Community Chat

[elated]

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@homedecor1 wrote:

@elated 

she answered the phone that was her FIRST mistake!!!!  

she stated she didn't feel the caller was a scammer.

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These scammers are smarter than people think. They know every trick in the book. They usually go after seniors. My phones always alert me to Spam Risk. I never answer the phone . They can leave a message.

[CalminHeart]

I would never have called them back. You're on their list now and your number will be shared with other scammers.

[gardenman]

Cable companies will sometimes use outside contractors with very good deals to lure in new customers. I worked in customer service with Frontier Communications for a while and we'd get people who'd been contacted by an outside rep and who'd declined then changed their mind and wanted us to match the offer they'd been given and we couldn't. Those deals didn't exist in our system but were real deals available to the outside contractors. 

They'd get deals like two years of 100 MBPS Internet for $9.99-$12.99 a month or two years of cable TV with over 100 channels for $19.99 a month. The customer would be wary of taking the deal from the outsider and call us wanting it, and the deal wasn't available through us, only the outside contractors got those deals. I never handled a caller who'd been scammed by the outside contractors.

A couple of times I did handle calls from the outside contractors when one of their clients was having a hard time accessing the deal. They would reach out to us to help resolve the matter.

It always pays to be cautious and careful, but there are times in the cable TV industry where outside contractors are hired to generate business and provide exceptional deals. 

[riley1]

I have my iphone set to silence unknown callers - those that are not in my contact list. Makes life so much easier.

Then I check the numbers on Hiya to verify the number. Life is so much quieter.

[shoekitty]

No matter who calls and leaves a message to return their call to a specified  number.....Look them up on your bill,or look on back of your card for business number.  Even when Amex reached out to me once to call immediately, they said to "call number on back of your card". It turned out to be identity theft and we dealt with it. They did leave number but asked to all the one on back of my card. But I have had calls from credit cards we don't even know to call urgently to number they give.  Sure sign of a scam.  I receive a lot of scam calls supposedly from FedEx, UPS, Amex, Amazon, Social Security, IRS, PayPal, and many more. Geesh, some sound so real. But if I feel I need to call...I use back of card number 

[monicakm]

You guys should watch some of the videos from SP on YouTube. SP stands for Scammer Payback.  You'll know you have the right video If the guy doing the video has blue hair. He is able to hack into their computers, locate their offices which are usually in India and download all their personal information plus find the people they've scammed.  He does a great impression of a little old lady talking with the scammers and driving them crazy!

[NYCLatinaMe]

So sad @Carmie This is the new popular scam, people stealing iphones.  I don't do any banking online for that reason.  One time I walked by a branch of my former bank, and they somehow messaged me to download the app and bank by phone.  I forgot what I did but I deleted something.  I think Apple now gives the option not to be tracked by apps, I am guessing I was being tracked by an app, but I didn't have that app.  I deleted apps so fast!

Banking with the app I think makes people vulnerable to this.  I don't think I have given my phone my bank account info for this reason.

Was your cousin's son able to get any of the money back? 

[Carmie]

@NYCLatinaMe   I am not sure if he was able to get any money back.  I spoke to his mother, who is my cousin. She was pretty upset.  Apparently iPhones are easy to get into and use the apps.

I do online banking, but only on my iPad and I don't use apps.  I type the address when I need to get into accounts. I also don't save or store passwords on any device.

I am hoping that if somone got into my tablet, they would not be able to see where I do my banking or who my credit cards are with.  

My phone is an android, which I was told was not as easy to get into and steal info....at least this is what my cousin told me.  She said iPhones are really simple to scam and steal from people.  She was told this by the credit union and the police.

Who knows if it is true or not?

[bells4me]

My phone does not ring unless it's a contact.