Suspicious (scammer?) phone call

Trade

Trade

Well-known Member
I have something called NOMOROBO on my landline that blocks robo calls after one ring. This morning I got one of these calls. But I was in a piss up a rope mood I decided to call them back and give them a few choice words. So I looked up the number in my call log and called it. What I got was a very official and professional sounding recording message saying "Hello and welcome to card member services, I will be helping you with your account." I have to give these people credit. This is a very sophisticated message. They had it almost word for word like the one you get when you actually call the card holder services number on the back of your credit card. Even to the point of giving you the option of selecting "Espanol" and informing you that the call may be monitored or recorded for training purposes. And then they say "To get started, please say or enter your credit card number". That's when I hung up. But I have to admit, they had e going a bit because of the professionalism of this recording. So I took out my credit card and looked on the back to see what numbers were there. There were two, one for card holder services, and one to report a card lost or stolen. But neither one of them matched the number I had gotten this call from. That number was 800-285-8585.

So I googled that number and this is what I found.

https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-800-285-8585/2

 

Sheesh, that's really scary. A lot worse than the guy named "Kevin" with such an extreme foreign accent that you can barely understand him, who claims to be from the IRS, warning you that the police are on their
way to your house. They are getting more skillful, apparently.
 
I like the 800notes.com web site. I block numbers with my Digitone Pro but when I get one that hasn't called before, I don't dare answer but I look for the number on 800notes web site to see how they're trying to trick me this time.
 

The past two days, I got three of the same calls: "This is Dianne from Microsoft. Your license is about to expire & we're going to shut off your computer....."

Last month, it was the "IRS calling about back taxes; send a check immediately for $$$ to _____."

And the "Carpet Cleaning" one. I press "1" like they ask me to. When someone comes on the line, I tell them, "I'm not interested; I just wanted to waste your time, too."

Here's my favorite: (feel free to use it). I get a brochure in the mail, trying to sell me Long-Term health insurance or a pre-paid funeral. Of course, they have access to your birthdate. They include a self-addressed stamped envelope. I stuff it full of advertising material to make it heavier so it costs them more for the postage & send it back, along with a letter:

Hi, folks:
Thank you for sending me the information about long-term care insurance. Your genuine concern for my health & my finances has touched me deeply. In this fast-paced, indifferent world, it is refreshing to see people who really care about others.
To show my sincere appreciation, I have enclosed some valuable coupons I save for considerate, kind, thoughtful, caring, wonderful people like you. Since I believe that kindness should always be rewarded, I will continue to bestow such gifts upon you each time you mail me information.
PS: Thanks for paying the return postage.
 
After I did a little more research it appears that these scammers have figured out a way to mask their numbers and instead get the number of a legitimate business or person to show up on your caller ID instead. So I'm not sure if this might have been the case with me.

One thing I am sure of is that the scammer calls seem to be increasing at an alarming rate.
 
I use the 800notes site a lot to look up the spammers/scammers calling me repeatedly, I add my comment for numbers that others have complained about.
 
I'm able to screen most of the scam calls out and not answer them but they are still annoying.

I would never return a scammer's telephone call and start punching buttons on a voice response unit, absolutely no good can come from it.
 
I get emails telling me that my account will be cancelled unless I click something and 'verify' my info. I never do it, just go to my account site and log in just to make sure there are no problems with my account. I figure there will be a notice in my account and there NEVER is a problem. I never answer my phone unless I recognize the phone number on my called ID.
 

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