Scammy phone calls

Marie5656

Marie5656

SF VIP
Location
Batavia, NY
My husband got a series of scam phone calls, all within 20 minutes, fro the same number INSISTING they were from his credit card company saying they wanted to lower his interest rates. Thing is, when Rick asked what card, the guy said "Well, what do you have?" The caller had the last 4 digits of his social security number, as well as the last 4 digits of his one credit card. Plus his balance and the last payment he made. So my husband called me and had me call Discover and ask about this. Discover told me they would never make outgoing calls to customers like this. That the only time they call a customer is if there is suspicious activity.

Thing is, the same person called about 7 or 8 times, getting more threatening each time. When my husband told them he called Discover and they knew nothing about these calls, they caller threatened him with canceling his card and told him to erm..Flake-off. And hung up on him. Also the caller was calling from another country, and Discover told me all their US customers are handled by US based call centers. We asked about how they knew so much information, they said that the last four digits are public record!! Still not sure how they got the balance info (which was wrong, BTW).

I know that seniors are targeted, so just be careful. If you have elderly family members, tell them too. We are always warned to not answer the call if we do not know the number, and to do what I did, call the number you know is an accurate customer service number to check on it.
The National Do Not Call registry as a way to report numbers who continue to call after you are on the registry.
 

You are welcome. By the way, Rick is not easily given a feeling of insecurity, so I asked Discover what our options were. They are going to monitor his card for us, PLUS, they are changing his card number and issuing him a new card. Just to be safe,
 

Thanks for the warning about yet another SCAM ..We are in Australia but we tend to get the same calls as you do, the last one we got about a week ago claimed they were from "windows" dept regarding the computer ..I have a iPad so I don't have windows.
I know they can get quite aggressive as we have had the so called "Tax Office" get quite aggressive with us the moment you answer the phone
 
Kadee, I've been getting the tax office scam call on almost a daily basis lately. I've let the call go to my answering machine.

Apparently, if I don't call back, I face imminent arrest, and my home is being watched by Federal Officers.

We older people do have to make sure that we keep abreast of of the latest scams.

One I have heard of is they ask if you're the owner of the house. Do not say yes. They record, then tack that "yes" onto the end of a read out of the terms and conditions for changing your electricity supplier.
 
We solve the problem of scamming phone calls by having no cell phone, only a land line, which is used only for outgoing calls. It's plugged in only when we are making those calls.
 
I got one today that started off...."You are covered by Medicare, right? We've heard reports you've been having some lower back pain..." (click) Now THAT'S a new one. :rolleyes:
 
Thanks that's a new one to me ,( medicare which we have in Aust ) I really appricate both Nancy and Marie posting the warnings ,as the attempted scammers sound so genuine at times
 
Marie5656, I don't understand why people keep falling for these scams. It's been on the news for years now. Why do people keep answering the phone calls even though it was the same number calling them? Even your husband gave them info they were looking for, the name of the credit card company. You were smart to have a new card issued.
 
steelcitiesgray said:
Marie5656, I don't understand why people keep falling for these scams. It's been on the news for years now. Why do people keep answering the phone calls even though it was the same number calling them? Even your husband gave them info they were looking for, the name of the credit card company. You were smart to have a new card issued.
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Unfortunatly, my husband can be a bit gullible about things. He is smart, but not always scam-savy. It took me a LONG time to convince him to check with me first about these things. He also has a tendency to just pick up his phone and answer without looking at the number. Thing is, because he was getting the calls on the cell phone he uses for work, he is used to getting calls from unfamiliar numbers which end up being legit calls so he hates ignoring calls. So I reminded him that if the same number keeps calling like that, he needs to hit the ignore button.
 
Do you not have decent call blockers in the US?

Out of all the numbers in the world, including all cellphones, only 39 are permitted to call my number.

I haven't had an unwanted phone call, not even a wrong number, for seven years.
 
Marie5656 said:
You are welcome. By the way, Rick is not easily given a feeling of insecurity, so I asked Discover what our options were. They are going to monitor his card for us, PLUS, they are changing his card number and issuing him a new card. Just to be safe,
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It is possible that they got that info from your mailbox or from a discarded statement in your garbage..
 
Ken N Tx said:
It is possible that they got that info from your mailbox or from a discarded statement in your garbage..
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Yes it happens, but not in this case. We do not get paper statements, and pay online. Plus I do not put outgoing mail in our box, take it right to post office. Good, thought, Ken, because you have to be careful. With that in mind, though, everyone should consider investing in a shredder, to shred documents and paper with personal info on it.
 
Laurie said:
Do you not have decent call blockers in the US?

Out of all the numbers in the world, including all cellphones, only 39 are permitted to call my number.

I haven't had an unwanted phone call, not even a wrong number, for seven years.
Click to expand...

Yes, we do. I own one now called Digitone Call Blocker and no one hardly ever calls me that I don't want them to. If they do, it's because they haven't called before and I don't have their number blocked. But, that's when I block them and they don't call again. They may try but they are blocked from doing so! It has been worth every penny!
 
AprilSun said:
Yes, we do. I own one now called Digitone Call Blocker and no one hardly ever calls me that I don't want them to. If they do, it's because they haven't called before and I don't have their number blocked. But, that's when I block them and they don't call again. They may try but they are blocked from doing so! It has been worth every penny!
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April, was that blocker hard to set up? Does it make it hard for people you WANT to call you to get through?
 
Marie5656 said:
Yes it happens, but not in this case. We do not get paper statements, and pay online. Plus I do not put outgoing mail in our box, take it right to post office. Good, thought, Ken, because you have to be careful. With that in mind, though, everyone should consider investing in a shredder, to shred documents and paper with personal info on it.
Click to expand...

I shred everything that has even my name and address on it. I've gotten to where all that paper mail just annoys me. I get a huge amount of junk mail, and if I get one more thing from AARP or some hearing place or funeral place I may blow a gasket.
 
I got this in a text message yesterday and then husband emailed that he got it as well. First time either of us has received anything like this in a text. Hope it`s not a sign of things to come.....

S:M:I'm Peter from Banco bank HK, I've $950K inheritance DEALfor you.
 
Butterfly said:
April, was that blocker hard to set up? Does it make it hard for people you WANT to call you to get through?
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No, it's not hard at all. Blocking by phone number is easy. You just hit the up or down viewing button and when the number displays that you want to block, you hit the "Block" button twice quickly. If it is quick enough, it will display, "number blocked". Everyone will be able to call as normal except for the numbers you have blocked. Now by area code is a little bit more to it but it comes with a manual telling you how to do any of it. I have some blocked by area code but I don't know anyone in those area codes so it is no problem for me. You can go to their web site and read more information about it at: http://www.digitone.com/



 
I tried doing this, but my phone doesn't have a "Block" button. I tried it on my land line. Does this only work on smart phones? (I get junk phone calls on both.)
 
Sunny said:
I tried doing this, but my phone doesn't have a "Block" button. I tried it on my land line. Does this only work on smart phones? (I get junk phone calls on both.)
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Sunny, I was referring to the Digitone call blocker that we have to purchase separately and use it with our land lines and phones. You can click on the link in my message above and read more about it. If I misunderstood who your question was directed to, I do apologize.
 
We have what is called Do Not Call Register in Australia ,I registered our home phone on it however we still get Scammers calling ..We both have mobile phones, we have never had scammers call us on either of them.
 

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