Posted on 12/12/2008 11:50:32 AM PST by Retired Chemist
I just received a call from a very pushy woman who asked me if I was aware of all the free programs for seniors that will be available under the Obama Administration. I tried to find out who she represented and she would not answer. She was insistent that I make an appointment for someone to verify whether I am eligible for any of these programs. I finally hung up on her.
Maybe you just spoke to Hillary Clinton herself?
Caller ID number?
Would be interesting to check...
In any case yes. Scam.
Was her name Michelle?
Were they going to wire you some money from a Kenyan bank?
AARP? They are, after all, another auxilliary to the DNC.
Michelle Obama?
Probably.
We got a prerecorded message call yesterday from a collection agency that gave a phone number for us to call them back. No collection agency name, no name of the company they were supposedly collecting for.
Did not even try to call them back as we have no overdue bills. Figure it is some sort of scam.
The supposed economy problems are bringing them out of the woodwork.
API?
Your house will quickly fill up with blood pressure monitors, hospital beds, commodes, scooters, etc. Just hang up.
Make repeated appointments at another location than your home and don’t show up.
I “wired money” to 5 different western union locations around Toronto once, and got exasperated emails as to why I would “waste his time” sending him somewhere to pick up the money. He finally threatened my life after I laughed at him and asked him how long would it take him to realize I was mocking him, and told him I was keeping his emails for 419 eaters.com.
There are a lot of websites that detail phone calling scams. Just type the number into Google (or, preferably another search engine) and these sites should pop up if this is a scam.
The collection agency can't give any of that information, including their own name -- because that would sully the reputation of the person they are attempting to reach.
Did not even try to call them back as we have no overdue bills. Figure it is some sort of scam.
It might be. But another possibility is that a bill didn't reach you because of an error in your address. I've had that happen to me -- I thought the medical insurance took care of it, until a year later the post office finally figured out how to deliver the collection agency's notice.
If you have any kind of caller ID just type in the # and you’ll likely find the source.
You did right by hanging up on them. Had you not done so, they would have started asking you for personal information to get your programs going. The next thing you know, your identity has been stolen. It doesn’t take much personal information for them to be able to do so. I’ve handled several identity thefts at my credit bureaus and it’s something you never want to go through. It’s truly a living nightmare for the people who are the victims. It takes a very long time to get it straightened out and even then, the damage to your credit can be irreversible. Never give anyone personal information over the phone or on line. IF they are legit, they already have that information, and you can verify it back to them.
Link to Medical equipment scam warning.
http://www.doylestownpa.org/Download/Senior%20Downloads/September%202008%20Fraud%20Alert.pdf
Last week alone I got 3 calls that I am sure were scams. Watch out for the survey types, never give out any information. Especially the ones that will send you something and then ask for a donation. Best policy is just thank them for the call and hang up. Don’t ever fall for a free service of some kind and ask for your address for the inspection.
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