New Scam going around

[brush]

Last edited Fri Aug 16, 2013, 12:38 PM - Edit history (1)

I got a call a few weeks ago on my cell from someone who said he was from the DEA and wanted to ask me a few questions. The first one was was I aware that it was illegal to order drugs online from foreign countries?

I told him no. He continued and said his records showed that I had ordered drugs back in 2003 and I was in serious trouble as the Dominican Republic wanted prosecutions.

I said, "well who knew it was illegal (I did order some supplements), and how is it possible that web sites allowed these orders if it's illegal?"

He said no matter if they exist or not I'd broken the law and I would be prosecuted.

I was really alarmed and asked him to, "wait a minute, slow down, you can't be serious?"

It was all said in a very fast, stern and threatening tone that this was no joke and agents would be on my doorstep the next morning if I didn't pay a $1400 fine.

That's when I started to smell something fishy so I asked him, "how do I know if you are really who you say you are? And what's my address if I'm going to be arrested in the morning?"

He got really angry, said I was in big trouble and just wait and see. Then he hung up.

I kind of thought then it was a scam but I was scared and not completely sure so I called him back from the number on my cell to see if I could maybe protest my innocence. The call was from the D.C. area code, and the person that answered said he was Agent so-and-so and he would connect me with the agent that had called me.

The first guy got back on the phone and continued with the arrest threats unless I made arrangements to pay up. I then told him that I was going to call my lawyer and my lawyer would get back to him.

He quickly got off the phone after that but I did call my lawyer just in case. I didn't get through to him but the receptionist asked what was the call about so I described the scenario and as I was explaining to her what happened I realized that it had to be a high-pressured, scare-tactic scam.

She agreed that it didn't sound quite right and I should forget about it. I breathed a huge sigh or relief because to be confronted with that kind of threat out of the blue was extremely unnerving.

To make a long story short, there were no agents on my doorstep the next morning and I wasn't arrested.

The reason I'm posting this today is I got a similar call today from a different caller who began the same spiel. I stopped him before he got very far and told him, "I've got to stop you right now because I've gotten a call like this before from another scammer, so goodbye."

So if anyone gets an official-sounding call like this where you're threatened with jail and pressured to pay money because of an online drug purchase, it's a scam.

[sakabatou]

1. Thank goodness I have caller ID

Any number that I don't know, I let voicemail pick it up.

[DeSwiss]

2. If he calls back.....

...ask him to describe his badge and to give his number for verification. And since you know what they look like, you'll know if he's lying.

- You know, have fun with it and see where it goes....

K&R

[Egnever]

4. hah

that was great.

[salin]

7. hilarious

[brush]

22. Jay Larsen rocks!

Thanks for the video, DeSwiss.

[DeSwiss]

35. De nada.

[BainsBane]

3. The feds don't call to tell you they are going to arrest you in the morning

I simply don't answer the phone if I don't recognize the number. If it's important, they'll leave a message.

[Whiskeytide]

15. It would be nice if they were that courteous...

... but, uhhh no, they don't typically call.

[1awake]

34. The feds nor any other law enforcement agency will be calling you with a threat like this lol.

Reminds me of a live version of the FBI computer virus scams all over the net.

[Half-Century Man]

5. Call the police and have them check with the NSA and get the meta data from the call...

...the DC police can arrest the guys and use the taps from the call to prosecute. Interstate extortion is FBI territory.


As long as we're getting fucked over, might as well use it. No free sex.

[brush]

23. Yeah right!

Might as well use this NSA meta data info collection.

But no free sex?

WHHHHHYYYYY!

[Half-Century Man]

33. We are getting fucked against our will

and can't stop it, so we work it. No free sex for the overlords.

[B Calm]

6. As soon as I hear they need my money, I know it's a scam.

[PowerToThePeople]

8. how is it possible that web sites allowed these orders if it's illegal?

The Web is world wide. You can get anything you want, legal or illegal on it somewhere. But, this was obv scam from the get go. I would have hung up and put them on call-block.

[hobbit709]

9. I would have figured scam as soon as they said who they claimed to be.

The REAL DEA would have come through your door at 4 AM with a SWAT team.

[brush]

27. You're right

When you're in the moment though it's kinda scary.

[mockmonkey]

29. No they wouldn't

They would have come through your neighbors door at 4 AM because they never get the address right.

[Th1onein]

36. DUzy!

[ret5hd]

10. what fun you COULD have had:

arrange for the payoff and get a little Medieval on their ass...



I know, I know...I just rewatched it last night and it was on top of my mind.
Still, I really really hope they call me.

[ConcernedCanuk]

11. You do not HAVE to talk to anyone, not even the cops.

.
.
.

When I take a phone call from a number I do not know,and they ask

"Are you Mr . xxxx . . ?" I ask back, "Who is asking?"

If I do not like their answer, I just hang up

THEN

I Google the phone number to find out.

CC

[tridim]

13. Yep, when they ask if you are so-and-so, never verify that you are.

Officially matching a name to a number is gold for those fuckers.

[brush]

24. Good tactic

I'll use the "who's asking" line from now on.

[enough]

12. In the past few days I've been seeing a flood of e-mails with threatening legalistic language.

With buzzwords like SERIOUS PENALTIES, FEDERAL PROSECUTION, NEGATIVE EVENT FROM YOUR PAST,
etc. etc. These are obvious scams and don't do anything but make me pissed off, but I worry about the effect it may have on some people. I know my elderly parents would have been terribly worried about receiving something like this, and might have given out information they shouldn't have. At the least it would have ruined their sleep.

I think this stuff is capitalizing on the general anxiety caused by knowing that everything you do is being monitored and recorded.

[leftyladyfrommo]

19. I just got an e-mail like that, too.

I just delete them.

[RebelOne]

14. Good to hear about this.

I order my blood pressure pills from a pharmacy in Canada. You can buy almost any pills there without a prescription.

If I get a call from a scamster like this, I will know what I am dealing with. If I hadn't known about this in advance I might have been frightened.

[Nictuku]

16. What disturbs me the most

What disturbs me the most about this is .... how did the scammers know that you purchased anything online? Where did they get that information? What other information do they have (your credit card?) Did someone hack the NSA, or did the NSA sell the information to the scammers?

[Dash87]

17. It's cold calling. They have no clue.

Since a lot of people order stuff online, though, they play the numbers game. People are also more likely to believe an "official" sounding person no matter how stupid what they're saying is, so many will believe that they did order pills but just forgot.

If the scammer has the exact specifics of a real order, it is probably either stolen data or a shady company selling customer information. You can just steal a lot of data off of servers if you know how, especially from small companies that are too stupid to secure their systems.

[brush]

25. Good question

I figured there are records of everything you do online somewhere (even deleting porn sites from your history doesn't do any good — not that I would know anything about that). They get a hold of the info someway, probably whoever has the info this sells it, just as mailing lists are sold.

[kentauros]

18. While you handled them well enough,

remember that law-enforcement agencies only use a few methods of letting you know you've broken a law. One, they show up at your door, unannounced, with a warrant in hand, or Two, they storm your home, maybe with a warrant, and arrest you on the spot. Calling you beforehand would be stupid on their part, as that would tip you off that you are in trouble and best be getting out of town, thwarting their attempts at arresting you.

Next time, if you are able, start recording the call, and only tell them that after you've recorded a few damning minutes' worth, and to whom you're then going send it

[brush]

20. Thanks, kentauros.

I'll use your advice in the future. When you're in the moment it can get scary with the threats but once you get a moment to think you realize it's probably a scam. But you do want to be sure.

[kentauros]

21. Oh yeah, I understand.

I guess the thing is to always "question authority" even if it sounds legitimate. As it's over the phone, it's less intimidating to question their credentials than it would be in person.

Now that you have this experience, you can be braver

[elleng]

26. Yea, tell them to put it in writing!

[snooper2]

28. What's the phone number?

[leveymg]

30. Thanks. I've always wanted to tell a DEA agent to f-ck off. Now, I can't wait for the call.

Last edited Fri Aug 16, 2013, 01:39 PM - Edit history (1)

[clarice]

31. Thanks for the heads up.....

With everything that's going on, I don't blame you for being scared.

[Lex]

32. That happened to me too and I immediately Googled it and it was clear

that it is a scam, but a lot of people have evidently fallen for it without checking.