Posted on 05/23/2014 4:27:59 PM PDT by Allen In Texas Hill Country
We stopped answering unknown phone calls a long long time ago. But I was outside and the wife, expecting a call, did answer the call. Trying to make a long story short.....
It was from a family member whom we care enough about that we would do almost anything for. The wife was convinced it was from this family member and when she told me she convinced me too. A few phone calls later involving public attorneys and lawyers we were told to send a very large sum of CASH using UPS.
And then,,,, FINALLY,,, I realized this was a scam. But the knowledge about the details of our particular family structure (a bit different) scares the hell out of us. We called the sheriffs office and gave them the details of the phone numbers used in the scam. The main one of which came from Montreal, Quebec. I did the reverse search after realizing.
Just posting to help others.
My family members don’t like being laughed at so they would never call me asking for money.
Thank you.
My wife’s aunt lost several hundreds of thousands of dollars to a Jamaican Lottery Scam. She died penniless.
The local Panama City, FL TV station mentioned a scam which is going around this area.
A supposed deputy calls and says you have been fined for not showing up for jury duty. He then tells you to put the amount on a Wal-Mart card and mail it to some address.
I can’t see anyone falling for that one but some must.
This happened to my elderly mother. They claimed my nephew (13 at the time) was in a Spanish prison. My poor mother was really distraught. She gave them my brother’s phone number. They actually called my brother. Same scenario as you experienced...call from Montreal etc. We were also quite shocked by the level of information they had.
Bear in mind with Ancestry.com and other tools a stranger can figure out your family tree.
Got a desperate email from my Dr who was supposedly in Spain & his wallet & ID had been stolen. Very real looking and written in a way it sounded like him. Called the office as a precautionary move & found his email accct had been hacked.
Does your family member have a facebook page? I can see them getting information from that.
There is a similar e-mail scam in which someone hijacks someone’s e-mail list, then sends a plea for money to everyone on the list by claiming they are in a foreign country in which all their credit cards have been stolen and they have no way to get home unless you send cash now!
My calls are White listed.
I dunno you, I don’t answer.
Thanks for posting this. Our phone has been ringing off the hook lately from political calls ... mostly from 202 area code (DC). Lately a lot of ‘other’ type calls are coming thru as well. We were on the do-not-call list but the wheels seem to have come off that operation. We just don’t answer the phone anymore unless the number or name of someone we know pops up on the phone screen. If it’s important they can leave a message. It is irritating.
Some people are naive and unsuspecting and can fall prey to this kind of crime. Thanks for posting.
Similar thing happened to my mother. The weird thing is, her grandson (my nephew) was actually living in Spain at the time, so she got completely freaked out. Fortunately she kept her wits about her and realized it was a scam, but it shook her up badly.
I could happily shoot people who run these kinds of things.
I think the scam was that a family member or doctor had their e mail hacked and the info was used to ask for money, as if it was them away from home and had wallet, money, ID stolen.
I had that happen to me twice....”an emergency request of someone I knew who was stranded, and all their wallets, money, and ID stolen and they needed to come home.” That is the scam. Neither had contacted me, but their emails were hacked and used to send to all in their contact list requesting help....some no doubt sent money they will never see again...to the hacker.
Yes, the wife does and we quickly realized Facebook is/was a real possibility. Initially she said that was it, no more Facebook. I said no, post on Facebook what just happened to let others know.
I understand and can help.
Please send me your account number and pin. Also today only, carbon credits, 1/2 price. No checks. Cash only.
Used to be that being on a ‘no call list’ protected you. Now it secures the solicitors have a number to call for donations, requests, sales pitches etc.
Aside from Free Republic, because all Freepers are trustworthy, I try not to have any online presence that might let people know I am actually Barry Sotero and am actually not an American.
I remember a phone call I got from “Mr. Brown” back when my daughter was 16 or 17. “Mr. Brown” was calling to tell me my daughter was staying overnight with “Suzie” and they (he and Mrs. Brown) would be home all night.
It was a kid, one of her male friends and the whole bunch of them were concocting a fictitious sleep over. I laughed my butt off right back at him and just sat there and waited for the whole thing to break down. I ended the call telling “Mr. Brown” to make sure he tells Jennifer to get her ass back home by curfew or there would be hell to pay.
I'm waiting for one of these calls about one of my “relatives”....just waiting patiently
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