Be careful answering the phone

[Chubbs103]

The wife woke me up this morning while on the phone with "our bank" about possible fraudulent charges on my wife's debit card. He provided the last 4 of her card unsolicited.

Like most people, we have been victims of credit card fraud here and there, so this call wasn't necessarily surprising.

The caller ID on the phone matched the 800 # on the back of our debit cards (that was a neat trick).

Everything seemed legit until the person on the other end of the line asked for our on-line sign-in information so he could begin the process of updating our accounts against further attack.

Asking for that information caused me to raise my BS flag. I told him to freeze everything on our accounts and I would take care of it at our local branch.

Local branch verified it was a scam and we have legitimately hardened the access to our accounts.

The caller ID matching the 800# on the debit card really made the call seem more legit.

Be careful out there.

 

[THE PILGRIM]

It's not just phone calls, which I tend not to answer.
Just this week - according to Emails, I've had 2 serious problems with my Amazon account and one with my Netflix.
I'm under siege!
Do you Guys all know to check the full address of the sender?
And never answer one of these emails or punch that button on the phone.

 

[outta_ammo]

Spoofing the Caller ID is common practice for these guys. My solution is; if I don't KNOW who the caller is, I don't answer it. Period. If it was ligit, they can leave a voice mail.

There are apps for smart phones that warn you if it thinks the call is Spam.

 

[Longcarbine]

Seems I have a legal issue with my social security account, whatever Rahj.

 

[llowry61]

No Bank, CC Co., Brokerage firm etc will ever ask for credentials to access an account. You clearly were educated and made the right call.

When in doubt thank the callers hang up and call the financial institution at their published number.

I have worked in the Financial industry for 30 years and these scammers get more sophisticated every day !

They fool a lot of people.

Stay safe out there.

 

[df06]

I get several calls a day that I don't answer. If it's not in my directory, it goes to voice mail. Rarely do they leave a voice mail. So it must not have been important to both of us.

 

[Nevada Ed]

In order for $$ to be taken form our bank......

they need my and my wife's password & info.

It takes a little longer but makes our $$ pretty safe.
If over $300 we need to be inperson with ID's.

 

[ContinentalOp]

I'd say you did a good job with that call.

I don't answer the phone unless I recognize the number. If it's important, they'll leave a message. If the message sounds important, I go straight to the source, not whatever contact info is left in the message in case it's a scammer.

Same for emails. As was said above, hover your cursor over the sender to get the full address. You can also click on the "More Info" in the header to get the full address. Never click on links in the body or open attachments. They'll either use that to get your info or install bots/viruses on your computer to get your info or hijack your computer for ransom (ransomware).

I believe some of the cell phone service providers offer a service that's supposed to help screen out spam/scam calls, but I can't recall the details of how that works.

Spoofing numbers is not that difficult and is pretty common with scammers. There are online services that will make caller IDs think a different number is calling. Is Google Voice still around? You can set up an online phone number that gets forwarded to your real number. I knew a teacher who used it so students could get in touch with her by phone/text, then she deletes it at the end of the semester and sets up another number for the following semester.

 

[hoosierone]

We get at least five scam calls daily. A real nuisance, especially when you're waiting for a legitimate call.

 

[Donn]

Caller ID is my friend. If I don't recognize the name/number, (and sometimes when I do), I don't answer. If it's important, they'll leave a message. If I think it's important, I'll return their call.

 

[Memphis]

i've gotten to where I don't even block numbers on unknown calls since they'll just spoof another number. I do however have my phone set up where it goes straight to voice mail if the caller isn't in my "contact" list. It has been just a little inconvenient when a legit caller is trying to reach me for the first time. But they usually DO leave a VM and I just call them back (and then enter them in my "contact" list.

Roger

 

[GypsmJim]

I get a lot of calls as well. If I'm busy I don't answer, but if I'm not sometimes I like to play with them.

Yesterday I got a call and it was a girl. She went thru the whole spiel and then I asked her if she was wearing underwear. She said "Oh My" and hung up on me.

They should learn not to call an old fart.

 

[lkabug]

I get scam calls often. I also don't answer the phone if I don't know who's calling. Did you know you can get 50% off your Directv bill? All you have to do is get 4 Visa gift cards (to show your good faith) and call the Directv number they give you with the numbers of the cards. They will credit the 50% and the cost of the gift cards on your next bill. Really! That what she said.

 

[sheepdawg]

Got an email from PayPal with an invoice for a new Sig 365. $799.00 to boot. Duh!

Forwarded it to Paypal's phishing address.

 

[steelslaver]

I got a call about a $980 phone being charged to my Amazon account. Having no Amazon account and a since of humor I hit 1 and spoke to an agent. When I asked if there was anyway I could double the order and get 2 phones I lost the call.
The other day I was was really close to getting an extended warranty on a 1997 Ford Truck, but couldn't find my darn credit card. Maybe next time.

 

[Rustyt1953]

I haven't answered an unidentified call in at least a decade.

Voice mail is a wonderful thing.

 

[delcrossv]

I haven't answered a call in at least a decade.

Voice mail is a wonderful thing.

Fixed it for you.

 

[rubiranch]

I'm guessing that they don't have my phone number.

I can't remember the last time someone tried to scam me.

Maybe they already have access to my bank account and realize I'm not worth the trouble. (not sure if I should laugh or cry LOL)

 

[rubiranch]

Fixed it for you.

 

[The Last Standing Knight]

Another thing these scammers are doing is starting to threaten people.

I've had several the past few years tell me they had friends that would kill me and my family if I didn't turn over my bank account or credit card information.

My concern is if they do this to me, what happens when they do it to an elderly or other individual who believes them.

(Oh, another point of interest. I have also found out that if you play games with these guys, they will "swat you". It hasn't happened to me, but I have been advised that this is another trick they do now).

They're getting more sophisticated....and I think more organized. Something to be concerned about in the long term.