The latest attempted scam

Ronni

Ronni

Well-known Member
Location
Nashville TN
Scammers occasionally try and get money from us using all manner of schemes. This is the latest one.

Clearly it attempts to use scare tactics to force us to investigate further/give them money. The funny thing about this one is that we live in Tennessee where there are zero toll roads, and it’s been years since we’ve travelled anywhere where we’ve had to pass through a toll booth!

Clearly these scammers don’t research specific victims. They just cast a very wide net in the hopes that they’ll get a few bites.
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They have been sending me this notice once a month for at least the last 5 or 6 months. I carry a transponder on my w/s for EZ Pass and I thought maybe they got my e-mail from the state. Now I know they are sending the notices randomly.
 

I fell for this scam before.
You get an email from your service provider saying you have to update to a B-64 email app. When you enter your email address & password, they change that, so you're locked out of your email. BUT for $55, they will sell you the key to restoring your email.
I got the same one yesterday, but the graphics were great. I got an email bill from Breezeline and they were almost identical. And they added a nice touch-they sent two emails. One was a couple of days before saying they were upgrading their email program, and instructions will follow.
Also, usually you can tell by the sender's email address if it's real. But somehow they just had "Breezeline". Later, I found out it was from 678BG@gmail.
I think Breezeline found out about this, because both emails vanished.
 
I can see that what happened in the OP would cause concern.

About 2 years ago, I received a bill for a toll via snail mail, showing the date and time. The NT Toll Authority was able to find my address from the license plate captured on camera, and yes, I was in that area on the date in question - I just wasn't aware that I had inadvertently entered a toll road. I called the number on the bill, then paid the toll by mail and never heard from them again.

But, I've never received a text like the OP screenshot. If I did, I would know it was a scam, since my phone number is not in public records.
 
Also, that OP notice is just screaming "Scam!" by the way it is written. No official document from a government agency ever looks or sounds like that. But I guess even those amateurish "notices" pay off enough to be used. Probably even if 1% of the people getting them believe them and fall for it, the scammers are thousands of dollars richer. They probably count on the scare factor to stop people from giving any real thought to the matter.
 
I just got two texts on my cell phone. The first was a notice that I had been charged $700 and some odd bucks at Nordstrom's and that in order to deny it I should "Tap" the link provided. The second one was almost identical except the amount was $900 and something. Needless to say I deleted both. Efing scammers. :mad:
 
One scam that really makes me furious is the official-looking bill or notice, telling me that my "membership" is expiring and has to be renewed. It's usually from an organization I have never belonged to in the first place.

One of them was Sierra Club, of all people. I once gave a donation in memory of an online friend who had passed away. Her family said if anyone wants to make a donation, that was her favorite charity. So I donated. This was years ago. Since then, I've been receiving notices from them.

McAffee is another perennial offender. I've never belonged to them, or if I ever did, it was probably about 30 years ago. They are driving me crazy. Every time I log on, their screen pops up. I don't know how to get rid of it, so I just ignore it.

But I bet plenty of people are scammed out of money this way.
 
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