Posted on 07/17/2019 5:28:58 PM PDT by Leaning Right
Edited on 07/17/2019 5:55:03 PM PDT by Admin Moderator. [history]
I totally understand! Coincidentally, my dad was a prominent District Judge here in Arapahoe County. In 1994, years after his retirement and slightly before the proliferation of online and call schemes, he received a convincing piece of fraudulent mail. He actually had to get my opinion about it, before sending them money. I was stunned that he was actually contemplating it, but he was 70 and declining more than I realized at the time. These poor folks are so vulnerable and the perps (along with ANY hacker)
need life sentences.
God bless her, indeed. I cannot picture my own mom ever falling for a scam, either.
But some people do lose their mental abilities with age. The scammers who take advantage of them are the lowest of the low.
>> so sad
Very
“thank you but call me back on my other number”
Hmm - make the other number the one for the local police department!
My daughter got one of those scam calls at work one day. She works at a city government office.
They were looking for a co-worker by name and my daughter happily gave them her new work number.
The girl had just gotten a new position with the Attorney General's office, for real. My daughter thought it would be great for the scammers to explain their scam to her.
I cannot tell you how horrible this is.
My father was scammed out of 7k one day when scum called saying my nephew was in jail in VA (he’s a CA) and that this money for the lawyer would help get him out. They used a legit lawyer in the VA Beach area as the decoy and convinced him (and me) not to call anyone about it. I should have listened to Mom, who was itching to get on the phone with this bum but we wouldn’t let her. I could have simply called my brother in CA to check on things. But I didn’t. Dad would practically pass out at my mother’s stubborn insistence on resistance! Boy did he seriously have a near heart attack several times with this, scary. He had just had major heart surgery the summer prior so he was in poor shape.
Mom was right, and ultimately they were scammed out of that money. They successfully scared me and dad out of verifying anything.
"We are going out of business. Your contract with us will be honoured and we will forward you your 495 dollars. Please contact this number".
I understand that when they are contacted they will require a "clearance fee". It could be about 100 or 150 dollars. Just a damn nuisance getting about five calls weekly. Local press carries warnings for we seniors.
Whoops! Should mention the contract was said to be for anti-virus and I had never entered into any contract.
The only way to get rid of scammers is to be mean to them. You have to scream and curse to end the phone calls. I hope your parents come to understand that so they won’t be victims.
What happened to your father was terrible. But thank you for sharing it. It’s a trite saying, but knowledge really is power. And when Freepers share stories like yours, we all become a little more knowledgeable.
Since we have a sparse relationship with my do-nothing and ne’er-do-well nephew from CA, we convinced ourselves that it was possible that he DID go cross country and end up in a VA jail. Despite that my brother from C.A. often DOES talk to them.
I could kick myself for that. Usually my dad is the reasonable and level-headed one while mom goes off half-cocked. She was right to want to rip them a new one.
Verizon is in on the scams. Several years ago prior to 2010 I got dinged for a small amount like $2.95 on my bill.
I contacted Verizon and they said they would take it off my next bill. They did not. I got dinged again and contacted Verizon who said the same thing plus I could go to their website and block the number.
Their site was very convoluted by design. I ended finding help from someone on the internet who took screenshots of the path at the site to take to get to the area where you could block. BTW I got dinged again. Each time no refund.
I contacted Verizon again and said I read stories that Verizon was keeping 40% of the charges from these scammers.
I got a refund. Later I switched to T-Mobile.
The carriers can block the phone calls as can ISP block spam and viruses and give you better ways for you to do so but they are A) worried about blocking legit people and sites and B) losing money as the revenue from the scammers goes away.
My parents used to write checks for $30 to $300 to agencies which claimed they were working to keep Obama from destroying social security, etc. Fortunately, they gave them to me to mail, which I didn’t do. They never noticed that they weren’t cashed. I saved them thousands of dollars.
My elderly parents got the “Grandma guess who this is”. My mother held them on the line while my father was working with his law enforcement contacts (lots of Federal alphabet agency contacts he has) on getting a trace. They may be old but in no way gullible.
I got a call today claiming that due to fraud my Social Security number was suspended along with my bank account. Press 2. So I pressed 2. I’m talking to an Indian with a so called American name. I gave him the third degree:
“Where are you calling from? Bengaluru? Mumbai? Jamnagar? Delhi? Chennai? Bakri chod!”
The last is a vulgar insult in Hindi which describes his intimate relationships with goats.
So are other utility companies (like gas and electric), not to mention credit card companies.
For example, if anyone here ever receives a call from someone trying to sell you a different gas price, even if you turn down the offer, watch your bill - they might charge you, anyway. Then later, they'll insist you agreed to their offer over the phone.
Even though they have nothing in writing from you and no voice recording of your agreeing to any such thing, their argument will be, "Well, why didn't you notice the change on your bill months ago?" Sneaky.
I take care of my elderly father in a county with a high percentage of retirees. I’ve stopped answering the house phone as over half are calls with the end goal of separating the household from money.
Had one where a woman pretended to be my father’s granddaughter in trouble and needing money. She was phishing for someone with dementia or memory impairment.
Another one has called twice saying he used to work with my father years ago at a local factory and needed help also. This guy must call people endlessly because he called and said the same thing a year earlier. The 2nd time I looked up the number and found the address which was a trailer in a run down mobile home park.
And then there’s the endless calls from the IRS and Microsoft.
The elderly are prey to some people.
$1 dollar a month stolen from millions of customers adds up as a tidy profit for them.
Spent many a late night watching those ScammerRevolt videos.
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