Cabdriver Confession: I said something "pretty racist" when I figured out I was being drawn in by a phone call saying they were going to deliver something to my late father's address (where I'm living right now), and I needed to "press 1" if I didn't recognize the order.

Here's a nice website detailing the tactics. The @$$ hat actually claimed to connect to my dad's bank and wanted a credit card number to verify I was speaking the truth.

https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/blog/2020/12/fake-calls-apple-and-amazon-support-what-you-need-know

One of the tactics I ran into was a "can you hold" request claiming they wanted to verify something, and a few minutes later they followed with "are you still there?"

My fiancee got one of those scam calls, and he's never had an account on Amazon. That's what he told them as he hung up.

I usually press 1 to speak to a voice.and then engage in pissing them off. Some of them get really hot and bothered. Makes my day.

There seems to be no shortage of con artists out there, does there?

One of my rules for callers is that they have to know my name. If they don't know who they are calling, why should I talk to them? And I would never give sensitive information over the phone to some random person.

Be careful summer. We get tons of these from work and they know my name. A lot of them are in email form and look totally legit.

I haven't gotten the Amazon or the Apple yet, but I've gotten the IRS is sending agents to arrest you, the gas company is coming to shut off power, the water and power is coming to shut down the business, American express has found suspicious activity on your account please respond to this number, and something about my car but I forget the threat.

The worst is the arrested grandson one that fools lots of the elderly.

I was told my internet would be shut off, LOL.

Good heavens! The scammers are having to work overtime to come up with new ways to part people from their money.

I was referring to phone calls. If someone calls me and doesn't even know my name, I find that laughable.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/22/2021 12:23AM by summer.

Working overtime AND getting more clever all the time. Our work visa has to be replaced at least four times a year. I guess the number is out there a lot because we buy so much. At first they buy something for maybe $48 dollars to test it. IF that goes through the next purchase is much larger and then they get REALLY bold til the credit card gets canceled.

One funny one. The thieves once made a mistake and bought a ton of merchandise but actually had it all shipped to us instead of themselves. We sent it all back to the company vendor. At least we both got a laugh for a change.

If someone I don't know contacts me it is in their interest not mine and I disengage. I tell my elderly mother to follow that rule.

That's a good rule to follow. I don't respond to fund raisers or polls, either. The police or firefighters will never see most of that money, and no stranger needs to know my private information. I'm sorry that your business is so plagued. I wondered about that. If scammers are constantly calling my landline, they must be tying up business lines as well.

I've received a few Amazon scams, but they've been recorded messages (not live) so I just hang up w/out saying anything.

Got a brand new one just this morning, about an "oil company investment." Yeah right, that'll work. Hung up on him; in hindsight, should have simply put the phone down & walked away, leaving him to waste his time making his scam pitch to dead air.

He knew my first name, and I recognized his voice and accent, as he personally had phoned me at least a dozen times for donations to various scam charities. I guess I'm on his regular assigned rotation, sort of like a home teacher but a non-affinity fraud kind of swindle.

Yeah, I sometimes put the phone down as well. Or, if there is the telltale dead air when you pick up the phone, I just wait silently for the scammer to pick up the line, and then don't respond to the repeated, puzzled "Hellos."

Lately, I've just been disconnecting my landline. Anyone who really needs to reach me calls my cell, anyway. And I can always reject unknown numbers.

I have a phone so old, it has physical buttons on the body. It's one step up from a flip phone because it doesn't flip or "open".

Lately, I've been getting emails on it. I do not pay for that service, so, I cannot retrieve any of the data or see what it's about. I assume a phishing scam if I opened the email and they gain access to my contacts?

The real problem with them asking if you are still there is you are most likely to say yes.

Some banks and credit cards use voice recognition. The legitimate bank may ask something like. Do you want us to make this payment. When you say yes it does a voice ID before releasing funds.

If the scammers have a recording of you saying yes. They can bypass this security feature.

“If the scammers have a recording of you saying yes. They can bypass this security feature.”


Holy cripes, really? Wow.

The more security measures companies put in place, the more the crooks up their game. Nothing is fool proof.

Hanging up is the best option,but---once I really gave it to them over the phone because I was sick of it. The guy in the call center had all his buddies continually call our number and tie up our phones for half an hour. So now I say thankyou but gotta go before hanging up.

I just hang up.

I don’t answer the phone in the first place.

I can reject a call on my cell phone, but I don't have caller ID on my landline. OTOH, a lot of times I just let the landline ring now. I figure if they really need me, they can leave a message. Or, I just unplug it. I suppose at some point I will be ready to give it up, but for now I like the redundancy.

Most of the people we associate call on our cell phones.

We still have a landline and almost all the calls are robo. If we don't recognize the name or number we don't answer, just let it go to the answering machine. Few callers leave a message.

All the ones that say something about an Amazon purchase or a credit card charge, I check my accounts at both locations. Nothing has ever shown up there.

One time, while traveling, I had my purchase card compromised.
I got two texted message and phone call from the bank.

I was told to call the fraud number on the back of my card.

The bank had cancelled that card and cleared up the fraud charges in a couple of days.

I carry a second purchase card that I have to move funds into, and that is the limit on the card.

It's enough that I can pay for gas/food to get me home.

I've had some robo calls that actually listed my name and phone number. I did answer one of those calls to hear what I sound like. I speak with an Asian accent and can hardly understand myself, I don't remember what great offer I was peddling.

I got a new phone a few months ago (that I hate) and I have few contacts installed in it. I don't answer any calls that I don't have a contact for. My daughter and boyfriend know I probably won't answer. I just heard my phone ring and I didn't even go look.

I miss my doctor calls a lot because the different people in the office have different numbers. I need to do better with that issue.

If my boyfriend or daughter wants to get hold of me, they message me on fb. I'm more likely to see that before I see they called.

I only have a cell phone for safety when I travel or drive somewhere myself or walk with my dogs.

cl2notloggedin Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I got a new phone a few months ago (that I hate)
> and I have few contacts installed in it. I don't
> answer any calls that I don't have a contact for.

That’s the trick, right there.


> If my boyfriend or daughter wants to get hold of
> me, they message me on fb. I'm more likely to see
> that before I see they called.

That’s the other trick. Everyone I know texts first as a point of politeness. If they need to talk, they’ll text, “time for a call?”

All other calls go to voice mail. If it’s important, they’ll leave a message.

I am continually bombarded with these scams. I don't even open them Just delete

My response is this
"I have to inform you that this call is being recorded for forwarding to the Arizona attorny general's consumer fraud division for prosecution.
This seldom ever prolongs the conversation

I answer and say "I don't live here, just stealing this expensive Jewelry and all the guns"... and hang up.

When answering the phone, never tell the caller nor confirm your name. Make them identify themselves in full first, badger them for their physical address, break up whatever script they're trying to follow.

I like to turn into a crank when they call, asking them all kinds of personal off-color questions, and exasperate them.

The ringer is always OFF on my phone, and if a caller doesn't at least begin to leave a message (so I can identify who it is), I don't pick up the receiver.

Mostly, this works well for me.

Beware, too, the "micro soft engineers" who warn someone is trying to hack your computer and then proceed to lock it down so that only a call to their toll free number will provide the means to open it. For a fee, of course.

This one actually showed a local SLC suburb number but once again the voice was a dead giveaway...

With my dad's death I'm "kind of stuck," but the only information they get from me is he's gone, and I'm not buying the $#!% they're selling.

They spoof local numbers all the time. The area code is not an indicator if a call is legitimate.

I had a friend get the car warranty call last week. She asked for a quote to extend the warranty on her 1950’s DeSoto. They hung up on her.

A bit off topic, but an Amazon driver dropped off a package on my front porch bench for a resident in an apartment complex down the block from me. Just left it sitting outside in the rain. It was roughly 18" x 8" x 8" and full of what sounded like glass. We walked it down the block.

Periodically porch pirates hit the decks on the houses up and down the block, leaving empty boxes tossed into hedges and rose bushes.

Sheesh!