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Responding to scam/hoax/pishing calls?

Bella Pines said:
I never respond either, I'm well versed in not responding or noticing things so it's easy enough!

Saw this the other day, worst scam ever....

View attachment 46469
Click to expand...

The really sad part is that a lot of people probably sent their cards in. I think that the very first clue is "Dear customer". Everything that I have ever gotten from a bank has my name on it.
 
I got a call from this windows guy some time back and played along with it for a laugh. It got to the point where he said I had a virus, I told him I'd just done an anti-virus scan and found nothing but he still carried on by saying that my computer just hadn't detected it.
At this point, I said to him something along the lines of "look pal, why don't we just be honest with each other because I can tell you're a scam caller", at which he then replied with "I am not a scam caller, sir - you are the scam caller".
I nearly choked on the cup of tea I was drinking and, after getting my breath back, shouted down the phone "How the hell am I a scam caller - you called me!"
At that point, I just told him to get stuffed and put the phone down. When I relayed what had been said to my mum, we were both just laughing as we found his response to be hilarious.
 
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The real trick is when these callers catch you off guard. Where you didn't even bother to consider the very notion of predatory callers, apart from the shtick they use in attempting to deceive you. And some of them have some really clever ones apart from the stupid and obvious.

It's how they get people to do some really dumb and tragic things.

Bottom line is that you have to become vigilant about every time your phone rings rather than to instantly consider who is - or isn't calling at the time. You have to accept that caller id is useless in determining who is actually calling. That your only recourse is avoidance. And after the fact to investigate the number that called you by checking online.

Not easy things to consider when one has spent most of their life taking the telephone for granted as a friendly and helpful communications device.
 
Debit cards that combust? "Precushion"? I'll give them points for creativity...but in all seriousness, if it were legit they wouldn't be asking for your PIN number. Obvious? Maybe, of course, maybe not...some people actually take the bait and suffer for it. Honestly, this thread is giving me a bit of a wake-up call. :eek:

My phone takes care of most attempts now with a possible scam notice and the phone number. That failing, I'll do a reverse lookup, find out what's going on and, if needed, add it to the blacklist.
 
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WildCat said:
My phone takes care of most attempts now with a possible scam notice and the phone number. That failing, I'll do a reverse lookup, find out what's going on and, if needed, add it to the blacklist.
Click to expand...

Another rule of mine. If I see their number more than twice in two weeks, I put them on my provider's block list. Once I do that, my phone won't even ring if they call again. My only concern is what the total capacity of blocked numbers may be. I know they increased the capacity far beyond only 12 numbers, but I have no idea what the limit might be. Though I know they are certainly aware of how the problem has exploded in recent years.
 
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Bella Pines said:
I never respond either, I'm well versed in not responding or noticing things so it's easy enough!

Saw this the other day, worst scam ever....
Click to expand...

Yeah, that's a good example of a silly scam. The scary aspect of this is not all of such phishing attempts are so amateurish. Some years back I received on that looked quite official. So official that I reported it directly to the bank in question.

If you ever get something "out of the blue" from your bank providing links for you to input personal account details, never use those links as provided in an email.

Instead, immediately contact your local branch bank by phone to elaborate on whether or not there really is a problem to begin with.
 
I've never really gotten one but I'm also one of those people who doesn't answer anonymous or abroad phone numbers. I get the occasional e-mail but they are usually pretty bad.
 
I don't have any plans to try to do that right now, but it would be funny to make a bunch of automatic bots that would waste their time, pretend to be a used computer and constantly make them try fake account logins.

I never got one on email or phone.
 
I used to get LOADS of phishing emails from Barclay's Bank, and a lot from Natwest as well, so I rang 'em up after Googling the phone numbers, and told them that somebody was "phishing" in their name and they said they'd look into it.

As a rule though, if you've had a phishing email that says it's from a Bank you do use, forward it to their anti-fraud team, the email address for which will be on their website.
 
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I only need the WiFi.
The land line has no telephone jack plugged into it. Perfectly silent.

Probably only four people alive that have my mobile number. I email or message those I can’t physically see.

My daughter subscribes to alsorts and receives many cold calls.
One call, she handed the phone to her nephew and told him Batman needed to speak to him.
 
I tell the person, "You need to go to school, learn a good skill, and get an honest job." Usually they hang up before I can say the whole thing.
 
Also, not sure if it works in the US, but there is a way to stop most cold calls here in the UK, firstly, go ex-Directory on your landline phone, and second, get the Telephone Preference Service, this blocks most numbers that aren't known to you.

But even they're not totally foolproof, they can still call random numbers and get you.
 
Don't call back: 'One ring scam' targets cell phones across Canada

The fraudsters behind the so-called “one ring scam” place calls that appear to originate overseas and hang up quickly. Curious victims return the anonymous missed call and inadvertently agree to fees that get piled onto their monthly bill.

“When they do call back, it puts them through to a pay-per-call type of scenario where there’s a cost involved to initially be connected, as well as a cost-per-minute once you’re on that call.”
 
Mia said:
Don't call back: 'One ring scam' targets cell phones across Canada

The fraudsters behind the so-called “one ring scam” place calls that appear to originate overseas and hang up quickly. Curious victims return the anonymous missed call and inadvertently agree to fees that get piled onto their monthly bill.

“When they do call back, it puts them through to a pay-per-call type of scenario where there’s a cost involved to initially be connected, as well as a cost-per-minute once you’re on that call.”
Click to expand...

Yeah, and it's usually about a quid a minute for a LONG call.
 
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On the phone, or Email, I do not normally answer calls from sources I do not recognize. Emails I will avoid even if it looks like a company I have dealings with. If its important they will call or send a letter, etc. Its too dangerous clicking on sites unless you are absolutely sure. Online in general, such as Facebook I only talk to, respond to actual known friends & family. No 'friends of friends'.

Answering a call, even if you hang up still will keep you spreading on spammer lists.
 
I will say one time, before I wizened up, I got a telemarketer, and happened to have our Parrotlet on my shoulder. Putting the reciever near my ear put it also near Birdy who then attacked the phone noisily. I talked to Birdy alone, but so the telemarketer could hear, encouraging Birdy to bite and attack the bad lady trying to make us buy bad things (If you are familar with Parrotlets you know they don't need much encouragment to be agressive :D). The telemarketer still wouldn't give up and tried to get me back on line....
 
Mia said:
Don't call back: 'One ring scam' targets cell phones across Canada

The fraudsters behind the so-called “one ring scam” place calls that appear to originate overseas and hang up quickly. Curious victims return the anonymous missed call and inadvertently agree to fees that get piled onto their monthly bill.

“When they do call back, it puts them through to a pay-per-call type of scenario where there’s a cost involved to initially be connected, as well as a cost-per-minute once you’re on that call.”
Click to expand...

Good point. I get a fair number of those as well. Nope, I wouldn't return an anonymous call any more than I would initially answer it. :p

If they monitor their call logs, eventually they realize they're just wasting their time with me and they just move on.
 
The funny side of spam

Recently criminals introduced themselves as a cousin of the first African astronaut, who was lost in space many years ago and needed $3 million to come home. The money was being held in a trust, but for some reason this cousin needed your assistance to get at it.

In 2012 spammers brought Daenerys Targaryen from the Game of Thrones series to life. “Dee Dee” asked for $520, a ship, and dragons to get back home. In return, she would make her benefactor a High Lord of Seven Kingdoms.
:D

https://www.kaspersky.com/blog/funny-email-scam/12503/
 
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