Posted on 08/24/2017 4:32:18 AM PDT by Dad was my hero
Is this a scam? Two previous times over the last couple months I was called by someone (Indian accent) telling me that I was due a refund from a transaction I had with their company last year. I vaguely recalled the transaction and they knew the date and exact amount. I just needed to access my computer and checking account so they could give me the money. (red flags all over the place so...) I told them to just send me a check and we'll call it even then hung up.
Well yesterday another call, this time they had enough details to convince me they must have been legitimate, they had the last four digits of the credit card number I used at the time. So we began playing a verbal game that lasted almost two hours.
First they said for me to go to a site and download "teamviewer.dmg" and run it. So I did (starting to have that slight fishy smell). Then they gave me an access code. Now they had access to my iMac. They kept telling me to access my checking account and I'll soon see the money reappear in it. I had some difficulty telling the guy that the credit card I used was a club visa card with no checking account attached. He transfers me to the next person. I again explain that the card has no checking account attached to it. He insists that I'm going to see the money appear in my checking account but I need to access my account. So I told him I was accessing it, just not on the computer they were on, I work from home and my pc (two feet away from my iMac) is accessing my checking account, no money. I need to access it from my computer that they are shadowing! (fishy smell is now getting stronger but I'm still hooked.)
So I finally relent and in the mean time the guy tells me that they are not in the same country so exchange rates will apply, did I understand that? Yes. NOW, ABSOLUTELY DO NOT TOUCH YOUR COMPUTER KEYBOARD OR MOUSE WHILE THIS IS HAPPENING! Got it. Now, because of banking regulations in our country we cannot transfer amounts less than $10,000 so you will soon see that amount show up in your account. Then you need to transfer back to us $9,800 and keep the remaining amount. Well, alarm bells are going off and so I try to move the mouse to the log off section of my account and I am not able to control it, all the while they are shouting at me not to do that. So I reach around the back and cold shut down the computer which disconnects their call from me because my home is using Magic Jack. Another guy was also on my cell phone. BTW, every call that came to me came through as unknown or anonymous.
I ran a malware scan and had Apple support verify that they left nothing on my iMac.
Oh no. Say it ain’t so. They got you twice? Be very careful.
“First they said for me to go to a site and download “teamviewer.dmg”
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Are you kidding me?
NEVER EVER download software at someone’s behest, specially if it’s someone you don’t know and trust. I grumble and yell when multi-m/billion dollar software companies tell me they want to remote in to our company’s computers so they can do fixes. Yeah it sounds easier, and I usually relent, but at least it’s someone I know, and usually I wipe the software after they are done.
Even worse, NEVER EVER download software that you don’t recognize or that isn’t published by a recognizable software company.
No offense, but knowing the last 4 digits of your CC is not something that proves access to a real transaction. It only demonstrates that it’s likely your card. It doesn’t build their credibility, it only shows they know what card you have.
You gave them access to your computer??????
No permission is required for NSA to access our computers.
Thanks for the reminder.
I’ve been getting robo-calls to contact Microsoft at...... because of a virus on my computer. I hang up.
Hang up on anyone with an accent . . . of any kind.
.......................
Bingo
I usually say “ I am so glad you called. I am having a sale on English lessons and I just need your credit card number.” They quickly hang up.
The recorded message got said IRS was going to arrest me if I did not send them money.
As I wrote, they had more than that, they knew my full name, full home address, home and cell phone numbers, full amount of that transaction, what the transaction was for and the date and said they were the company that assisted me with the software I bought then. They had enough information to convince me they were legitimate.
i just made 1,000,000 from the nigerian lottery and it only cost me 1,000
too good to be true
i did buy my mega lottery ticket... 700 million...
Download the Hiya app on your cell phone. It shows up on your screen and tells you if a call is spam, a telemarketer, and if others have reported it already. I’ve recommended it too many people and everybody is quite happy with it.
I would have asked them to mail me a refund check.
“i did buy my mega lottery ticket..”
L et
O thers
T ake
T errible
O dds
!!!
that was my first reply to them on their first call.
Divide and conquer. In this case the primary campaign may be so toxic to the AZ electorate that they may withhold their vote for the “winner” or just stay home. We (Pubs) never learn and eat our own; Dems seem to be able to stick together no matter the issue.
You know, as I read this and see someone allowing a stranger take over their computer, I really just sort of mentally move on, sort of like passing a road kill on the highway. Sorry it happened, but nothing I can do about it. Some people simply deserve to get scammed, I’m not going to worry about them. You can’t teach IQ.
Posted on wrong thread. Sorry...
If they said that wasn’t possible, that is the first indication that they are liars.
It is possible to block entire blocks of number and shunt these spammers and spoofers to cell-phone hell.
Thanks for the suggestion. I will check it out. It may help me with a problem I have been having for several months. I believe my cell number is being "spoofed."
From time to time I get a flurry of calls from real estate brokers (I'm one myself) saying they missed my call when I have not called them.
In every case, my office number (which fowards to my cell phone) appears as a missed call on the person's cell phone. They all say the never heard the phone ring; they just see my office number as a missed call.
I'm really tired of explaining it to people. Some are so dense they don't hear what I'm saying and still ask, "Okay, why did you call me?"
SCAM. If ANYONE tells you to download TeamViewer and you don’t know them personally — hang up. Period.
Hoss
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