Posted on 02/10/2014 12:08:02 PM PST by Smokin' Joe
Mrs. Joe got a call on her cell phone purporting to be from the "American Publisher's Clearing House", informing her she had won $385,000.00 and a new Mercedes. The guy on the other end, who identified himself as "Mike Williams" had a bit of an accent, and having a better ear for such, she handed me the phone after telling the fellow he should talk to her husband.
When I answered, he laid out a convoluted plan to retrieve the winnings, complete with a confirmation number and check number, and told me to call their 866 number to punch in the confirmation and check number and then call right back on an 876-264-xxxx number.
Hmmm.
My little alerts were going off about then, and there were a host of reasons, but the very first thing which put me on guard was the referral to the legitimate marketing organization "Publisher's Clearing House" as American Publisher's Clearing house.
An American would not put the "American" in front, but someone who would be counting on the unwary confusing the two would (because with "American" in front, it isn't the one Ed McMahon used to stump for and could legally claim not to be).
Who but a scammer?
I delayed, because the caller insisted I do things right away, and because something else came up which involved real income, albeit less than $385,000.
The original caller called back, just shy of pushy, almost excited, to get us to follow through.
In the meantime a granddaughter's boyfriend had whipped out his smartphone and was doing a reverse look-up on the phone number, with a Jamaican Area Code, and there were hosts of references to the scam.
We didn't call, needless to say, at least not the number they had given us, but the State Attorney General's Office instead, who confirmed the scam, ongoing now for about a year, recurring every couple of months, along with another one where the caller pretends to be an older grandchild calling for money (please,please,please don't let mom and dad know) and stranded out of town.
Two hours passed, then my cell phone rang (my wife's number and mine are sequential).
It was Mike...yep, that Mike, calling to let me know I'd won...
"How's the weather in Jamaica, Mike?"
I hate thieves, and the ones offshore can't be prosecuted because they are in a foreign country.
There were other tell-tales in the conversation, which I won't print here (why help them refine their craft?), but which a life-long American would likely pick up on as unusual. Whether or not you hear them, a good serving of skepticism goes a long way...
Never call back or call off a caller-id for a non-US area code. You could get hosed for exorbitant charges.
I look forward to their next call. Who wants some free stuff? LOL
The winning ticket would be to sic one robo-caller onto another. Any idea how to do this? We get repeated calls from the RNC. Now wouldn’t it be nice to feed their numbers to another telemarketer? Let them figure it out!!
This one happened to my parents a year or two ago while one of their grandchildren was living overseas. Almost gave my mother a heart attack but luckily they kept their wits about them and didn't get scammed.
I could cheerfully shoot the people who pull this crap.
Seven years?!?! Wow, it must pay off for them to be that persistant.
We don’t answer if we don’t know the number on the ID, but someone calls about twice a month and leaves a message that sounds as if it’s been cut off midway. So the message starts “... as it relates to the financial stimulus. Again, this is your last opportunity. Please call blah blah blah.” I can only assume the part that’s “cut off” is supposed to make you so curious that you’ll call. Fat chance, idiots!
That was my first concern.
Rather than push buttons, I always look up unfamiliar area codes to see where the call came from and even do reverse look ups on the number.
My granddaughter's boyfriend was hot on their trail by the time I had concluded the call (he hates thieves, too--fine young man).
If the caller called me, I don't give out ANY financial information, but request a call back number or ask them how I can get a hold of the person through their normal number (like the one on the back of the credit card) without saying the number.
I finally got fed up with scammers and started fighting back by wasting their time:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxXxAMGRZto
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tbtp3J3FUps
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