I was snookered!

[dougtrr2]

As others have posted, NEVER use the words "YES" or "OKAY" or "RIGHT" or "CORRECT" or any other 'affirmative response' to any unknown entity. Once recorded, it is hard to take back.

This happened to me years ago. The wife answered a call from someone posing as At&T with a very convincing line about our bill status. Had to do with by answering the questions we could continue to receive one bill instead of one for local service and one for long distance service.

We didn't realize our service was changed until we got a letter from AT&T say they were so sorry to lose us as a customer and if we came back we would get an $80 dollar credit. Our service had been "slammed" (changed to a different carrier). When I called the company that we were switched to, they were able to play back a recording of my wife's voice spliced into "And you agree to have your phone service switched to xyz company" Yes.

The practice is illegal, obviously, and we called AT&T to get it fixed. At the time, if that situation happened the other company was required to switch us back for free, and could only charge us what the bill would have been under AT&T. It took some time on the phone to get it all straightened out and not only was I not out any money, I got the $80 dollar credit for switching back.

Just wanted to submit this. So many of the things reported happen to a friend of a friend. This is an actual instance of it happening to me.

Doug in SW IA

 

[dreamcatcvherdb]

Not to sound rude but reading though these comments, most of you sound like older-ish fellas. A lot of you are doing exactly what I tell my grandparents to stop doing....just stop answering the phone. I never answer the phone if the caller's # isn't already in my contacts list. My voicemail gives specific instructions "...I will not answer if I do not recognize your number but if you leave a voicemail, I will call you back..." Then, if they leave a pre-recorded message (indicating that they are a solicitor or scammer) I just block the number. Done! Doing this has significantly decreased the quantity of scam/sales calls I receive.

From what I have determined, if you answer----even if you answer just to hang up but especially if you answer and say ANYTHING---your number (and possibly name) gets added to a database which is bought and sold by scammers and solicitors. Rarely do they expect you will buy anything from them. They don't really care because the real value is in knowing that your number is active and that you personally answer. Blocking the caller's number decreases the value of your phone number and could get you off the call lists.

Online credit card usage is a bit trickier but the best advice is to only give out credit card information to REPUTABLE companies. Ask yourself, "is this a company that I believe invests heavily in internet security?" Big companies like Amazon, Etsy, Ebay, etc. do invest very heavy. Unfortunately, smaller sites like mom-and-pop shops do not and should be avoided. Using a go-between company like PayPal or ApplePay (etc) is an even better option because just like your bank and credit card company, their main job is to transfer money securely.

Also, do not fill out sweepstakes entries or online quizzes. Remember that anything "FREE" on the internet probably isn't truly free. More than likely, you are paying with your information. Data is a commodity and you are often the source of the data if not the product itself (such as with call lists). Most data brokers are just selling to harmless ad agencies. But, some data brokers specialize in selling to scammers and even hackers. You think that quiz you just took "Which marvel character are you" is harmless? Not when you just told them your favorite color, your favorite snack and your top hobby....all possible clues to deciphering your passwords or bypassing your password by answering a question. Remember too, once 'they' get your name and number, it isn't difficult to figure out your mother's maiden name and the street you grew up on.

Be smart. Be safe. Be happy!

 

[TugHillDog]

My wife says I am wasting time, but if I get ANY marketer call, I try to spam them back. One time a credit card company called for my wife and I played like an murder investigation was ongoing with her as the victim. Told the caller to stay on the line while we traced the call, asked him how long he knew the deceased and the nature of their relationship. Questioned him as to how he had her personal number and if they had ever been romantically involved. I reminded him that it was in his interest to stay on the line as it was an active police investigation and that officers would soon be at location to ask in-person questions...I kept it up for about 5 minutes before they freaked and hung up.
Yup...petty. and I enjoyed every second of it!!

 

[Big Blue Florida]

Whenever I hear someone follow their message w/ a little laugh, ha ha ha or ''right'', my BS radar goes off.

Even face to face the SCAM continues.

Women will raise their eyebrows & at times tilt their head w/ wider opened eyes.

Have a grand daughter who was playing that little game & told her she was going to get more than she was setting out for, if she continued to glamor people.

Honestly, it seems that this BS behavior is more & more the norm. G daughter said one of her teachers told her, it was simple polite communication. GEEEZ

 

[WinterDeere]

A lot of you are doing exactly what I tell my grandparents to stop doing....just stop answering the phone. I never answer the phone if the caller's # isn't already in my contacts list.

I know this was well-intentioned, but it's simply not possible if you own and run any business that relies on answering that phone. Whether you're a doctor or a tow truck driver, many of us HAVE to answer every call, our business relies on it.

 

[jigs_n_fixtures]

I have two cell phones. One is works, and I have to deal with all of the spam callers. the other is mine, and if you are not in my contacts, it doesn’t ring. If they leave voice mail, I will call them back, if they are someone I want to talk to, and then add them to the contacts. “Contacts” ring from 0800 to 1800. Favorites ring 24/7.

 

[WinterDeere]

I have two cell phones. One is works, and I have to deal with all of the spam callers. the other is mine, and if you are not in my contacts, it doesn’t ring. If they leave voice mail, I will call them back, if they are someone I want to talk to, and then add them to the contacts. “Contacts” ring from 0800 to 1800. Favorites ring 24/7.

Yep, this is exactly what I do. Unfortunately, some of the smarter scams are aimed at the business. Never been snookered by one of them yet, but a lot of time is wasted in ferreting them out, as some are actually quite well done.

 

[dkmc]

There should be a country song about caller ID. Like "Thank God for caller ID" similar to "Thank God and greyhound yer gone".
It amazes me how many calls I get that show as 'unavailable' or the name of various nearby cities. Hint: No one except the scammers use the name of a city or town for their caller ID. I've even seen the word 'Scam' come up on caller ID, whatever that's all about. I do not ever answer the phone unless I recognize the number. The cool thing about my low cost Panasonic cordless phone system (5 phones and a base unit) is it has built in call blocking, up to like 200 numbers. But caller ID is the real sanity saver for me, lets me ignore the calls that are obvious fakes.

 

[flyingdragracer]

It's been a while since I've advertised online so had forgotten what it's like. I had the old Curtis cab from my father's 4400 Ford advertised and had completely forgotten about it until I got a text yesterday asking if we still had it. I said yes, and we went back and forth a few times. Then he asked where it was, and I gave him the town it's in, telling him we are cleaning out the barn and aren't normally there but that my brother could meet him next week. THEN it came...
"I am out of town but if you will give me your address or account number I will send you the money, and my agent will pick it up."

I read that and thought to myself "You stupid , you fell for it.

I sent him one last text which read simply "Yeah, RIGHT".

Hello Sir do you know if the curtiss cab you have "if you still have it' will fit a ford 4000 1972 year model. If so I would be interested in it. Thanks

 

[banjoman69]

Several years ago, I got a call from a person stating they were from the IRS office in New Jersey. Red flag flew up immediately, and by his dialect, he was calling from somewhere in India or maybe Best Western Motel , anyway it seems I was delinquent in paying my income tax and that with penalties, etc I owed upward of $7000. He kept asking how I was going to satisfy the payment.
We bantered back and forth and my East Tennessee Appalachian redneck became inflamed when he wanted a card or bank routing number. I told him the following with a tone “ I‘ll tell you what, I’m going to give you my address and I want you to personally come pick up the cash and if you are physically able to get back in your vehicle to drive back, then you won’t have to even worry about giving me a receipt, and I do have a backhoe and out here on the farm I have plenty of land to bury anything, including your car” there was a moment of silence and when I said hello, are you there, he dropped the call.