Thank you, thank you -

febe1 · ‎01-22-2012

I want to thank all you wonderful ladies who yesterday told me I might have been scammed by the Police Dept.scam.

I got the call from Paul who said he was from the Police Dept., and would I make a donation. Yes, and I gave him my credit card number.

Tinkerbell and others said it could be a scam and call the Police Dept. I did and sure enough: the police do not make telephone calls asking for money.

I stopped all credit card charges, and the Police came to the house this am to make a report.

Thank you again for advising me. And please, all be careful. Don't give out any information unless you're absolutely sure.

haddon9 · ‎03-09-2010

@febe1 I didn't see yesterday's thread but a rule to follow is to NEVER give out credit card, banking or any financial information when you did not initiate the call.

Glad it worked out well for you.

Still Raining · ‎03-30-2014

Glad you got this solved. They are sly devils.

I block all unknown callers but let them ring before being sent to voicemail (medical offices often use alternative numbers). Yesterday I got one from the right area code and waited to see the voicemail. It just went dead for about a minute waiting.... I think they now pause to wait for a live one 😈

cindyNC · ‎08-01-2019

So sorry this happened to you and glad the police dept is taking it seriously.

I had to get my credit card replaced this week due to erroneos charges. I charged some items at a local Walgreens, then later saw two charges from Walgreens from a different state. Went back to Walgreens yesterday and mentioned it to the cashier (who I think was the culpret). She asked me how I figured it out and told her all my charges are texted to my phone from the CC company.

Unfortunately, we are leaving for a cruise tomorrow and my new card has not shown up in the mail yet.

geezerette · ‎03-16-2010

@Still Raining wrote:
Glad you got this solved. They are sly devils.

I block all unknown callers but let them ring before being sent to voicemail (medical offices often use alternative numbers). Yesterday I got one from the right area code and waited to see the voicemail. It just went dead for about a minute waiting.... I think they now pause to wait for a live one 😈

@Still Raining

I've noticed this a lot lately. Most used to leave messages, but now they just wait a few seconds and the line goes dead.

I don't get as many spam calls as I used to though.

tends2dogs · ‎05-08-2010

@cindyNC Couldn't they overnight it to you? We had a compromise with our card and they said a new one would b issued and we would receive in a week. I said that wasn't acceptable and she said it would be overnighted. We got it the next day.

Hope it works out for you and have fun on your cruise!

Fear not Brothers and Sisters! I have read THE BOOK..........we win!!!

michiganfan1 · ‎11-01-2023

I always look at the number and if I don't know it I let it go to voice mail. If no voice mail I go on line and search the numer. More often then not the number turns out to be a scam number.

ETA I just remembered that my grandma was scammed once by someone claiming to be the police saying my brother was in jail. and needed bond money to bail him out. He wasn't in jail but she lived alone and unfortunately fell for it. After that she no longer answered her phone unless she knew the phone number.

FancyPhillyshopper · ‎05-02-2017

I would highly recommend that all Americans learn about Fraud prevention.

AARP offers great training and support on their website for older individuals.

Americans are seen as very naive and easy to scam.

YOU are responsible to protect your own assets.

Don't answer unsolicted phone calls, texts, or emails (or even door knocks) --wait and listen/read the message calmly later. Always check the phone number or the email address. Make sure you have virus protection and security on your devices.

Don't shop from Facebook vendor postings, and check all websites to make sure they are not fakes.

Once you lose money, it can be impossible to recover. Once you give out personal information, you can suffer identity theft.

I have never been scammed, and never will be, as I am very, very cautious (I have gone through many trainings so I know what to look for), and I do shop A LOT--but always very safely!

CalminHeart · ‎03-09-2010

@febe1 wrote:

I'm glad you were able to stop the charges and shut down that credit card.

I get calls like this sometimes. My usual response is "no thank you" and immediately hang up.

My phone tells me when I get a spam call so I don't answer them.

Scammers are getting smarter with caller id and I've even had calls showing it's coming from my own phone.

I immediately block scam phone numbers. It has helped because I get fewer and fewer scam calls each year.

Sage04 · ‎07-10-2011

I once received a scam call from the Police Department. Had to report a stolen tag to the PD and was told someone would call with a code for me to take to the Tag Office and it would show up as a Private #. Scam call came in and I Googled the number as I always do and it was from the PD and then a few minutes later another scam call in and this time they left a message.

I always check numbers I don't know and then block and delete. This is like a full time job. Block and delete, block and delete.

I remember many, many years ago calls were made for donations for the PD. Things were so different then.