Phone Scam

[RugerFan]

My wife called me at work the other day to say that she got a call from someone claiming to be from our credit card company (yes, we did have a credit card with this particular company) and he needed to update our account. He correctly recited our names and address and then asked her to give him our credit card number and expiration date. My wife wisely hung up and called me. I called our credit card company’s fraud dept and was told that they would NEVER ask for our CC# over the phone. The only reason they would call us would be to have us verify suspicious charges. What scares me is that these crooks knew my name, address, and what credit card I have.

[NVcurmudgeon]

A lot of pests get your name and address from the phone book. It would be easy enough to use public information, then make a lucky guess on which credit card. Most of us have one or both of the big two cards. I got a call from an earnest young lady soliciting for Friends of Obama. They obviously didn't get my phone no. from voter registration. I told her that she had phoned the most conservative household in the county.

[felix]

If I notice any accent whatsoever, I hang up the phone. If they mispronounce my name, I hang up the phone acting like I never heard of the guy being called out. If they just start talking abruptly, I hang up the phone. In other words, I assume SCAM from the start. ... felix

[monadnock#5]

Caller ID, call waiting and and answering machine work for me. Lately I've even gone so far as to turn the ringer off. We average 75 to 100 calls a week, only 5 to 10 of which are from people we wish to communicate with. "Unknown Caller, Private Caller and Unknown Zone" don't get the time of day. We also don't talk to states or provinces. With another election cycle coming up, it will only get worse.

Ken

[Carteach0]

On the RARE occasions I answer the only 'listed' unlisted number in our home, if
it's anybody I don't know they all get hit with the same question.

"Our states AG tells me any legitimate and honest company will not hesitate to give me their company name, address, phone number, and directors name. You have ten seconds to give me that information".

All I have ever gotten is: "Haminahaminahaminahamina........." Followed by me
hanging up.

[carpetman]

Sometimes when in a good mood,I engage the caller in all kinds of off the wall conversation. I ask where they are calling from and ask if they know some off the wall name in that area. I tell them all kinds of stuff about that ficticious person and don't see how they possibly don't know them. I don't let them get into their subject and I see how much of their time I can waste.

[Johnch]

I got a simalar call a few months back
But the called ID came back as Dallas , I have a freind there

So I handed the phone to my 5 year old neice

After 5 min they gave up and hung up on her

But if you know it is a bad call , a boat air horn cures their hearing problems

John

[DLCTEX]

Caller ID saves me a lot of headaches, then the message machine is my front man. If they really need to talk to me, they must talk to the machine first. If I make a mistake and pick up on a call I don't want, I ask who is calling, then make the decision to put them on hold while I " get him" or not. It's amazing how long some will hold and wait. Dale

[Thin Man]

A few years ago our area was flooded with calls to the elderly on how they had won the Canadian Lottery, just need to send in the appropriate taxes and importation fees to collect their winnings. Most locals were still lucid enough to slam down the phone, but a few got bit real hard. One particular old girl had already sent off just over $68K (in assorted small payments) to Canada, with more calls asking for more, before she asked for help in collecting her $2.2 million prize. Funny thing: we asked when she first bought a Canadian lottery ticket. She claimed she had never bought into their game, but could not understand why she had not won big. At last info most of the money wiring stations in town had "cut her off" and refused to transfer funds to Canada for her. By the way, these calls were being orchestrated from Canadian prisons.