Scam phone calls

[Gary K]

For the last few weeks I have been getting phone calls that originate from multiple area codes remote from where I live.  When the answering machine picks up a voice, which to me sounds like a recording because the cadence and the wording is exactly the same every time asks for me by first name only and then asks, Are you there?  Every one of these calls show up as "Local Area Call" in caller id.  I traced out the numbers online a couple of times and the phones were "owned" by, you guessed it, Local Area Call. 

Turns out this is a major scam working its way around the country.  If you pick up the phone and say, yes, then they will send you outrageous demands for money saying you agreed to a contract because you said, yes. 

Just beware of saying, yes, to anyone you do not know over the telephone.

[CoAspen]

...especially if the conversation starts our with a "Can you here me?"

[B/W Photodude]

2 hours ago, Gary K said:

For the last few weeks I have been getting phone calls that originate from multiple area codes remote from where I live. 

Turns out this is a major scam working its way around the country.

Maybe, maybe not.

No one can really show where anyone has actually lost any money. Not even sure how them having you say "yes" could even be used.

http://www.snopes.com/can-you-hear-me-scam/

[Gary K]

As I understand it they claim they have a verbal contract with the person and put vast amounts of psychological pressure on their victims.  Usually the elderly that fall for this type of scam are very ashamed of themselves and not many report having been taken to the cleaners.

If the victims just say no and start blocking calls and just tossing the threatening letters in the garbage there is nothing they can do to the victims.  They just intimidate people into it.  I do not know that I really trust snopes, and as I have seen a few articles on this and it has been on several news sites it sounds pretty credible to me especially as there is not really any other explanation for the random phone calls from a half dozen different area codes with the same exact voice and caller id.  I do not have a tv so I do not watch the news casts.

[Outta Here]

My grandmother (93) gets 2-3 of these scam calls per day, every day, for the past 3 years (at least). I had been living with her, fielding these calls for about 6 months. They are relentless. I have learned to either hang up, harass them back, or just say no, no, no!! It is sad that these scam artists are targeting the elderly. More than sad, really, it's predatory evil!

[Gary K]

14 hours ago, Aubrey said:

My grandmother (93) gets 2-3 of these scam calls per day, every day, for the past 3 years (at least). I had been living with her, fielding these calls for about 6 months. They are relentless. I have learned to either hang up, harass them back, or just say no, no, no!! It is sad that these scam artists are targeting the elderly. More than sad, really, it's predatory evil!

This goes beyond sadness for me.  It makes me angry to see these vultures abusing those who lived most of their lives in another time when this type of manipulation was almost completely unknown.  The lack of respect and honor shown those who have lived a long time and have a lot of wisdom to share in other areas of life is, to me, ridiculously crass and hatefull.  God needs to arise and start to mete out justice to these jerks, and that is the least pejorative term I can use to describe them.  What really comes to mind are words I do not like to use anymore.

[B/W Photodude]

No one need be living a life of fear of being harassed by these scammers,
whether they are actually trying to rip you off or just trying to sell you
something you do not really need. Read the following article:

I'm a Telemarketer. Here's How to Get Rid of Me

This webpage said to be written by a telemarketer will tell you how they work
and how to get them to stop. The reader comments also have lots of tips on dealing 

with these people.

http://lifehacker.com/im-a-telemarketer-heres-how-to-get-rid-of-me-1540911401

In case you missed the link to the national "do not call" page:

https://www.donotcall.gov

More information on telemarketing and even junk mail. You DO NOT have to be a
"victim" of these people.

https://www.usa.gov/telemarketing

Don't forget to get call blocking of blocked numbers or caller ID. If someone
you want to hear from with a blocked number calls you, they can still get thru
by unblocking their number.

You can also opt out of junk mail. My wife gets tons of junk email. I get
relatively none, because I opted out. those pre-approved credit card offers only
mean you were pre-approved to get junk email. My brother, who was a couple of
tacos short of a full plate, got them and started writing bad checks, because he
was going to pay them back when he got funded by those credit cards. Of course,
he didn't get approved and went to jail. He also never gave thought to how he
would pay off those credit cards unless it was with another credit card!

Lastly, junk email. Do not even open it. Even if not loaded with malware, it
will be loaded with stuff that will report back to them whether you even read
it. And always keep a throwaway mail box for those websites you cannot resist
entering your email address into.

[Outta Here]

Good information! However, even registering for "Do Not Call" lists haven't done the trick; neither has adding the Blocked Numbers feature. There are too many numbers to keep blocking! I've kept track for a year and the amount of different phone numbers is astounding. My last count was over 700. For elderly people, using Caller ID helps, but quite often (especially in my grandmother's case) they pick up because they are afraid it might be "something important."

It's just a mess.

[B/W Photodude]

3 minutes ago, Aubrey said:

Good information! However, even registering for "Do Not Call" lists haven't done the trick; neither has adding the Blocked Numbers feature.

One more tip: I had a landline and was getting many junk calls and none I
really wanted to speak with. Any important calls came thru my cellphone. When I
found that I could still get my dsl without a phone line, I ditched the landline
phone. Instant peace!

[Gary K]

1 hour ago, B/W Photodude said:

No one need be living a life of fear of being harassed by these scammers,
whether they are actually trying to rip you off or just trying to sell you
something you do not really need. Read the following article:

 

I agree with Aubrey.  When the Do Not Call list came out I immediately registered our number.  It didn't stop a single scammer.  Crooks, by the fact that they are by nature, crooks, do not follow the law.  Also, the fact that that calls I have recieved have never come from the same number or area code twice makes them impossible to block by blocking numbers.  The calls I have been recieving imply a quite sophisticated operation.  They have had to hack multiple telephone company databases to insert the reported caller id identification because I doubt very much that any phone company is going to allow you to register yourself as "Local Area Call".  That amount of technical sophistication alone says this makes quite a bit of money or the scammers would not take these kinds of risks.   The risk vs reward has to be weighted in favor of the reward or the risk would not be taken.

The only real defense is to be wary of any and all callers.  That is sometimes very hard for a lonely, isolated, elderly person who has lost their self-confidence and mental agility due to the ravages of time and the aging process.  I don't worry about the scammers myself.  I have to laugh at most of their attempts.  They remind me of Ephraim from Nigeria who wants me to send him a thousand dollars so he can afford to send me a million dollars. 

A buddy of mine one time sucked in the scammer until the scammer belatedly realized that HE was the one being scammed.  That ended not only that phone call but all further attempts to scam him.  Very few elderly people could do that, and by doing so get off the scammer's call lists that they circulate among themselves.

[rudywoofs (Pam)]

erhmm....  the Do Not Call registry wasn't created for scammers.  It was created for legitimate telemarketers.

[Gregory Matthews]

FYI,  cell phones are beginning to get junk calls.

 

[B/W Photodude]

I realize scammers are sort of different from telemarketers, not that some telemarketers are also scammers. I also know that you can get scammers on cell phones.

My Post covered everything from scammers, telemarketers, junk mail, and junk email. Just some tips for a wide variety of ways to deal with people who invade your life.

The best way to deal with a telemarketer I have heard was this one (includes some colorful language):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7OgWcwgB50

 

[Gary K]

2 hours ago, rudywoofs (Pam) said:

erhmm....  the Do Not Call registry wasn't created for scammers.  It was created for legitimate telemarketers.

Grins. Well, I consider telemarketers to be scammers too, and the Do Not Call list did not slow down the number of telemarketers either. 

[phkrause]

I don't answer my phone unless I know the number or the caller ID says who it is!! I figure if there legit callers, they will leave a message!