My family members don’t like being laughed at so they would never call me asking for money.
Thank you.
My wife’s aunt lost several hundreds of thousands of dollars to a Jamaican Lottery Scam. She died penniless.
The local Panama City, FL TV station mentioned a scam which is going around this area.
A supposed deputy calls and says you have been fined for not showing up for jury duty. He then tells you to put the amount on a Wal-Mart card and mail it to some address.
I can’t see anyone falling for that one but some must.
This happened to my elderly mother. They claimed my nephew (13 at the time) was in a Spanish prison. My poor mother was really distraught. She gave them my brother’s phone number. They actually called my brother. Same scenario as you experienced...call from Montreal etc. We were also quite shocked by the level of information they had.
Bear in mind with Ancestry.com and other tools a stranger can figure out your family tree.
Got a desperate email from my Dr who was supposedly in Spain & his wallet & ID had been stolen. Very real looking and written in a way it sounded like him. Called the office as a precautionary move & found his email accct had been hacked.
Does your family member have a facebook page? I can see them getting information from that.
There is a similar e-mail scam in which someone hijacks someone’s e-mail list, then sends a plea for money to everyone on the list by claiming they are in a foreign country in which all their credit cards have been stolen and they have no way to get home unless you send cash now!
My calls are White listed.
I dunno you, I don’t answer.
Thanks for posting this. Our phone has been ringing off the hook lately from political calls ... mostly from 202 area code (DC). Lately a lot of ‘other’ type calls are coming thru as well. We were on the do-not-call list but the wheels seem to have come off that operation. We just don’t answer the phone anymore unless the number or name of someone we know pops up on the phone screen. If it’s important they can leave a message. It is irritating.
Some people are naive and unsuspecting and can fall prey to this kind of crime. Thanks for posting.
I understand and can help.
Please send me your account number and pin. Also today only, carbon credits, 1/2 price. No checks. Cash only.
I remember a phone call I got from “Mr. Brown” back when my daughter was 16 or 17. “Mr. Brown” was calling to tell me my daughter was staying overnight with “Suzie” and they (he and Mrs. Brown) would be home all night.
It was a kid, one of her male friends and the whole bunch of them were concocting a fictitious sleep over. I laughed my butt off right back at him and just sat there and waited for the whole thing to break down. I ended the call telling “Mr. Brown” to make sure he tells Jennifer to get her ass back home by curfew or there would be hell to pay.
I'm waiting for one of these calls about one of my “relatives”....just waiting patiently
Thanks for the info. Just one other bit of advice, a year ago, I got an odd call from a number i did not recognize. I used a search engine to look it up. One of the top items listed included a headline detailing something about a scam. I clicked on the link and got hit by a virus. Apparently, this is one way to draw people to sites, and infect their computers.
just make sure you waste as much of their time as possible
I love to make these guys riled up until they start cursing me (real curses! not just swear words) I even started mumbling some curses of my own to one guy and he screamed and hung up
This is an old ruse. The calls from Canada are typical. The ones that tried it on me claimed to be in Vancouver, so they do get around. Cops knew about it. Cuidado’
True story.
Once I got a scam call. They left me a voice mail. I waited until they called again and I recognized the number.
I answered the phone in a loud authoritative voice:
“Blair County Sheriffs office, Fraud Division, who is this?! This number has been linked to illegal telecommunication activity. Do not hang up or you will be impeding a law enforcement investigation and committing the crime of Obstruction of Justice! Who and where are you?!”
I kept them on the line for a good thirty seconds while they stammered and mumbled. Then they hung up. Never heard from them again. It was fun.
Same thing happened to my elderly mom. She’s still very sharp. What tipped her off is they’grandchild’ didn’t call her by her nickname. She led the caller on. Then reported it to the BBB and the FBI.