Yesterday I got a call from a guy with a heavy Indian (?) accent claiming to be from the IRS insisting that I owed over $3000 in taxes that I had criminally withheld.  There had been a question about taxes in the family (my dad, as a Puerto Rican, didn't pay fed taxes) so I continued to speak to this guy, who finally said that if I didn't make some agreement he would send a cop to arrest me.  I said go ahead, and gave him our new address.  THIS IS A SCAM!! Don't fall for it

The UK has been besieged with scam phone callers. They call as your from your bank, saying there has been over use on your bankers card, and ask you to phone you local branch, to confirm details. How it works is that the phone is put back on the receiver, but the scammer does not, and the bank patron thinks he or she is calling their bank, but it still the scammers are being spoken to, usually another well spoken person, who asks you for your bank card details even PIN number, then ask you to bring it to the bank. The damage is done for the scammers already  have your details.

DO NOT GIVE OUT DETAILS

I once received a call for a bank (as above), from a bank I do not deal with. It all sounded suspicious. I put the phone down.

The UK has been besieged with scam phone callers. They call as your from your bank, saying there has been over use on your bankers card, and ask you to phone you local branch, to confirm details. How it works is that the phone is put back on the receiver, but the scammer does not, and the bank patron thinks he or she is calling their bank, but it still the scammers are being spoken to, usually another well spoken person, who asks you for your bank card details even PIN number, then ask you to bring it to the bank. The damage is done for the scammers already  have your details.

DO NOT GIVE OUT DETAILS

I once received a call for a bank (as above), from a bank I do not deal with. It all sounded suspicious. I put the phone down.



Most legit places that call you will not ask for account or PIN info. Rule of thumb, if someone calls YOU and asked for that info, don't give it.



Cat

Or you can just easily hang up.

This has still been going on, unfortunately. 

From the IRS website https://www.irs.gov/uac/Tax-Scams-Consumer-Alerts :

Note that the IRS will never: 1) call to demand immediate payment, nor will the agency call about taxes owed without first having mailed you a bill; 2) demand that you pay taxes without giving you the opportunity to question or appeal the amount they say you owe; 3) require you to use a specific payment method for your taxes, such as a prepaid debit card; 4) ask for credit or debit card numbers over the phone; or 5) threaten to bring in local police or other law-enforcement groups to have you arrested for not paying.

I have those scammers call up my house, since I still have a landline. Even though they haven't called us for a while now.

I have those scammers call up my house, since I still have a landline. Even though they haven't called us for a while now.
You can always get the phones authorities to block cold callers.

You can always get the phones authorities to block cold callers.


Yeah, but I don't pay attention to their numbers. I always thought I would ignore them, so I don't bother about doing anything about them.

The same thing happened to my mom too, from the CRA (Canadian Revenue Agency). He had the Indian accent too and he talked about $5000 in unpaid taxes, he said the police would be at the door any minute now. The funny part was when he started asking for names and stuff, my mom's like "shouldn't you know? How do you know it was me?"  ;D My mom almost fell for it, but she tripped up the scammer too.

Telemarketer? Sales call?

Telemarketer? Sales call?


I think it's somebody from the IRS, from what they're talking about.

I think it's somebody from the IRS, from what they're talking about.


I see!

We are on the Do Not Call list. But, it doesn't work. We STILL get a lot of bogus calls. In the past, we just ignored the calls that the caller ID says is from just a city/state. Most legit calls will give a name. Our phone provider allows us to block up to 25 numbers. While that is all and good, we get WAY more than just 25. What really baffled us was that we got calls from local numbers!  :o :o :o  We noticed that they were from the same 3 numbers. We called them back and we get a message saying that the number is no longer in service. How can that be when we are getting calls from that number?

These people know how to heck into unused numbers. I don't know how. You would think that SOMEONE (i.e. the government, law enforcement, etc) would try to crack down on these scammers. But, I know resources are low and the Republicans in Congress doesn't want the government interfering in people's lives (except for women's reproduction rights  ::) ) I think they only put up the Do Not Call list so it would APPEAR they are doing something to address the problem when it fact, they really aren't.

We just purchased a new phone system-it is a Panasonic corded base with 3 cordless extensions. They allow us to block 250 numbers. So, that is what I have been doing. We get a bogus call, again we don't answer it and when it stopped ringing, I block it. Now, if a call comes in from a blocked number, it does ring once but that is it.


I guess this post could have went into the rant thread.  :D ;D ;D ;D



Cat 

Telemarketer? Sales call?


Scam call.

You just won an all expenses paid  cruise trip in Florida! Give me your credit card number to finalize details.

My mom almost fell for that one in the 90s  ;D When they asked her her credit card number, she said "I thought you said it was free?!" The jig was up.

Scam call.

You just won an all expenses paid  cruise trip in Florida! Give me your credit card number to finalize details.

My mom almost fell for that one in the 90s  ;D When they asked her her credit card number, she said "I thought you said it was free?!" The jig was up.


That's why it's called a "scam"!  ::)

I got a call from Microsoft saying there was an error on my computer. I said well I don't have time right now to fix the error today. I told them call back a day later. Later that day after the first call I found out the call was a scam. They called me for 2 weeks but I didn't answer the phone because I knew it was a scam to hack into your computer. Finally, they  gave up calling me. The guy was an indian guy that was on the other end of the phone. So if you get a call from Microsoft saying there is an error on your computer and they will fix it please disregard.

I got a call from Microsoft saying there was an error on my computer. I said well I don't have time right now to fix the error today. I told them call back a day later. Later that day after the first call I found out the call was a scam. They called me for 2 weeks but I didn't answer the phone because I knew it was a scam to hack into your computer. Finally, they  gave up calling me. The guy was an indian guy that was on the other end of the phone. So if you get a call from Microsoft saying there is an error on your computer and they will fix it please disregard.


That's a very weak scam  :o If someone's computer is fine, then they would just get confused.

I got a call from Microsoft saying there was an error on my computer. I said well I don't have time right now to fix the error today. I told them call back a day later. Later that day after the first call I found out the call was a scam. They called me for 2 weeks but I didn't answer the phone because I knew it was a scam to hack into your computer. Finally, they  gave up calling me. The guy was an indian guy that was on the other end of the phone. So if you get a call from Microsoft saying there is an error on your computer and they will fix it please disregard.


They lie, your computer is fine.

I got a call from Microsoft saying there was an error on my computer. I said well I don't have time right now to fix the error today. I told them call back a day later. Later that day after the first call I found out the call was a scam. They called me for 2 weeks but I didn't answer the phone because I knew it was a scam to hack into your computer. Finally, they  gave up calling me. The guy was an indian guy that was on the other end of the phone. So if you get a call from Microsoft saying there is an error on your computer and they will fix it please disregard.



I had the same call years ago.


Cat