Posted on 03/09/2024 9:31:27 PM PST by nickcarraway
Good on Fox8 for highlighting these scams. Too many people are completely unaware of them, and the government doesn’t bother to inform anyone.
Anyway, the United States has the technology to put a man on the Moon. But evidently we are not able to cyber-attack these scammers in India, Pakistan, etc. So the scammers are free to steal from vulnerable citizens, over and over again.
At work years ago someone cold called my direct office line. Few had that number that would ring directly to my desk without going through the switchboard. She was talking about some crime I supposedly committed. It was comical. She was a terribly bad scammer. I could hear her TV set in the background. She was sniffling like she was on cocaine or heroin or something. She said there was “a police car” down the street and if I didn’t pay the “fine” right then and there with my credit card she would radio the car to come arrest me. It was laughable. I should have mocked her but instead I just said “ok, send the cops” and hung up.
Maybe the newer scams are more sophisticated.
My baseline assumption anymore is that everything is a scam.
Every phone call
Every text message
Every email
Every advertisement
Everything
Romance has always been a consumer scam. Oldest trick in the book.
> Maybe the newer scams are more sophisticated. <
They are. A friend of mine got a text message from his boss. His boss was at a conference, and couldn’t get away to buy a last-minute birthday gift for his sick wife.
Could my friend help? Please buy a $100 Target gift card, then text the redemption code to the wife’s cell phone number. Thanks much!
Except that it wasn’t his boss. And there was no wife. And the “wife’s” cell phone number was actually the scammer’s own cell phone number.
My friend came an inch away from following those directions. Only at the last minute did he pull back, and question what was really going on.
And everything in the news is a lie
I keep getting these calls representing my bank. They do, what I think is an identity check, by asking the last four numbers of my Social Security and the month and year of my birthday. Only, I give false numbers and that connects me with a Philippine scammer. I ask him his name and with that, he tell me his name. I tell him his name is invalid. He goes crazy. I tell him he has contacted me, who is the human resources officer for the central California region. On my computer I have access to all the employees for our bank. When I tell him he is engaged in bank fraud and I am reporting him, he freaks and hangs up.
#1 red flag IMHO, the email does not use your name, only something like “client”. If your name is not addressed it is a scam.
Don't believe that for a second! I just did a quick search for "Russian Bride" and found these lovelies are available and eager to wed American guys...
I got an email today from my sister with the subject line: “I wanted you to see this site”
That was a HUGE red flag. I texted her that her email account was hacked and she needed to contact everybody and tell them mails like that were not from her.
I later opened the email and found it was a legit mail. She had found an article she thought I’d like and forwarded it from her phone. The text app apparently put that horrible, spammy / scammy subject on her email. So the anxiety was for no reason.
I then did a test and sent the article via email from my browser on my computer. The Apple “Mail” program put the title of the article as the subject line — much better.
Even false alarms like this a a huge PITA.
Same here. And I don’t answer them. They just get deleted.
It’s a safe place to start.
Trust no one. Presume all they are interested in is your money.
Sure they are.......
Wow! Double tease! These 10 scams AND the red flags!
I had a strange call last week that snuck through Robokiller..
A strange accent that was hard to understand (not a red-dot) was asking me to do a survey on my recently purchased Mercedes something or other.. I have never owned one.
I hung up on him and he called right back.
I told him that he is a scammer and I wouldn’t waste my time with him and hung up.
He never called back.
Shanell calling???
I don’t know any groids!
Those scams pale to these two much bigger scams:
US Dollar (it’s not money)
FED/IRS/1040-taxes (the IRS is a collection agency, what it collects is NOT used for government programs - Grace Commission)
Every phone call
Every text message
Every email
Every advertisement
Everything
Not just online, 90% a scam or all lies, in-person face-to-face conversations. I always wait before taking action because Truth always eventually leaks through then destroys their setup.
I absolutely hate being forced into being this sinical. I feel like I'm on the wrong planet.
I am happy to say yesterday was the fourth time I won the Readers Digest grand prize. Person on phone told me he was in the area and is ready to deliver my grand prize. Just needs to “personal” information to verify I am who I am. I told him if he was in the area we should meet so I can give him the information personally.
Good security software for your computer, prescreen calls before you answer and hang up on anyone with a foreign accent.
The most simple answer is don’t be stupid.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.