This morning I was awaken by a phone call from some woman in Ghana who clained I owed her money. My first reaction was how is this possible, since I don't know anyone in Ghana and I haven't bought anything online in ages. This woman was quite cruel to me and her tone got worse as the conversation went on. She wouldn't even tell me why I owed the money or what this was about, which was a red flag in itself. The only thing can come up with as to how this person got my phone number is that its online. On websites such as Facebook. I have also sent out many resume's that have my phone number as well. So far I have receive two phone calls from this person this morning. The second being after I told them that I didn't want them calling me and that I wasn't dealing with them over the phone, if this was legitiamte they needed to send me something in the mail. But no she calls me again. Now I am concern this will continue to happen from now on.
Hi Hannah. It happens to me too. I pay no mind to them. I have gotten calls, emails and even letters in the mail. I don't know how these people get the information, but anyone online leaves the door open for these idiots.
My mother got a good scam call a few months ago, she almost fell for it. Some young man called her and said, "Hi Granny, this is your grandson. I've been arrested. I didn't do anything wrong, it was all a mistake, but I need $1,000 for bail. Please don't call mom and dad because I'm so embarrassed and I don't want them to know." She said the guy sounded quite a bit like my son (her only grandson), but he would never have called her Granny, that's his other grandmother's name. Then she realized that our relationship with our son is such that he would always tell us anything and call us first. She also found it strange that he called himself "her grandson" instead of using his name. Once she realized it was a scam, she gave him a piece of her mind, and let me tell you - she's really good at that - she's had 60 years experience dealing with us!! I told her what I would have done was played around with him. I would have asked him where the Police Station was, and that she would go to her bank as soon as she could. Then tell him that she had to find a ride first, and she had a couple of errands to run, but to make sure he stayed there until she was able to wire the money. Let him sit around somewhere all day waiting for a wire transfer that was never coming!
Yes, I know these scams happen. I don't know where this person got my information. According to my sister she had heard on the Internet that some people in various countries were buying list from creditors on old debts. I don't know if this is actually true or not, if this is the case, then this has to be a very old list. I filed for bankruptcy in 2008 due to losing a job and wanting to wipe the slate clean on my debt. But again this could be someone who got my information online. AllI know is that this person was anything but polite and treated me like I was a scum bag. Really good way to try to convince someone to co-operate with you, not that I would have.
I sometimes get emails supposedly from someone on my facebook friends list. Since most of my facebook friends don't have my email address I delete them without opening them. On exception was from someone who has sent me emails before, but I was suspicious so I called her. Sure enough she didn't send an email.
Everyday this week, I've got a phone call from PayPal. They are telling me that something is wrong with my account. All I need to do is sign in with password and they will fix it. It is a SCAM. PayPal will never ask for password, ever.
I, too, have gotten online scams - mostly emails. Some business look-a-like to amazon will say "Your gift card is now available, click here", or I'll get something from a Verizon email address saying I need to update my account, asking for all my account information. I realize that these are scams and delete them, but scary thing is, they have the company logo, their email address appears to be from the company. I know there are a lot of people who aren't suspicious, like I am, and they click away, unaware. My husband has done his best to explain this to his mother, emphasizing that companies will not send you email, asking for personal or account information. He's told her to call him before ever clicking on something like that - she has called a couple of times and he was able to save her a lot of grief. But what about others who are naive to these types of scams. It's so disheartening to think that there are people out there who are so unscrupulous as to take advantage of people. I guess they've always been around, just not quite so bold and visible.