It’s a fake DMV test, but a “real” stupid test.
life is hard. It’s harder when you’re stupid.
My wife and I are in our 70s. My career was in IT, so we have that. But even so, I know that the brain can deteriorate to the point where even we, if we get to that point, would be vulnerable.
I don’t know what can be done about this sort of thing, but I’m trying to come up with some sort of protection for us while we’re still in the “pre-Biden” stages...
The easiest solution is to take ownership of the concept of going to some person you know and trust and run it by them. But that’s not foolproof.
About 4 years ago they tried it with my sister. Said she missed jury duty and they were about to come arrest here. She was crying and called me. Said they wanted her to get gift cards for $2000.
I told her it was a scam and to forget it.
I’ve gotten several of those messages. This phish don’t bite.
I’ve gotten some 10 or so fake texts from an out of the country number telling me I’m at risk due to unpaid tolls and I better click here and call there to get this straightened out. Despite the fact I’ve not been on a toll road in over a year. And I paid the toll.
I figure if they pump out 10,000 fake phishing texts, someone will respond.
> They told her to go get 2 grand worth of gift cards from. Target. I forgot what the made up. <
For those not in the know, here are some scams of that type:
- You owe the IRS for back taxes. Pay now, or you will be arrested.
- You owe your power company money. Pay now, or your electricity will be shut off.
- Your grandson/granddaughter is in jail, and needs bail money.
And now the most intricate one of all:
You are told that you are due a refund from an unwanted purchase. That refund was transferred to your bank electronically. But an error has occurred, and you have received too much money.
Please send the excess back to us using either gift cards or a bitcoin machine.
Bottom line for seniors, and everyone else: Believe NO unsolicited phone calls or emails.
The first countermeasure on the list is to register with the National Do Not Call List. Hilarious!! I find this nearly as funny as it is useless ... a completely useless thing to do.
Whenever gift cards are asked for or required you know right away it’s a scam. The IRS does not ask for gift cards from Target or Walmart, nor does any other government agency. Or any company.
Just today I got a fake text from DMV and another from Prime. The Prime one looked very real.
‘Your extended warranty is about to expire’
Really? What’s my name?
Click!
Whenever they claim trouble , I ask that first. Most have no idea so they hang up.
A little off topic but I’ve had 4 fake Elon Musk twits , so far ,’follow’ me on X. It all started when I allowed for messaging. I had a conversation with the first. I suspect it was using Grok for the message replays. Of course it reached the point where it wanted me to invest in some ‘fool proof’ stuff. That is when I turned off the message permissions.