Oh no! My ssn is being suspended!

[quincy]

Did you listen to the recording of one of the scam calls? How anyone could fall for it is really baffling!

"We will have to issue an arrest warrant in your name and get you arrested"...

Perhaps that is why the elderly are frequent targets of scammers? The contents of the calls are so absurd that it generally will be the most naive or trusting among us who fall for the scams.

 

[Shadowbunny]

I work for the military, and it's not unusual to get calls asking about how to send money so Soldiers can take leave, retire, get medical care, or pay for a replacement. Even worse is when these women tell me that they've already sent $$, but are now being asked for more. Our Soldiers routinely have their personal pictures stolen and used by scammers. One of my friends has had HUNDREDS of fake FB profiles made with his pictures; he's been stalked, threatened, and accused of being a scammer. Facebook is horrible about taking down the fake profiles -- they're more concerned about $$ than the victims of these romance scams. It's heartbreaking to tell these women that they've been scammed - some of them have gotten mad at me and refuse to believe it.

 

[Eekamouse]

Did you listen to the recording of one of the scam calls? How anyone could fall for it is really baffling!

"We will have to issue an arrest warrant in your name and get you arrested"...

I know! It's so ridiculously lame. The guy on the other end of the phone I get when I hit 1 to speak with someone at Social Security has a heavy Indian accent. He will curse you out when you tell him he's a scammer before he hangs up on you. LOL

 

[Just Blue]

I know! It's so ridiculously lame. The guy on the other end of the phone I get when I hit 1 to speak with someone at Social Security has a heavy Indian accent. He will curse you out when you tell him he's a scammer before he hangs up on you. LOL

Next time you get an Indian guy...make a vulgar comment about his mother, wife and 2 cows.

 

[cbg]

At one time when my husband and I were planning our wedding, he asked me, "Isn't your father supposed to give me a cow or something?"

Fast forward five years or so. A constant complaint from DH was, "I never did get my cow." I finally begged my father to give him some kind of representation of a cow, be it a stuffed animal, a creamer, a Christmas tree ornament, anything.

For Christmas that year, Dad donated a cow in DH's name to the Heifer Project.

 

[LdiJ]

I know! It's so ridiculously lame. The guy on the other end of the phone I get when I hit 1 to speak with someone at Social Security has a heavy Indian accent. He will curse you out when you tell him he's a scammer before he hangs up on you. LOL

Any of us who work with the IRS know exactly what its like to call them. What the voicemail/menu person sounds like, what music plays in the back ground while you are on hold and how long it takes to get to a live human being in the very best case scenario.

I know that you cannot call a REAL IRS phone number and have a live person answer. (Well, maybe taxing matters might be able to pull that off since he used to work for the IRS, but no ordinary taxpayer could do that. )

Every time I have called back one of those scammers, they answer the phone with a live person saying "this is the IRS can I help you", OR the phone number is no good.

 

[LdiJ]

At one time when my husband and I were planning our wedding, he asked me, "Isn't your father supposed to give me a cow or something?"

Fast forward five years or so. A constant complaint from DH was, "I never did get my cow." I finally begged my father to give him some kind of representation of a cow, be it a stuffed animal, a creamer, a Christmas tree ornament, anything.

For Christmas that year, Dad donated a cow in DH's name to the Heifer Project.

That is hilarious...LOL.

One year everybody in my family wrote absurd Christmas lists. Things like Ferraris and yachts and other seriously out of reach things. It was just a joke that went viral within the family. My ex and I had more money than what we knew to do with back then and instead of buying normal presents, we bought the toy version of everything that was on the ridiculous Christmas lists. I think that was the most fun Christmas we ever all had, playing with our toys.

 

[cbg]

I love that!

 

[bcr229]

Although it's often entertaining to engage them, I've stopped doing that since the callers have turned to violence.

They demand money, and threaten that the police will show up with a warrant if you don't pay. When you refuse, they call your local PD non-emergency number and say that there's a person with a gun in your house. They spoof your phone number on the caller-id, so it appears to the police that you actually placed the call. The next thing you know, the SWAT team shows up at your door with a report of an armed perp. Things can go vary badly from that point on.

I'm not worried about it. When they start talking about warrants I just ask for the address of the office that will be issuing it so I can have my attorney go deal with it. That's when they hang up.

Next time you get an Indian guy...make a vulgar comment about his mother, wife and 2 cows.

There may or may not be web sites where you can learn how to say certain expressions in their language. Not that I would ever use such language... not me, nope.

 

[eerelations]

This is about my nephew, who was four at the time and who also had a slight speech problem (rectified later but not at the time) which consisted of mostly blather interspersed with the occasional clear word. Just before Christmas my brother asked his son (my nephew) if he wanted to make a Christmas list for Santa. My nephew replied CLEAR AS A BELL, EVERY WORD ENUNCIATED PERFECTLY "I don't think so. I didn't get anything on last year's list so why should I bother this year?" He was four. (And his parents were suitably and understandably very embarrassed.)

 

[eerelations]

I'm not worried about it. When they start talking about warrants I just ask for the address of the office that will be issuing it so I can have my attorney go deal with it. That's when they hang up.


There may or may not be web sites where you can learn how to say certain expressions in their language. Not that I would ever use such language... not me, nope.

I don't lower myself to their level. I just hang up as soon as I realize they're scammers.

Plus, they learned their stuff from all those American and Canadian call centres that outsourced to them (and then stopped outsourcing, leaving them with all those people who could speak basic English + knew how to use the equipment), and...most of the scammer call centres are actually in Pakistan.

Just sayin'

 

[not2cleverRed]

I know! It's so ridiculously lame. The guy on the other end of the phone I get when I hit 1 to speak with someone at Social Security has a heavy Indian accent. He will curse you out when you tell him he's a scammer before he hangs up on you. LOL

I have found that they don't curse me out if I suggest that they really need to reconnect with their family's faith tradition and contemplate what they're doing with their life, and whether it enriches their soul.

They hang up just as quickly.

 

[Mass_Shyster]

Sadly, I've run across several victims of scammers. First one came in and wanted to sue someone in Texas for not shipping the car to Massachusetts as agreed, even after he paid $4000 through Western Union. I told him his money was gone and there was nothing I could do to help him. He cursed at me for being a bad lawyer and left.

Next guy was charged with larceny. Scammer "hired" him as a painter, and since he had so much experience, wanted him to handle the money. Send him a check for $5000. With that he was to pay the workers and pay for all materials. Joe showed up to go get the materials and walked away with $4000 in cash. Check bounced and my guy was charged.

Third was an almost. A client called looking for advice on an international shipment. She came in and said that she had agreed to pay $3000 for shipping a package from her friend overseas, but couldn't figure out how to make the payment. After some prodding I learned that the package contained the $800,000 cash that the guy had made overseas while serving in Iraq. He needed someone to hold it for him until he got home, and he wasn't allowed to ship that much money, so he found someone to ship it for him. Now the money was stuck with a freight forwarder who wouldn't release it until the additional $3K was paid. I originally thought I'd call my buddy who owns a logistics company and manages a bonded customs warehouse. Once I heard the details I realized I didn't need his help after all.

 

[LdiJ]

Well, I just this minute had a scam call myself. It was a disembodied computer voice that told me that my Microsoft license was going to be canceled in 48 hours if I did not pay them $500.00.

 

[quincy]

Well, I just this minute had a scam call myself. It was a disembodied computer voice that told me that my Microsoft license was going to be canceled in 48 hours if I did not pay them $500.00.

So ... you paid of course, right?