Scam Phone Calls

LTS3

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I sometimes get voicemail messages with a robo woman's voice speaking in Mandarin Chinese :headscratch: I send all unknown phone numbers and toll numbers straight to voicemail.
 

DreamerRose

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Does anyone else get the automated robot callers who, when you answer, command you "Do NOT hang up the phone"? I usually say "good thinking!" then slam the receiver down. Who are these jokers kidding?
Oh yes, and that caller is calling Medicare recipients and wants to sell you a hearing aid or a back brace that you don't want or need. They then bill Medicare and keep the money.
 

lizzie

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:yess::thumbsup:
I do it, too. A few of my favorite things to do are jot down the number. Say a scammer is pretending to be the police department. Next time you answer, answer it ("City/town name) Police Department", etc. etc.
If they ask for someone (usually mispronouncing the name), say "yes, they're here, let me go get them." Then yell for them as loud as you can right into the phone. They'll hang up :redtongue:
My girlfriend does that ...uses our county sheriff's name and adds fraud division to it...they aways hang up.
 

Willowy

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I usually don't answer the phone if I don't recognize the number. But sometimes I will and it's always a robot. I kind of wish it were a real person so I could mess with them. I hang up as soon as I know it's a recording---nothing important is going to come from a recorded message. I can usually tell as soon as they say Hello! (not even cold-callers say it quite so emphatically) but a few companies have their recordings sound more natural and it takes a few lines before I can tell.
 

kashmir64

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kind of wish it were a real person so I could mess with them.
Wait a few before you hang up. There is usually a "press 1" for an officer or representative.
" Don't hang up ! You could be a winner... "
I actually got a call from 'PCH' saying I won 5 million and a Mercedes (or a BMW) something like that. He finally hung up on me.
 

Winchester

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For a few months, I was getting harassed by a health company who wanted to sell me insurance. They started out by sending my texts, starting out with, "Hey Bret....". When I blocked that, they started calling me. When I started blocking numbers, they started spoofing. It got so annoying that I changed my voice mail recording and simply stopped answering my phone. It's so exaggeration to say that I was getting calls at the rate of at least 30 a day. Finally, they're down to 1 or 2 calls a day now. Sometimes now I'll answer the call, but won't say a word. They'll hang up.

One time, I was getting the Microsoft calls. I started playing with the guy; that lasted for several minutes until he said, "Hey, would you **** me?" I was laughing so hard that I couldn't find the hang-up button. Oh, and we got Sheriff's Association phone calls, too. IRS calls. We've had them all. Somebody called one time with a loan offer because we "couldn't pay our bills". They asked me how much money I needed. When I told them, I would need at least $50,000, they called me a B**** and hung up on me.

Right now, we're getting a lot of calls about some kind of subscription they're going to bill us for. It's $199 and, if we don't call them (at 1-800-ITS-SPAM!!), it will show up on our credit card. We can't even understand what the subscription is for. And I'm sure there's a reason for that. We don't answer that line at all, so all we do is listen to messages.

You know it's just a matter of time before the political nonsense will start in.
 

Jem

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The one scam call I remember getting that really sticks out is when I had someone from "the tax collection agency" leave a voice mail saying that "someone" in my household is behind on payments and that they needed to call them back to arrange making payments. If they did not call them back they would send the police to arrest them. LOL!
They didn't even tell us who the offender was, how were we supposed to know which one of us was late on payments?;)
 

JamesCalifornia

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~ Some of these calls remind me of the panhandling that went on in Los Angeles during the 1980s. Some goofy "story" would always go along with the plea for cash. Around the early 90s ethics came into play and I would see men at freeway off-ramps with signs "Why lie? I need beer." Or "Lazy bum needs cash". Maybe the telephone fakes should just try being honest ...? :think:☎
 

DreamerRose

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The one call I didn't hang up on recently was in fact a local political call. It purported to be a poll, but all the possible answers were positive about one party and negative about the other party.
 

Kitty Mommy

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We got so sick of scam calls
that we bought a call screener for our landline. We can white list certain numbers so those calls come through. Most other calls are blocked and the phone won't ring unless it is a white listed number or the caller presses 0. We have not had a scam or a robo call since.
 

misty8723

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most of the calls now are coming from what looks to be the same prefix as my number (land line). They have found a way to spoof to make you think it's a neighbor calling. I don't answer. If it IS a neighbor, they'll leave a message and I'll grab it or call them back.

I don't mess with them because I have heard they can take what you say and twist the recording to make it sound like you've agreed to something. Like if they say is this so and so and you say yes, they'll add your yes to something that looks like you are agreeing. That happened to an Aunt once. I had a bear of a time getting her out of that one.
 

rgwanner

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I do not have any confidence that any law will stop scam calls. The callers will just get around it.

I just don't answer any calls that are not in my contacts. i check messages. Two or three times a day I get a call from a local number and sometimes I answer it if I am expecting a call from someone, A lady says Hi I.m Sarah. I have been trying to reach you. It is something about a resort. I put the number in my contacts as scam,but they change numbers.

It is very annoying but I don't see it stopping any time soon.
 

Elphaba09

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I typically do not answer calls unless they are from my husband or children. I speak with one of my three sisters, and, unless she is driving and using some hands-free device, she texts and asks if I feel up to talking.

Four or five years ago, I got a phone call from someone claiming to be the IRS. They left a message, so I called them back. The only reason that I called them back was because I was actually dealing with the IRS concerning my ex-husband trying to claim our daughter. As soon as they answered, I knew it was a scam. It was not about my ex-husband--obviously--but rather them claiming I was about to be arrested for not paying taxes. They wanted me to send them $1,800 in gift cards. I messed with them for about two hours, calling them back each time they hung up. They threatened me with horrific violence. Eventually, they blocked my number.

I always look up any number that calls me. I only speak with one of my sisters, so, when one of the other sister's mother-in-law's number popped up, I got angry and wanted to know why she had called. I asked the sister with whom I do speak. After a bit of investigating, the MIL denied calling me. Honestly, I have no idea why she would have my number or how she would have gotten it all things considered. She does not even know my new last name. She reminded my sister who told my other sister that she had been the victim of the Microsoft scam a couple of months ago. I also found that there is a website that lists possible connection between people and the that MIL and I were connected under one of my other sister's names, which is weird. Unless she is a delayed stalker who took more than 13 years to contact me, we think her number was spoofed and is now being used to contact people.

I know they can also do it with emails, too. I once got several emails from myself trying to tell me that I was under investigation and that if I did not reply that a warrant was going to be issued. I do not recall sending that to myself.
 

kashmir64

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Like if they say is this so and so and you say yes, they'll add your yes to something that looks like you are agreeing.
But not if you give them either no or fake information. And they legally can't hold you to anything without a written agreement. Let them try to take someone to court to try to uphold their scam.
 

kashmir64

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I know they can also do it with emails, too. I once got several emails from myself trying to tell me that I was under investigation and that if I did not reply that a warrant was going to be issued. I do not recall sending that to myself.
Do not ever answer those unless you have a separate email on a different computer just for this.
I had my email hacked once from a warranty company - for an electronic device - from Amazon- that was outsourced to India. I didn't even know until my ISP shut down my email. They had used it to send spam emails. When it reached 150 in two days, my ISP was on to it. It was a mess to straighten out.
 

Silver Crazy

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I got the Microsoft scam caller one day where they want to get into your computer to fix a fault then they lock up your computer and try and charge a huge sum to unlock it again which they never do.
I went along with it until right to the bit where they give you the password for their remote access program and I said i am a hacker and will wipe your system and servers out in the first 5 seconds..never had a call since. Sort of the slegdehammer effect..lol
 

kashmir64

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I got the Microsoft scam caller one day where they want to get into your computer to fix a fault then they lock up your computer and try and charge a huge sum to unlock it again which they never do.
I went along with it until right to the bit where they give you the password for their remote access program and I said i am a hacker and will wipe your system and servers out in the first 5 seconds..never had a call since. Sort of the slegdehammer effect..lol
Tons of fun....isn't it?
 
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