "Please don't hurt the man who comes to your door, there's no need for violence." I said no problem because if he shows up at our door asking for money, he'll be dead so quick he won't have felt anything.

Click.

[jg10003]

27. buy a coach's whistle, keep it next to the phone, use as needed

[Mme. Defarge]

31. Good suggestion!

[mac56]

37. Air horn works well too.

[gratuitous]

48. I have the Lewis Black bobblehead

He says five handy phrases for phone scammers. I usually go with "Go-o-o-o Fuck Yourself!"

[Pepsidog]

29. I have clients calling with these scams all the time and it's scary how many call

in a panic looking for legal advice. I’m like first google the phone number and it shows it’s a scam. And I tell them to never ever give anyone your personal information. Scary to think how many people fall for these scams.

[ooky]

30. I got a call from 347-338-0901

A recorded message from "IRS Headquarters" then told me if I didn't respond I was going to be taken into custody in 24 hours because of four complaints they had against my name.

Then I was shaking in my boots.

[Demovictory9]

41. sadly some people fall for this. An immigrant recently handed over $30K. Even after her neighbor

told her to hang up. It was in the news a few years ago. She was terrified into paying her taxes to a person on the phone so she would get deported.

[KY_EnviroGuy]

33. She's a sister to Brenda from Microsoft.

The one that says my Windows license is invalid, or some such bullshit. I'm too old to even play with these people on the phone these days.

Besides, we already have plenty of scams and flim-flam from tRump......

[CloudWatcher]

34. email extortion

I'm getting email daily, forged to look like it comes from me, letting me know that my computer has been hacked and they have compromising videos of me. They assert that malware was installed in the last few months, and they've recorded everything I do. The demand is that I send $700 (or $800) to their bitcoin address or they will send the videos to everyone I know.

The best part is that they even include an actual password that they claim they used to login as me. And it's a real password of mine ... well, from 2015 on myspace.com. I've not used that password anywhere else or even on myspace since about 2016 when I changed it after reading that myspace had been broken into.

Nice try, but I wonder how many people send them money!

[oswaldactedalone]

38. I had this

and replied that I enjoyed watching his mom star in the porn films, that how did she make so many and do all those things. This board is too family oriented for me to say what else I said. It didn't bounce back as not deliverable and I haven't received any since. I think I hurt his feelings.

[Bayard]

42. Here's part of the email I received yesterday claiming they had hacked my email

"Transfer $800 to our Bitcoin wallet: 1CMQMKmvT4hz2k2ijyxVxN7fHS62K7uQ7z
If you don't know about Bitcoin please input in Google "buy BTC". It's
really easy.

I guarantee that after that, we'll erase all your "data"

A timer will start once you read this message. You have 48 hours to pay the
above-mentioned amount.

Your data will be erased once the money are transferred.
If they are not, all your messages and videos recorded will be automatically
sent to all your contacts found on your devices at the moment of infection.

You should always think about your security.
We hope this case will teach you to keep secrets."


It looks like they scavenged the password from my Baker Heirloom Seed account, of all things.

[LibDemAlways]

44. It's easy to laugh about this crap, but it's

annoying as hell and the powers that be don't think it's important enough to do anything meaningful about it. My brother works out of the house he shares with my 95-year-old mother. He has resorted to takng her landline off the hook during the day in order to avoid constant interruptions by these would be scammers. Every time her phone would ring, practically every hour, she'd ask him who it was and, of course, it was some con artist. She insists on keeping the line because she has a few people she likes to call occasionally. It's a goddamn shame that this shit persists and there doesn't seem to be any way to curb it.

[Mme. Defarge]

47. Yes, I posted this for laughs,

but also as a public service even though I realize that most people on DU would know better than to fall for this kind of scam.

[Gothmog]

45. I had five calls from a 760 area code from the IRS concerning arrest warrant

[lindysalsagal]

46. Blue Cross, blue shield called me.

I must be really important. Or, they really care.

[Saboburns]

49. Oh yeah, well I just found out my Nigerian Uncle just died and left me a fortune.

I didn't even know I had a Nigerian uncle. But I just got the word. Kind of out of the blue. I'm Gobsmacked.

You suckers aren't gonna have me to kick around anymore.

Nosirree.