Among Friends

[Skyegirl21]

My parents got that same scam call years ago... They were savvy enough to ask the caller the name of their son, and that was the end of it... Sadly, we have to be suspicious of everything these days! Thanks for sharing Andreatoo. Glad all is ok! 

[CalminHeart]

My iPhone has an alert that shows up for almost all of the scam calls now. It's great. I see "Scam Alert" on my phone and don't answer. Then I go into my phone and block the number.

[Mindy D]

We will soon be getting calls to donate to the survivors of the condo collapse. Just wait. The scammers take advantage of every possibility to get their hooks into us. I get lots of phony charities calling. Plenty of 'veterans' charities asking for my donations. The scammers have increased in numbers and the volume of attempts to scam us has reached epic proportions. 

Recently, I learned of a very troubling real estate wire fraud scam that targets home buyers during or after closing. This scam is very sophisticated. The scammer hacks into a company that is handling real estate sales transactions and finds out when sales are done. The scammer sees lists of upcoming documents and funds to be wired as well as email accounts of persons working on the transactions. Then the scammer masquerades as one of the financial agents by spoofing the email account of the agent that handles the transfer of funds from the buyer. The scammer then  sends an email that looks like it's coming from the agent with directions for  the buyer to wire transfer funds into the seller's account. This is really a personal  account of the scamme instead of the genuine account where the funds should be transferred. The seller's bank never gets the money. The scammer then disappears and the buyer has wired thousands to the scammer. In one local case here in Florida, a lady lost $63,000 and she must leave the home she bought for herself and two kids. Google real estate wire fraud scams for much more. Let anyone you know that's buying or selling know about the scams. Online articles explain how they happened and give you knowledge of how to avoid becoming a victim. To Google the article about this one case by copying the title into your search bar:

Local Mother Loses Life Savings in Real Estate Scam

[Andreatoo]

@Mindy D 

good heads up @Mindy D . I work in a law office and we do lots of real estate closings. This has been a problem for a while now.

There's another where the entire transaction is a scam! They generally initiate from foreign buyers that reach out by email. They pay, the deposit, with a cashier's check and then 'change their mind' ....

[mimomof4]

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@Buffalogal47 wrote:

It never ceases to amaze me that even with caller ID people still continue to answer the phone when they don't recognize the number of the calling party. That's why these scammers keep on trying. If it's important they'll leave a message, otherwise, just don't answer the phone if you don't recognize the number or the name of the calling party. 

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Honestly this amazes me too.  Then I spoke with my Mother in Law yesterday.  While she claims she doesn't answer calls from numbers she doesn't know, I know that isn't always true.  She tells me she had a call from ATT and they needed to update her information and asked for her Birthdate and Soc# which she gave the person.  I blew a gasket and told her she should NEVER do that (I repeated the word never at least 10 times).  She should have said I will go into the local store or something else.  At almost 81 she is doesn't have the "smarts" to not follow blindly along anymore and this isn't the first time she had dome something which isn't safe..  Anyone could call her and say they were from ATT.  Her excuse was "well when you live alone"  

Luckily for her this wasn't a scam and ATT really did send her a new cell phone to replace her existing one.  No matter how much I tell her NOT to answer the phone and fall for these scams I'm still afraid.  How can we protect our senior relatives because telling them not to answer and fall for scams isn't enough.

[teganslaw]

Recently we've been getting a scam call from something called Global IT Services. They say they are subtracting $349 from our account to renew the subscription we have with them. To call this number if we want to opt out.We don't have any subscription and our bank account hasn't been touched. 

Every month they try this same thing; you would think they know by now that calling this number does nothing since I don't answer and delete their message.

That is the only one who calls; otherwise I don't get many scammers.

[Andreatoo]

@teganslaw 

that one sounds familiar. Is it a recorded message?

[teganslaw]

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@Andreatoo wrote:

@teganslaw 

that one sounds familiar. Is it a recorded message?

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Yes, it's a robocall. There are a couple seconds before the "person" actually speaks, and it's the same wording every time. 

[wagirl]

A scam that I dealt with recently,  was supposedly from my bank--telling me my account had been breeched and that I needed to fill out a form with ALL my important info -. this was in my email--when I saw what they wanted--I immediately checked my accounts, called my bank to check if this was legit,  then changed my password and froze my accounts thru the 3 credit report companies---. You gotta be careful and alert---and suspect EVERYTHING. 

[Andreatoo]

@Mindy Dand @Lipstickdiva 

there's a brand new real estate/closing scam. I think @Lipstickdiva does title work like I do...

Just received a warning from our title insurance underwriter this AM

True story: A closing agent received a spoofed phone call from a fraudster posing as the seller. The “seller” called to say that he had an issue with his mortgage lender’s payoff amount and said to expect to hear from the mortgage company. Soon after, an updated Payoff Statement was received with a slightly lowered amount due. The closing agent did not realize the wiring account number had changed and wired the payoff to the fraudster’s account.