New Scam

WV Sawmiller · August 04, 2020, 11:21:03 AM

My wife just got a text from someone posing as a friend of ours. The text said the lady was traveling and needed to get a gift for a niece and wanted my wife to buy 3- $100 I-tune gift cards, scratch off the access code then e-mail the code and card number to "her". Of course "she" was going to reimburse my wife when they got back in town. :

I don't know if this was just a music lover or the scammer had some way to convert the info to cash.

They are out there and never quit trying so be alert.

Ianab · August 04, 2020, 07:39:42 PM

Yup, the I-tunes cards are a common scam medium. I think once you give them the code they likely print up a fake card with your codes and sell it on the local market. Because the code hasn't been redeemed the "fake" card works online with Apple and the buyer may not even know it's fake.

The scam got so prevalent here the local supermarket had signs up at the registers warning about it, and you had to talk to the supervisor to buy a card. They would warn about the scam and verify the buyer was going to use the card, or give it to someone they knew personally. Prior to that they had little old ladies falling for some form of scam and buying $100 of dollars of cards to send to who knows where.

Ljohnsaw · August 04, 2020, 09:48:34 PM

My son got a similar scam email. From a friend's hacked email account. It started like this:

How are you? I need a favor from you.

I need to get a Ebay Gift Card for my Nephew, Its his birthday but i can't do this now because I'm currently traveling.Can you get it from any store around you? I'll pay back as soon as i am back. Kindly let me know if you can handle this.

So my son strung them along. Told them that I was at work but would stop on my way home and asked how much to get. They said $400. Then my son said the store would be closed before I could get there. They said to still get it when I could. Then my son escalated and said his sister was at the store and bought one and sent him a picture. They asked him for the number and pin. I have a stack of old Amazon cards in my desk. My son took a picture where he purposely got glare on the numbers :D They said it was no good. So my son took another with different glare. My son strung them along for about 6 hours before telling them to scam someone else.

WV Sawmiller · August 05, 2020, 09:21:58 AM

Good for him. The spiel looks almost identical to the one my wife got.

Southside · August 05, 2020, 09:43:42 AM

Remember when we used to get calls that you won a "free cruise"? Well one day I rode it out until a person came on the phone and made him go through all the questions - of course I gave him bogus info, so this went on for 20 minutes or so, then they wanted a credit card for "port taxes". I must have told him 50 times that I have a passport so I don't need to pay port taxes, he thought I was confused, I just kept saying I can "pass the port" with my passport, eventually he got a "supervisor" on the line to speak with this confused, old, man. Wasted plenty of his time. Figured at the very least I frustrated them, maybe I wasted enough of their time they didn't get a legit victim as a result.

Don P · August 05, 2020, 03:06:26 PM

It is satisfying to thwart a crook but my concern in messing with them is pithing them off enough to become a special project, go carefully.

Corley5 · August 05, 2020, 03:21:41 PM

Years ago my Grandmother got a call late one evening from a young woman saying I was in jail in Windsor Canada, needed bail, and needed Grandma to wire it to this gal so she could bail me out. Grandma told her if I got locked up in a foreign country I probably deserved it and hung up. The creepy thing was the woman knew both our names and our relationship.

WV Sawmiller · August 05, 2020, 03:35:00 PM

I've gotten e-mails like that where somebody claimed to be stranded overseas and had lost all their money and documents and that I had been referred to them by a mutual friend to help. The best response I have seen is to tell them they are in luck as I have a dear friend in the same city and I am wiring the money to him and the unfortunate soul can go pick it up and then give them the address at the local police HQ and maybe even the office number of a member of the Fraud Squad. :D

JJ · August 05, 2020, 08:19:41 PM

Quote from: Don P on August 05, 2020, 03:06:26 PMIt is satisfying to thwart a crook but my concern in messing with them is pithing them off enough to become a special project, go carefully

I have a friend who is a plumber, and did just that.. messed with them until they got into a swearing match. After he got endless robo calls from his area code and local code, different numbers which he had to answer or loose business. Some were legit numbers spoofed, so blocking was a risk too.
He lost business because he had to change phone number as they went on restlessly for more than a month until he changed his number.

beware, these people have no morals.

JJ

petefrom bearswamp · August 06, 2020, 08:16:31 AM

Gee Whiz, my grandson was stranded in France several years ago and was in jail, need $ for bail and a plane ticket
Wasnt my favorite grandson so I let him languish.
Guess he got home OK cause I saw him about a week later.

Walnut Beast · August 06, 2020, 08:26:31 AM

Quote from: petefrom bearswamp on August 06, 2020, 08:16:31 AM
Gee Whiz, my grandson was stranded in France several years ago and was in jail, need $ for bail and a plane ticket
Wasnt my favorite grandson so I let him languish.
Guess he got home OK cause I saw him about a week later.

Well how did he turn out now

Stephen1 · August 06, 2020, 08:34:14 AM

We used to have cell phones mounted on the engines at work, I get a cruise call one day on it and it was a slow day, we strung them out untill they wanted the CC# , we then said we would have tomorrow. Well tomorrow was a different crew on that engine.
:D

Walnut Beast · August 06, 2020, 08:35:40 AM

Quote from: WV Sawmiller on August 05, 2020, 03:35:00 PM
I've gotten e-mails like that where somebody claimed to be stranded overseas and had lost all their money and documents and that I had been referred to them by a mutual friend to help. The best response I have seen is to tell them they are in luck as I have a dear friend in the same city and I am wiring the money to him and the unfortunate soul can go pick it up and then give them the address at the local police HQ and maybe even the office number of a member of the Fraud Squad. :D

Maybe it's petefrombearswamps grandson 😂😂

Don P · August 06, 2020, 09:14:56 AM

I got one of those from my best man, he's been known to go walkabout to the far reaches so I was ready to send but decided to call him first, he was happy at home :D.

I'm not above telling the ones on the phone that I need to go get my card, then leave the the phone sitting there till it starts beeping, hopefully it ties them up for a bit.

petefrom bearswamp · August 06, 2020, 10:39:03 AM

Re my grandson.
I guess jail in france did him a world of good
He now is a nice very strong and ambitious young man

WV Sawmiller · August 24, 2020, 11:20:45 AM

Well, the latest new scam is someone, a recording, calls and says they show I just charged $_____ on my Amazon account and to press 1 to verify or 2 to cancel. The first time my wife got the call and did neither then told me so I checked my e-mail for my normal Amazon verification/status and nothing there so I called Amazon customer service and they verified it was a scam. I got another call yesterday with a different amount. I just hung up. I don't know what pushing the button does unless someone then asks for the credit card number to "refund" the charge to. Watch out - they are out there.

Ljohnsaw · August 24, 2020, 02:40:15 PM

I got a call about a month ago? with a recording that there had been some fraudulent activity and they were going to cancel Social Security number :

Press 1 to find out information. I was working on a project in my woodshop so I put it on speaker phone and pressed 1. I got a heavy Indian accented woman obviously reading from a script that there were multiple warrants out for my arrest. Could I verify who I am? No, you called me! OK, what's your name? John Smith (Doe would be to obvious?) Zip code? OK. Would I like to know more? Sure! So she prefaced saying that this was all being recorded and will be reviewed by FOUR different agencies, INCLUDING the FBI!!! If I were to lie about anything, Mr. John Smith, I would be arrested in 15 minutes. I was shocked! Tell me more!! So they wanted to know how many bank accounts I have (told them 2). That's all? she asked. Yep. What bank? I said BofA. And the other account. I said both are at BofA (Bank of America), one checking, one savings. She couldn't quite grasp that. So then asked how many credit cards (1). Our records show you have 25!

So she is still interested in me. Would I like to know the charges? Sure! Some garbage about bank fraud and such. I could call the local PD and try to get it cleared up. So, who is your local PD? I said google it :D We are unincorporated so it is the Sheriff's department that covers us. Nope, that would not work. So she listed off the neighboring towns. I said, oh, yeah Folsom PD. She said here is the number, write it down and they will call YOU! Wow, what service. So as we are talking my phone beeps for an incoming call. She asks if I got a call, no, don't think so. Are you sure? You MUST have just gotten a call. Maybe they will call back. They do.

So the number matches what she gave me and an "officer from Folsom PD" is on my other line. I couldn't figure out how to conference the call on my flip phone so I loose the nice Indian lady and pick up the officer. He is reading off the charges (again, HEAVY Indian accent) and I ask him his name - Jim something or other! So he is talking and I ask who his CO is? What? Who is your superior officer? He say Jim Smith. What a coincidence! I ask, What happened to Macintire? He was the CO. Did he transfer? What, he says? (I think he is catching on). No, its Jim Smith, your father. Hmmm, I say, that's interesting since my dad passed away 35 years ago and was never in law enforcement. So he proceeds to call me names and hangs up.

This went on for 45 minutes. I was driving my son somewhere for the last half of it and he was trying so hard not to laugh. When we got there he bailed out of the truck so I could finish up with this scammer.

I got the same call 2 days ago and was ready for another round but I was put on hold for too long so I hung up. Hope they call again!

BradMarks · August 24, 2020, 03:32:51 PM

My last one was just the other day. Not a call but a phishing text that said: "Who is this who called and said nothing?". As it didn't happen, I wonder where that was headed.

moosehunter · August 24, 2020, 03:51:01 PM

Older lady I know finds her computer locked up with a message to call Microsoft @ ####. She called. She was told someone was hacking her computer and that she needed to go buy gift cards and give Microsoft the numbers so they could trace the hackers. It took my wife and I a while to convince this poor lady she was being had. She had to go buy a new computer because they messed up the old one so bad.

mh

Stephen1 · August 26, 2020, 07:58:10 AM

I woke up to a TXT this morning saying I had $300 in COVID relief money waiting for me to claim. Just click on this link.
I then send that # a few dancing emolies

JJ · September 03, 2020, 05:14:47 PM

I just got a new one on my landline..

Local number from Derry NH (town next door), with recording "This is your utility company to apologize for bill overcharge by our power distributor.   We want to refund your previous bill by 30% and give a 30% discount on your next billing. Press 1 to receive your voucher"

What the heck, I press 1 and heavily accented Indian lady came on phone.   I hang up immediately, cause I don't have time for this crap.
Only accent these scam callers seem to have is Indian. Around here, other than New England accent (I don't even hear it) only Irish accent is common.

        JJ

Magicman · September 03, 2020, 05:19:49 PM

My scam calls for the past few days are telling me that my Microsoft is compromised and that I need to press "1" so that a technician can change my "IP" address.