Has anyone else gotten this scam phone call?

[brush]

The recorded voice said that my account had been charged $392.00 for a purchase and if I had no objections the charge would go through and I could just hang up. If I didn't recognize the charge I was to immediately call a number they recited to me to void the charge.

I didn't feel like toying with them this morning as I sometimes do before busting them in mid-sentence by calling them out for running a phishing scamming to get personal info from me so I hung up without calling their number.

Anyone else get one of these calls?

[mahatmakanejeeves]

1. Yes, on Tuesday. They called my landline number. I reported it to the FCC.

I think I can find that number....

Here it is:

https://www.nomorobo.com/lookup/208-203-2696

[wryter2000]

2. I've had e-mails like that but not phone calls

I got one last week that supposedly was the power company that they were going to turn off my power within a few hours unless I called a phone number they left. They'd disguised the incoming call number as one that does belong to the power company.

I called the power company to report it and passed along the number I was supposed to call back. I hate these scammers.

[crimycarny]

37. Got that one too!

But mine said they would turn off my power in 30 minutes if I didn’t pay up, lol. Thing is, we have solar and so we’re actually OWED money.

[hunter]

41. I've got that call as well...

... and can laugh at it for similar reasons.

The electricity did not stop.

[wryter2000]

46. Are you PG&E?

Or are they doing it with other power companies?

They made their call look as if it came from the 800 number we use to report outages.

[hunter]

51. I didn't look up the number.

I do know that years ago when my wife was in the hospital and we had no way to pay the electric bill they didn't shut off the electricity with thirty minutes notice.

It was closer to three months, enough time to work it all out. Which we did.

The foreclosure threats were a hell of a lot scarier. We escaped that by a week or two.

[Demovictory9]

38. just this week, I got an email that a $200 home depot order, charged to me, would be emailed

to some out of state address

and I got the "Call the social security agent" call for the 50 bazillionth time.

[CaptYossarian]

3. Mine came yesterday from the 208 (Idaho) area code.

I'll refer to them as Potato Flakes.

[Zorro]

4. Haven't got that particular scam call

But last week I had a robocall stating that my AppleID had been compromised and to not use my iPhone or iPad to access any online bank accounts, and to press 1 to connect to Apple security to resolve the problem. CallerID indicated it was from our local area code and exchange, so the scammers are getting more sophisticated.

My wife checks charges on our credit card accounts almost daily, so I have no worries about unauthorized purchases going through.

[TheFarseer]

6. I get that email

Almost daily

[dixiegrrrrl]

36. Well, the Apple call I got last week was a nice change from the Microsoft calls.

One of my favorite and very frequent calls is from some female voice with an India accent.
I have no idea what the product is, because it is on a very poor tape, with scratches and muffles, on low volume.
Call back number is unintelligible.

I wonder if these scam tapes are passed onto or sold to or copied by wanna be scammers who have no clue what it says....

[Demovictory9]

39. I get that apple one and one about my wells fargo account (I don't have either)

[TheFarseer]

5. My dad got one

They said they were from Direct TV ( or was it Dish Network?) and said they needed his PIN number so they could upgrade his software. He unfortunately gave it to them after they read him his address etc etc, but balked at giving them the next thing they wanted and hung up. I wonder if they are ordering a bunch of pay per view on his dime?

[catbyte]

7. It's gotten to the point that I just don't answer calls from numbers I don't recognize.

If it's important, they'll leave a voicemail. Too many scam calls.

[CurtEastPoint]

20. YEP! Don't know the #? Ignore it. They want me they leave a msg.

[not_the_one]

22. We NEVER answer our home phone (landline) unless we recognize the name or number. Phonemail.

And neither of us turn on our cell phone until we want to use it, then we turn it off. We have cell phones for emergencies, and in the rare case we need to call while not at home.

I have no family left, and my partner has to address his family. They can leave a message on the landline, he can return the call. They don't have my cell number.

I had a message left on my cell phone in July, I discovered it in December. I didn't return the call.

My life does NOT revolve around my cell phone.

[WyattKansas]

24. I screen all calls and my phone remains on silent, since they started spoofing numbers.

If no voicemail is left, I look up the number and 99.9% the time that number makes the block list. If someone is trying to reach me, then they will have to leave a voicemail and wait for me to call back. Seems like I always get called during a busy moment anyway.

Although that app that keeps the scammer busy with a 'busy fake crisis' you are having while on the phone sounds like a funny payback for them.

[mitch96]

26. Exactly. Same here... I let it go to voice mail that directs them to leave a number for a response.

Very few leave a number..
m

[leftyladyfrommo]

30. That's what I do, too. nt

[wryter2000]

48. I have my iPhone set

So it doesn’t even ring unless the number is one of my contacts.

[marie999]

8. Never call the number they give you. If it is supposed to be your bank,

call the bank using the number on your statement. If it is a credit card, only call the number on the back of your card.

[underpants]

9. Hit 2

I was told this by a coworker. It seems to work.

If you were to actually listen all the way through say a car warranty call aaaaalllll the way at the end almost all of them offer 2 as an option to stop calling you. If I get a scam call I answer and hit 2. It seems to diminish the number of calls I get.

[Totally Tunsie]

14. Hitting ANY key tells the caller they have "a live one", and

generally directs MORE calls to your number. It's best to 1) not answer strange calls to begin with, or 2) do nothing and hang up.

Once you hit a key as directed, it tells the spammer that the call hasn't been electronically blocked, and also that it's reached a person and not an answering machine. They will continue calling.

[winstars]

28. That is correct. A computer dials a hundred phone numbers at one time and waits for "hits"

Answering, hitting a key, anything besides letting your phone ring all tell the computer that your number is live..

The new trick is for them to use your area code AND the first 3 digits of your phone number, this comes up on your caller ID, so you think its a local call!


On a tip from a friend who worked for a collection agency, years ago I actually recorded the tri-tone "number disconnected" sounds of the phone company from a youtube video at the beginning of my voice mail. It plays and then after a few seconds my real message starts. The robot-caller machines, (I think they are called "predictive dialers&quot are supposed to automatically hang up when they hear those tones. Only a couple of people over 10 years have said they thought my phone was disconnected after hearing those tones. I still get scam calls, the Social Security people apparently really wanna to talk to me BY PHONE, but I think I get less than most...

Its actually easy for me because NO ONE EV!ER calls me, aside form several relatives.

EVERYONE texts me now. So any call not from a known number is always suspect...

LOL

[frazzled]

10. I don't answer my phone

Ever. Unless the caller ID displays someone I know. Both cell and land line.

So sorry scammers; and for the few real people (like doctor's offices) who might get missed: they'll leave a message. If a scammer leaves a message (rare), I block the number, as if that does any good; they've got a million of them.

And also sorry to the political fundraisers and phone bankers who I know are calling me right now. But I don't need you. I donate on my own, never over the phone, and I know when and where to vote and who I am voting for. (And that is why I no longer volunteer to phone bank: I think most people are like me, and that has been confirmed the last times I phone banked for a candidate: you're lucky if you get one or two pickups out of 100.)

[brush]

13. I phone bank and get many responses. You might reconsider phone banking.

A three hour shift to help Dems is not that much of a sacrifice. trump needs to be kicked out decisively.

[frazzled]

44. My experience has differed

I phone banked regularly for 20 years (and canvassed door to door as well, both locally and out of state). But the last several times it felt like a waste of time and energy. And I am not alone. I’ve talked to people from several other states who also have given up on it. People are increasingly not answering their phones to unrecognized numbers because of scams (in the old days you phone banked from campaign offices, so if someone had caller ID, they at least knew it was the campaign calling, not some individual calling from their own cell phone). And since you are now told not to leave a message, what is the point of dialing for three hours with little to show for it?

Finally, it used to be that you received fairly extensive training to phone bank, and paid staffers would roam the room to monitor and make sure that people were following the protocols. Today, with everyone calling from home, that is not possible ... I remember phone banking for Kerry in 2004 in a room full of unmonitored callers and was shocked at what some of them were saying/doing. It could have been harmful to the campaign.

[ProfessorGAC]

42. Just Got One

A call about my SocSec number potentially being used fraudulently.
The caller ID just said the name of the town, and a very local number.
There is no Social Security office here.. The nearest office is 25 miles north and nobody(!) in that city has our 3 digit exchange. I lived in that city until I was 22!
I just started laughing then hung up.

[AZ8theist]

11. Yesterday mine was a $700 purchase on Amazon.

just hang up.
Or, since its a land line, I let the machine answer. That stops them dead in their tracks.

[Buns_of_Fire]

18. That's what one of mine was about. Freaked me out at first.

It was real official-looking, too. Until I checked my "orders" page...

[AZ8theist]

35. Yeah, its bullshit...

I got a laugh when the recording said "The charge was on your plastic card". "PLASTIC CARD"!!!! Way too funny!!

[Buns_of_Fire]

12. I got a pair of similar emails around the beginning of August.

And they even conveniently gave me a link to tap on if I disputed the charge.

Joke's on them. I don't have that much overhead left on my credit card right now. I ignored it (but, just in case, I checked my account online for a week or so just to see if anything had been posted).

[Javaman]

15. From time to time I like fucking with them.

I found one trick that works like a charm but you have to be willing to call the number they give.

You state that this phone call is being recorded and traced to its origin.

I usually get hang up in after I say it’s being recorded. Rarely do I ever finish the rest. And if I do then they hang up

😁

[brush]

17. Good one. I might try that.

[wryter2000]

49. I returned a call from the "IRS" one time

I was so pissed. That one terrifies people new to the US, who don’t know the system.

Someone in India answered, and I gave him a piece of my mind and asked him “Does your mother know what you’re doing?” Bastards.

[Midnight Writer]

16. Got one from "The Census Bureau" advising me I had left my Social Security number off my form.

What upset me most is this guy had my name, address, and unlisted phone number.

[Sneederbunk]

19. Whatever happened to the Do Not Call List?

[csziggy]

31. The legitimate merchants pay attention to the Do Not Call List

Scammers do not. A company you have a relationship to, such as your credit card company, is allowed to call you. That is why the scammers pretend they are calling about your account - to fool you into thinking they are your credit company or bank.

Of course, charities, surveys, and political organizations are exempt and can call any time.

ETA - Right as I was posting this message I got a call from some Medicare scam. They wanted to know if I had pain in my back or knees. My answer to all their questions was "No." The guy was very disappointed that he couldn't get me to say something was hurting me and hung up.

[dixiegrrrrl]

40. Next time tell them you have a big orange pain in your ass.

Trump!

[llashram]

21. all the time

I just hang up. I just never talk or listen long.

[rzemanfl]

23. Mine were charges to my Amazon account. n/t

[nancy1942]

25. Yes; yesterday.

Supposedly Amazon is charging my credit card almost $300 for something I didn't order. If it was not the case I needed to call a certain number to cancel the transaction. I hung up. Needless to say I didn't call them back.

[NCjack]

33. I got a call from a man ("neighbor") who had package from Amazon that was addressed to me.

He was happy to bring it to me if I would valid that I'm in fact the addressee. I told him that it was his lucky day -- he was welcome to keep the package. I would file a claim with Amazon and the carrier. He hung up. It was just another scam for the day.

[Vinca]

27. I've gotten a couple over the past 2 weeks. They claim to be Amazon.

The first time I'd actually just bought something from Amazon that morning, so I checked my account on the site and my credit card, then googled and discovered it is, in fact, another BS scheme.

[Grammy23]

29. One day this week We got a call on the house phone.

Said they weRe calling from Amazon and that we had an order for an iPhone. We could call their convenient number if we needed to verify the order or cancel.

I went to my Amazon account to check my orders. No iPhone order. Just as I thought.

They’ll be waiting a long time to hear from me, I guess.

[catbyte]

32. LOL. I just made the mistake of answering a call from my local area code that I thought was a return

call from a business I left a voicemail at. I answered it and was immediately assaulted by a robot babbling in Chinese. WTF?!?

From now on, I guess I'll just play phone tag.

[wryter2000]

50. I get them in Chinese a lot

That’s really not going to work.

[catbyte]

52. Seriously, what's the point? 😂

[yonder]

34. Yes, I got our first two days ago. I always let it go to the anwering machine.

It said about the same thing as yours except it was a $77 charge for a pair of shoes ordered from Amazon.

Then an hour later I get a spoof call from a number with my wife's unique employer prefix so I picked it up. Instantly I realized my mistake when the accented voice said "I'm so and so from CenturyLink, do you have CenturyLink?" I go: "If you really are from there and not a telemarketer, then you would know if I do or not, right?" The logic failed him as he asks again "Do you have CenturyLink?" Again. in a louder and shoutier voice I ask "You tell me, do I or don't I". Again, same question and again but louder yet, I asked "What's my account number?". Then a click and hangup.

Occasionally, I'll get tricked and pick up with the energy to string them on, but couldn't muster it up for that one. Now I'm wondering if they have me marked somehow because I picked up for the unique prefix number.

[crimycarny]

43. Beware of PayPal invoice scam

I got an email from the legit “[e-mail]” that claimed to be an invoice from the “Department of Motor Vehicles” for $16. I logged into my PayPal account and, sure enough, there was an invoice sent to my account for $16. Options were to pay or to cancel. I called PayPal and asked for more info. Apparently anyone with a PayPal account can send an unsolicited invoice to another PayPal account. That’s pretty scary. I hit cancel and PayPal was able to disable the PayPal account that sent me the invoice.

What bothers me is that it’s usually the elderly who fall victim to these scams. The people who fleece the most vulnerable hold a special place in h*ll as far as I’m concerned.

[Akacia]

45. Got several calls from someone claiming that there is suspicious activity on my ICLOUD account.

Very interesting since I do not have one. I HATE SCAMMERS!!!!

[Ms. Toad]

47. I've gotten essentially that call from my credit card company,.

I read them the riot act about it because it a pretty standard phishing scam.

They call, leave a message about a specific charge that got flagged, inform me there is a hold on my credit card, then ask me to call them back to clear the hold. When I call back, I get a pretty intrusive set of questions to confirm that I am really the account holder (things they have found in credit reports about me (mortgage information, for example) before they will let me speak with a person.

I know it's real because I called the number on the back of my card, rather than the number left on my voice mail.

But had I not done that - I would have beeen absolutely sure it was a phishing call.