Re: DON'T FALL FOR THE "AMAZON" MESSAGES

BarbiHollywood · ‎11-09-2011

@phoenixbrd wrote:
@BarbiHollywood The good news is you stopped by her house and take the necessary steps to block the scam. These days there are so many scams...we need to be proactive. I'll bet your mom will be more cautious in the future and appreciates your actions.

@phoenixbrd Yes! Soooo happy I decided to stop by. I only wish I had stopped by sooner - if I had, none of this would have happened. I'm happy, though, that she did not give anyone her SSN. That was a huge relief. What surprised me was that the DMV didn't issue her a new licence #. Why only update her photo and not void the old license #? Makes no sense to me.

A neighbor of hers recently had something similar happen to her so I was really concerned as to why my Mom fell for this. The neighbors got calls from people claiming to have kidnapped their granddaughter. Imagine this horror. They had a recorded voice of a girl saying, "help me, Grandma, do what they say." They were then directed to go to their bank to withdraw a large sum of money...or else. They were told that if anyone in the bank asked what they were doing with the money, they just should say, "it's my money and none of your business." The people actually did withdraw the money (SEVERAL thousands of dollars) and wired it somewhere. They were then told they'd need to transfer more money. All the while, no one bothered to call their daughter to see where their granddaughter was. The girl was home watching TV. Needless to say, long story short, the police are involved, and, for now anyway, they are hoping to get their money back.

phoenixbrd · ‎03-27-2010

@BarbiHollywood Yes, it is a pain to have to go through the paperwork to get the actions voided but you are a hero and a wonderful daughter to go through this process. Regarding the neighbors, scammers are becoming so brazen. Hopefully, sons and daughters are warning their elderly parents (most often targeted) of the potential dangers and damage these scammers are capable of through their phone calls/emails. Your mom is on the mend...good job!

Patriot3 · ‎06-07-2010

I get a call every day except Sunday from the RNC, Wash DC. Always a recorded message for a donation. I used to block them until I realized they use different numbers each time.

Didn't want to use up all my block, so just started not answering and sometimes just hit answer and end.

Baylie · ‎03-11-2010

I get these phone messages about once a week- I never pick up. I also get emails about my Amazon account being closed at an email address that I have never used for Amazon. You really have to be careful!

qvcaddition · ‎03-10-2010

@BarbiHollywood

@BarbiHollywood wrote:
I can't say this loud enough. Don't fall for the supposed-Amazon calls/texts/emails!!

My 79 year old Mom who truly knows better fell for this the other day. She received an email and a text from "Amazon" asking if a $1500 LG refrigerator order was hers. If it wasn't, she was to call an 866 number. Well, she fell for it. Called to say she did not order anything. Scammer directed her to give him her credit card info then she needed to take a photo of the front and back of her driver's license to send to them. Then they directed her to some site and told her what to click on. Then they added apps to her phone. She was on the phone with them "working" for two hours. I arrived at her house unexpectedly and saw what was going on. I ended the call and had her calmly try to explain to me what was happening. She's so embarrassed that she fell for this scammer -- like I said, she knew better, but she just believed him. Long story short, we ran to the banks to do all sorts of paperwork to block any fraudulent activity and went to the DMV to get an updated license (they only took a new photo and issued a new license showing the new date but the # remained the same). She is to contact the three credit reporting agencies today as well.

There's a new scam everyday. Bad people are out there. Do not fall victim.

I had the same exact thing happen to me two days ago. I usually get these scams, and I send them to Amazon spoofing dept. This time after sending it, i get an email that says I have an order of 5,999 and another of 199.00. I was to call the Amazon security. The 866 number you mentioned. I did and this guy wanted my email and a few other info.

I started to get suspicious and would not give him the info. He got my name and address, but nothing else. I told him, I didn't trust him and he got very beligerant. I just had a bad feeling, because Amazon CS doesn't talk to you in anger. I told him no, and I was calling to cancel my account. He said, I am closing your Amazon acct. and you will never be able to buy on Amazon anymore.

I never have answered these emails before, but he got me this time. Well, I call my credit, cancelled, got a new card, new number, even though i never gave him that info.

I also called Amazon talked to security and they said, that 866 number is not theirs and not to worry about my acct, it's OK.

I am 86 and I think they target old people.

I was told and I knew better, never call the phone numbers given. I usually don't, but was stupid that day.

BarbiHollywood · ‎11-09-2011

@qvcaddition wrote:
@BarbiHollywood
@BarbiHollywood wrote:
I can't say this loud enough. Don't fall for the supposed-Amazon calls/texts/emails!!

My 79 year old Mom who truly knows better fell for this the other day. She received an email and a text from "Amazon" asking if a $1500 LG refrigerator order was hers. If it wasn't, she was to call an 866 number. Well, she fell for it. Called to say she did not order anything. Scammer directed her to give him her credit card info then she needed to take a photo of the front and back of her driver's license to send to them. Then they directed her to some site and told her what to click on. Then they added apps to her phone. She was on the phone with them "working" for two hours. I arrived at her house unexpectedly and saw what was going on. I ended the call and had her calmly try to explain to me what was happening. She's so embarrassed that she fell for this scammer -- like I said, she knew better, but she just believed him. Long story short, we ran to the banks to do all sorts of paperwork to block any fraudulent activity and went to the DMV to get an updated license (they only took a new photo and issued a new license showing the new date but the # remained the same). She is to contact the three credit reporting agencies today as well.

There's a new scam everyday. Bad people are out there. Do not fall victim.
I had the same exact thing happen to me two days ago. I usually get these scams, and I send them to Amazon spoofing dept. This time after sending it, i get an email that says I have an order of 5,999 and another of 199.00. I was to call the Amazon security. The 866 number you mentioned. I did and this guy wanted my email and a few other info.
I started to get suspicious and would not give him the info. He got my name and address, but nothing else. I told him, I didn't trust him and he got very beligerant. I just had a bad feeling, because Amazon CS doesn't talk to you in anger. I told him no, and I was calling to cancel my account. He said, I am closing your Amazon acct. and you will never be able to buy on Amazon anymore.
I never have answered these emails before, but he got me this time. Well, I call my credit, cancelled, got a new card, new number, even though i never gave him that info.
I also called Amazon talked to security and they said, that 866 number is not theirs and not to worry about my acct, it's OK.
I am 86 and I think they target old people.
I was told and I knew better, never call the phone numbers given. I usually don't, but was stupid that day.

@qvcaddition WOW!!! Such a similar situation! And you're right - legit Amazon would never treat you that way. Happy to hear that you were so cautious and didn't the let this mess escalate. In a perfect world, wouldn't it be nice that if people/companies were using the phone company's services for things like this their services would be terminated?