I Got a Call from a Very Skilled Phone Scammer This Morning

Pecos

Pecos

Well-known Member
Location
Washington State
This guy was really good and knew enough. The call came from "Private Caller."

He sounded a lot like my grandson, knew my last name, had a semi-credible story as he led into his scenario. Supposedly, he made a trip with his buddy Chris down to California where they got into some kind of trouble and were in a jam. He also insisted that I keep this conversation secret which was another big tipoff.

I told him to buzz off and called my grandson who assured me that he was home in Washington State and getting ready for work. I also called my son who related that there had been a lot of these scams in his area lately.

But these guys must have a way of knowing who old people are, and what their phone numbers are. Like I said, this guy was a pro at his game.
 

Pecos said:
This guy was really good and knew enough. The call came from "Private Caller."

He sounded a lot like my grandson, knew my last name, had a semi-credible story as he led into his scenario. Supposedly, he made a trip with his buddy Chris down to California where they got into some kind of trouble and were in a jam. He also insisted that I keep this conversation secret which was another big tipoff.

I told him to buzz off and called my grandson who assured me that he was home in Washington State and getting ready for work. I also called my son who related that there had been a lot of these scams in his area lately.

But these guys must have a way of knowing who old people are, and what their phone numbers are. Like I said, this guy was a pro at his game.
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..but how seriously could anyone take this tbf... someone calls you and has a conversation it's only gonna be a few seconds before you know they're not a family member..
 
Pecos, there are programs that can pick out elderly people from various data-bases and transfer the data to another server. Scammers can then transfer that data to a data bank that they use to prey on victims.

The original data bases include your name and ph#, sometimes one or more relative names, and sometimes your address and phone number, depending on what organization or company has the orig data - those would be medical groups and hospitals, insurance companies, law firms, property management and real estate companies, AARP, etc. Some of those data bases are not completely secure and get hacked, and some companies actually knowingly sell the data online to the highest bidder. The hackers and the buyers sell the data online, and it gets resold, and so on.

Selling personal data is a very profitable business. Anytime you fill out a form or sign a document, if the company you're dealing with then inputs that info into a computer, it is added to a data base. Tech companies are always working on the problem of data-base vulnerability, but so are hackers.
 
Got one of those years ago, before they were a mainstream scam. Came from saying they were my cousin..in the form of a Facebook DM. Said she and her husband were stuck in London, lost passports, etc etc. Again, years ago when the scam was still new to me. I then sensed an issue,..and said it was strange,,,,as I had just been at their house the week before. AND..the husband was very ill with cancer, terminal and would not be traveling. Guy ended message
 
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Pecos said:
But these guys must have a way of knowing who old people are, and what their phone numbers are. Like I said, this guy was a pro at his game.
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Today, you can get any info you want. When I was in the hospital, the furnace went out, and the pipes froze and burst open. I was talking with my insurance company agent about my claim. He said, "I see you had a $811.47 propane delivery on the 24th, so you didn't run out of fuel". I never told him who my gas supplier was, nor when, and how much was my last fill up. That blew me away that he had access to that info.
 
fuzzybuddy said:
Today, you can get any info you want. When I was in the hospital, the furnace went out, and the pipes froze and burst open. I was talking with my insurance company agent about my claim. He said, "I see you had a $811.47 propane delivery on the 24th, so you didn't run out of fuel". I never told him who my gas supplier was, nor when, and how much was my last fill up. That blew me away that he had access to that info.
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If it's been input to a computer, billions of people have access. Not many people bother to look for it, mostly nefarious ones.
 
No matter how often you tell people that whatever is put on the internet is accessible in any number of ways, even when you give them proof, some still don't believe it. I'm not saying that's anyone in this thread, just some people in general.

Years ago, I got into it with a friend about identity theft. He poo-pooed me. Not long after that, his identity was stolen.
 
Well, to start off my grandson had been in jail before I received these calls. I have received the same scam call twice that has been stated here. They went through their well-thought-out plan for telling me my grandson was in jail. The first time I fell for the plot and kept delaying them longer and longer to see what the next events will be. My wife came home, and I told her what has happened to our grandson. She called our son and found out our grandson was not in jail, then she took my phone and told the scammers that we do not have a grandson by that name even though we do, then they hung up.

I received the same type of call a few months later and took care of it myself. I told my supposed grandson he needs to straighten up his act and stay out of jail. When I talked to my grandson, I told him I hope he meets new friends in jail. The whole ploy they planned then took a shift, it became less of an immediate rush and more relaxed. They told me I could call them back later. Well, there is a thing that has bothered me about this scam. I know not to trust my grandson and think he could have created this scam along with other people to get my money and take advantage of me.

Sometimes I wonder if the scammer that calls us may not be someone far away but rather someone you know. He is using you in his scam, taking your money and making you think the scammer is someone that you do not know.
 
Pecos said:
This guy was really good and knew enough. The call came from "Private Caller."

He sounded a lot like my grandson, knew my last name, had a semi-credible story as he led into his scenario. Supposedly, he made a trip with his buddy Chris down to California where they got into some kind of trouble and were in a jam. He also insisted that I keep this conversation secret which was another big tipoff.

I told him to buzz off and called my grandson who assured me that he was home in Washington State and getting ready for work. I also called my son who related that there had been a lot of these scams in his area lately.

But these guys must have a way of knowing who old people are, and what their phone numbers are. Like I said, this guy was a pro at his game.
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This is disturbing, doesn't sound like some total stranger, maybe a ne'er-do-well associate of your grandson?
This guy knows way more about you than some random scammer ever could, I'd be concerned...
 
An elderly acquaintance wrote an essay on how she was scammed - mind you, she was in her 80s. She received a phone call from her "grandson" in jail. She believed the scammer and sent money (thousands) to get him out of jail. She said it sounded just like her grandson! The second call came from his "attorney" that said he needed more money for some reason (forgot what it was). She sent more money (again, thousands). The third time the "grandson" called, but by that time, she had become suspicious and had actually contacted her daughter before the third call and had found out the grandson was NOT in jail. This time, she hung up on the "grandson." She had lost money, thousands, but was happy her grandson was ok.
 
Clearly he didn't know who he was dealing with. :) It's kind of scary that someone could know even a little about us, enough to make their scams successful ! I just saw a headline in one of my news apps about a woman who was scammed out of $8,000. When I see "private caller", I don't answer. I figure if it's a relative or friend with a new phone and it's important, they'll leave a message. Glad you're so savvy MDB. 🤗
@hollydolly
"but how seriously could anyone take this tbf... someone calls you and has a conversation it's only gonna be a few seconds before you know they're not a family member.."
That's not necessarily the case HD. That's why so many people have been conned out of their money when someone runs this scam. Not everyone is savvy like us. :) Plus there are any number of reasons why people fall victim to this scam. Check out this story. The wife was no stranger to scams and thwarted an IRS scam but she and her husband fell prey to the Grandparent's scam.
https://www.aarp.org/money/scams-fraud/info-2020/retirees-lose-money-grandparent-scam.html


Wow
 
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OneEyedDiva said:
Clearly he didn't know who he was dealing with. :) It's kind of scary that someone could know even a little about us, enough to make their scams successful ! I just saw a headline in one of my news apps about a woman who was scammed out of $8,000. When I see "private caller", I don't answer. I figure if it's a relative or friend with a new phone and it's important, they'll leave a message. Glad you're so savvy MDB. 🤗
@hollydolly
"but how seriously could anyone take this tbf... someone calls you and has a conversation it's only gonna be a few seconds before you know they're not a family member.."
That's not necessarily the case HD. That's why so many people have been conned out of their money when someone runs this scam. Not everyone is savvy like us. :) Plus there are any number of reasons why people fall victim to this scam. Check out this story. The wife was no stranger to scams and thwarted an IRS scam but she and her husband fell prey to the Grandparent's scam.
https://www.aarp.org/money/scams-fraud/info-2020/retirees-lose-money-grandparent-scam.html


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but that's just stipidity... grandparents have a fairly long conersation with someone posing as their grandson.. and they don't realise this is not his voice.. ?.. they don't say ''let us call you back''.. they don't say let us call your mother..?...
 
Ever since I kept my "grandson" on the phone for 15 minutes Then got a call from his lawyer attesting to my "grandsons" legal troubles & I agreed to send a money order to the lawyers office I haven't been bother again.

Of course I didn't send any money. I did file a fraud complaint with the federal communications office.
 
Remy said:
Glad you knew this was a scammer. Some poor soul with dementia starting or something, could fall for it.
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These are the susceptible folks and our numbers as seniors are increasing rapidly.

hollydolly said:
yes .. however most likely if anyone with dementia took the call they wouldn't likely be able to have a conversation of any real value, nor be able to transfer money
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Many seniors who are very vulnerable are living on their own. Many with dementia are marginal on the definition. How many of us here are willing to leave our homes; we don’t believe we have a problem. This could be any of us being the victim.
 

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