Scams are getting more advanced

HoneyNut said:
About 13 years ago I got a call from my credit card's fraud/customer service while I was at a checkout and the newby cashier was apparently causing duplicate charges. The phone person had me hand the phone to the cashier and they explained to him how to undo the mess he made.

Two or three years ago the company sent me an email in the middle of the night saying suspected fraud and to contact them if it wasn't fraud, it was not, it was my kid spending something like $120 at subway treating her friends (she'd gotten my permission a few days before tho I didn't expect it to happen in the middle of the night, ha ha).

But last year when the credit card company suspected fraud they simply locked my card and I had to call to straighten it out.

So I guess nowadays they don't call.
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Likely they no longer call because of the rampant scamming.
 
Our community organized a conference on scams this past week. The speaker talked about the latest scams, about the influence of AI on the latest most sophisticated scams. It was very interesting to watch.
As much as I thought I felt well informed on that subject before I went, I learned quite a bit from the audience as well as from the speaker. It was time well spent.
If you have the opportunity to participate in one of these conferences, I would highly recommend to you.
 
Just this morning I was on FB and I belong to several quilting groups on there. One of the groups is having their annual mystery quilt along, which will start the day after Thanksgiving. Anyway, there was a lady (who said she is 77 years old) and wanted to join the quilt along. She said she was asked for her credit card number to join so she gave it to "them". The thing is...this is a free quilt along.....no charge.

This is how seniors get scammed. I don't know how she was contacted to give her CC number. She didn't say. Too sad so many older people are falling for these things. There's so many warnings out there. Don't people listen???
 
Sippican said:
There is a new, more advanced credit card scam going around that appears legitimate.
People get a call from 'a bank', lets say Wells Fargo.
They tell you your credit card may have been compromised and tell you specific locations where it may have been used.
They also tell you legitimate charges you have made (to give you a sense of credibility in the call). Remember these are hackers that already have your information)
The phone number seems ligit (its ghosted back to an actual Wells Fargo phone number) so when you do a search, it comes back as a Wells Fargo number.
The name the person is using is an actual employee at Wells Fargo, so it still seems 'real'.
Here is where they try and get you.....They say they want to verify its you, so they can make the 'adjustments'.
They authenticate by sending a number to your phone, (This is commonly used these days by reputable companies to validate its you) and want you to tell them what the number is....DON'T DO IT. Do not read them the number back.
This will allow them to enter it through their phone and make their phone a valid number in which to make transactions.

This is called 'two factor authentication' and is used to validate its actually you. It is legitimate when used correctly, but not in this case.
Giving them the number makes their phone a valid phone number for the account.
Hang up and call the number on the back of your card and make them aware that your information has been compromised and ask for a new numbered card.
They will move any valid outstanding transactions to the new number and shut off the old number.
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I would say thankyou and I will call my bank. Then I would use a different phone to call my bank and find out the score. I heard it best not to use the same phone as they have a way around that.
Never would I do what anyone asks me to on the phone or give or confirm any information they already have.
 
Colleen said:
Just this morning I was on FB and I belong to several quilting groups on there. One of the groups is having their annual mystery quilt along, which will start the day after Thanksgiving. Anyway, there was a lady (who said she is 77 years old) and wanted to join the quilt along. She said she was asked for her credit card number to join so she gave it to "them". The thing is...this is a free quilt along.....no charge.

This is how seniors get scammed. I don't know how she was contacted to give her CC number. She didn't say. Too sad so many older people are falling for these things. There's so many warnings out there. Don't people listen???
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Older people often just do not understand technology.
I only understand basics really. So I just have a rule never to respond to anything where money is involved.
 
Remy said:
I don't know if this was legit or not but I got a 'police fund something something' a couple of days ago. The guy was stupid. I said 'hello' he says back 'hello' Off to a scam-y start.

Regarding some elderly. With physical changes in the brain, causing low inhibitions and less critical thinking, they are prime victims. And that's who the scammer hopes they will get.
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It is utterly callous. I wonder if such people think of their own parents and grandparents and understand how it would be if it was them. What kind of upbringing did they have to make them so very cruel?
 
I received a text message yesterday letting me know "Spectrum" was cutting my bill by 50%. All I had to do was call the posted number to verify my account.

I knew instantly it was a scam, in all the years Spectrums been in business they've never cut anyone's bill! lol
 
I got a new scam one yesterday. It was a message on my phone that said, "__________ sent you $100.00 with Zelle. To accept your money, visit: ______________.

I don't have a Zelle account. I have no idea who this person is. I can't imagine why some total stranger would be sending me $100. I'm not about to click on a strange address. And it showed the message coming from a 5-digit telephone number. Scam!

I'm pretty sure if I did, eventually I'd be out $100 of my own money. Or more. Dastards!
 
OldFeller said:
Never answer phone calls from people you aren't expecting a call from. Always save the companies you do business with to your contacts with the name you know them by.

If you don't answer important calls, they will leave a voice mail. No meaningful voice mail, no worries.
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Good advice. I almost never answer a call from unknown parties. As you said, if it's legit and important, they'll leave a message.
 
Sippican said:
There is a new, more advanced credit card scam going around that appears legitimate.
People get a call from 'a bank', lets say Wells Fargo.
They tell you your credit card may have been compromised and tell you specific locations where it may have been used.
They also tell you legitimate charges you have made (to give you a sense of credibility in the call). Remember these are hackers that already have your information)
The phone number seems ligit (its ghosted back to an actual Wells Fargo phone number) so when you do a search, it comes back as a Wells Fargo number.
The name the person is using is an actual employee at Wells Fargo, so it still seems 'real'.
Here is where they try and get you.....They say they want to verify its you, so they can make the 'adjustments'.
They authenticate by sending a number to your phone, (This is commonly used these days by reputable companies to validate its you) and want you to tell them what the number is....DON'T DO IT. Do not read them the number back.
This will allow them to enter it through their phone and make their phone a valid number in which to make transactions.

This is called 'two factor authentication' and is used to validate its actually you. It is legitimate when used correctly, but not in this case.
Giving them the number makes their phone a valid phone number for the account.
Hang up and call the number on the back of your card and make them aware that your information has been compromised and ask for a new numbered card.
They will move any valid outstanding transactions to the new number and shut off the old number.
Click to expand...
I"m a little confused about how this works... if they already have my card number and know previous valid legitimate charges, why bother calling me to possibly tip me off? Why not simply use the card?
 
StarSong said:
I"m a little confused about how this works... if they already have my card number and know previous valid legitimate charges, why bother calling me to possibly tip me off? Why not simply use the card?
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Because online transactions are harder to trace and many companies have two factor authentication, meaning when you log in or buy something they send a text to your phone to validate it is you.
Once they have that code, their phone becomes a trusted source for making online transactions.
 
👆Don't have ''called I D".
& won't pay phone co. 💲💲💲
don't get that many calls
Anyway..I 'kinda play their game'
usually tell them "gonna report as a nuisance call"
don't know if that works...but I get 'a chuckle outta it'
 
Jace said:
👆Don't have ''called I D".
& won't pay phone co. 💲💲💲
don't get that many calls
Anyway..I 'kinda play their game'
usually tell them "gonna report as a nuisance call"
don't know if that works...but I get 'a chuckle outta it'
Click to expand...
Be careful when interacting with people like that. Their life's work is to get a fish on the hook, haul it into the boat and then skin it alive. When I see those hooks in the water, I swim the other way.

Smarter people than me have lost tens of thousands or more to scammers. My cell phone has caller ID, no additional charge. No more landline for me. It became nearly all junk calls anyway.
 
Jace said:
👆Don't have ''called I D".
& won't pay phone co. 💲💲💲
don't get that many calls
Anyway..I 'kinda play their game'
usually tell them "gonna report as a nuisance call"
don't know if that works...but I get 'a chuckle outta it'
Click to expand...
I don't usually answer those unknown calls but I have been known to read some nonsense stuff in French to them and they hang up pretty quickly, not speaking French. They haven't called back as far as I know.
 
Jace said:
👆Don't have ''called I D".
& won't pay phone co. 💲💲💲
don't get that many calls
Anyway..I 'kinda play their game'
usually tell them "gonna report as a nuisance call"
don't know if that works...but I get 'a chuckle outta it'
Click to expand...
Keeping them on the phone takes time away from them scamming someone more vulnerable than you.

I watch true crime videos on YouTube. A recent one is about a lady in her 70s who was arrested for stealing over $130K from her local library where she was a volunteer treasurer. The charge is felony larceny-embezzlement. She's facing a lot of prison time.

She sent the money in dribs and drabs to a "friend" in a foreign country who she met online. An interrogator asked her if the guy had an accent. She said yes. He'd convinced her he was a millionaire who was simply having trouble accessing his funds. She sent him anywhere from a couple thousand to 30-thousand at a time. Bitcoin transfers.

In addition to "borrowing" from the library treasury, she borrowed against her home and got loans from several real-life friends.

Really tragic.
 
Not really a scam...but fishy marketing ploys from area energy providers. A few times since living here We get folks coming through claiming to be from our local ESCO...energy service company (locally for me, National Grid) wanting to see our bill and to discuss service . NOPE....not from National Grid, but from the local ESCO trying to get us to change providers , usually for more money.
I called National Grid, because here there are all seniors, who are not always savy to scams or know to just say no.
The lady from Grid said the people do NOT work for National Grid, and are deceving people. And will not come and ask for our bill
My husband almost got roped into the scheme.
The lady I spoke to suggested I talk with our building manager to have her advise people not to fall for it, or let them in.
Our building is secure...all residents have a key fob to get in, and should not be letting these people in. They always come after office hours, so no staff in building
 
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