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Scammers Are Impersonating Water, Electric, And Gas Companies; BBB Warns
Epoch Times ^ | 07/02/2024 | Naveen Arthappully

Posted on 07/02/2024 10:12:18 PM PDT by SeekAndFind

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1 posted on 07/02/2024 10:12:18 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
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To: SeekAndFind

The number 1 indicator of a scam IMHO is that they don’t use your name, it says customer or nothing. So if your name is not stated it is 99.9% a scam.


2 posted on 07/02/2024 10:16:02 PM PDT by where's_the_Outrage? (Drain the Swamp. Build the Wall.)
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To: SeekAndFind

One day it won’t be scammers.

It will be a Wall St backed company promising “efficiency” to the municipalities and will take over. And then they can do what they want.


3 posted on 07/02/2024 10:21:06 PM PDT by qaz123
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To: SeekAndFind

This is an important post! People need to know about these scams. The government isn’t doing near enough to alert the public, in my opinion.

I guess I’m in the minority here. But I rather enjoy taking these scam calls, as evil as they are.

I’m always very polite with these scammers. Always! And I answer all their questions. Yet they inevitably get angry with me, and end up disconnecting the call. I wonder why. Maybe that’s because I only speak to them in Hungarian - an obscure language I’m quite good at.

I suppose I’ll be bested the day a Hungarian scammer calls me. But that hasn’t happened yet.


4 posted on 07/02/2024 10:29:08 PM PDT by Leaning Right (The steal is real.)
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To: SeekAndFind

If they come to my door I know something’s wrong as I handle all my utilities online.

CC


5 posted on 07/02/2024 10:30:09 PM PDT by Celtic Conservative (My cats are more amusing than 200 channels worth of TV.)
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To: SeekAndFind

AT&T provides data servers to the NSA, CIA, FBI. Does anyone really think hackers and Ransomeware operations are not known and green lighted by those agencies?


6 posted on 07/02/2024 10:58:13 PM PDT by blackdog ((Z28.310) Be careful what you say. Your refrigerator may be listening & reporting you.)
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To: Leaning Right
What makes you think the government isn't part of them? Data mining for operating funds is a lot easier than the old days when drug running, weapons sales, and drug production was how the CIA ran programs! Benghazi....Contras.....

Our banking systems software even provides databases of the best targets. In a way, the hackers are government contractors. Why do you think they are never pursued and prosecuted? Ever... Yet they will find anyone at any cost for reading a verse from the Bible in front of an abortion clinic.

7 posted on 07/02/2024 11:08:52 PM PDT by blackdog ((Z28.310) Be careful what you say. Your refrigerator may be listening & reporting you.)
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To: SeekAndFind

Sounds exactly like the IRS scam.


8 posted on 07/02/2024 11:09:37 PM PDT by Mark17 (Retired USAF air traffic controller. Father of Air Force pilot. Both bitten by the aviation bug)
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To: blackdog

> What makes you think the government isn’t part of them [the scammers]? <

I suppose that’s possible. But I doubt it. Phone scammers almost always have Indian or Pakistani accents. Their pitches are unpolished and filled with grammatical errors.

Don’t get me wrong. Our government is capable of great evil. But if the government were actually running the scam call centers, the calls would be much more sophisticated. And they’d have less red flags.


9 posted on 07/02/2024 11:22:58 PM PDT by Leaning Right (The steal is real.)
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To: SeekAndFind

And US presidents.


10 posted on 07/03/2024 12:09:12 AM PDT by know.your.why
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To: Mark17

It’s always funny because the IRS says they never call - but they want a phone number (scratches head)

I screwed up on my taxes about 20 years ago - didn’t include some unemployment I got from one state after a consulting job ended.

BUT I got a letter first, so I called them. They told me what was missing so I said give me 2-3 days promised to call them back.

Checked my taxes - they were right, I was wrong. Called them and told them that. Paid in $50 monthly payments, very low interest. I never missed a payment but I always used a money order.

Of course the next year, they just automatically took half of my refund to pay the balance. Which was OK. I had always set my taxes (when I was making decent money) so that I would get $3000-$3200 back at the beginning of a year. It forced me to save - yeah I could have invested it. Oh well.


11 posted on 07/03/2024 12:11:17 AM PDT by SaveFerris (Luke 17:28 ... as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold ......)
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To: SeekAndFind

If people PAID THEIR BILLS the scammers wouldn’t be so effective.


12 posted on 07/03/2024 1:44:48 AM PDT by BobL
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To: SeekAndFind

“Scammers seek entry to homes to perform repairs or energy audits, but with the intent to steal valuables and siphon off “personally identifiable information that just happens to be out in plain sight,” according to the website.”

So do plumbers, electricians, AC repairmen, etc. And no, it’s the old man who owns the van you have to worry about, it’s the high school kid ‘helping him’, who’s supposedly ‘learning the trade’. And many times it’s not even the high school kid you see, but rather his ‘friends’ who are tipped off and make the hit.


13 posted on 07/03/2024 1:50:51 AM PDT by BobL
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To: where's_the_Outrage?

“The number 1 indicator of a scam IMHO is that they don’t use your name, it says customer or nothing. So if your name is not stated it is 99.9% a scam.”

That’s certainly one of the easier signs, but of course the opposite doesn’t necessarily apply (that if they use your name, then it’s legit).

Another easy sign is to look at the email address the ‘warning’ comes from. If it’s G-Mail, it’s fake, you can bank on that one.


14 posted on 07/03/2024 1:56:36 AM PDT by BobL
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To: SeekAndFind

The sure-fire way to defeat this kind of scam is just to pay your bill on time.

And if say you are on too tight a budget to pay it on time, you shouldn’t have any money to be scammed.


15 posted on 07/03/2024 2:05:05 AM PDT by CurlyDave
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To: SeekAndFind
If a person has already made payments to the scammer through a debit or credit card, they can contact the card-issuing company, notify it of the fraudulent charge, and request a payment reversal, according to the FTC.

The same process can be repeated in the case of a bank transfer, wire transfer, or money transfer; contact the relevant firm and seek a reversal of the transaction.

If the customer paid via cash, the individual must get in touch with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service at 877-876-2455 to have the package intercepted.

Any payments made via cryptocurrency are irreversible, the FTC warns.

Thanks for posting...

16 posted on 07/03/2024 2:58:49 AM PDT by GOPJ (Biden can READ a speech IF written for him. Take the teleprompter away and Biden's a babbling idiot.)
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To: SeekAndFind

About 3 months ago a young lady knocked on our front door saying she had to see our electric bill. She stated that all she had to see was the back of the bill to see if we are paying to much. She was wearing a plastic ID around here neck. I told her if there is a problem with my bill tell the electric company to contact me by mail. She said “fine” and left. Whenever I get scam calls I tell them I will talk to them and answer their questions but only if I can talk like Mickey Mouse.


17 posted on 07/03/2024 3:57:28 AM PDT by 4yearlurker (Arise and shine,and give God the glory!-A trail cook's morning call.)
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To: SeekAndFind

There’s a lot of dumbass people...let the get scammed.


18 posted on 07/03/2024 4:00:30 AM PDT by maddog55 (The only thing systemic in America is the left's hatred of it!)
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To: Leaning Right

“But I rather enjoy taking these scam calls, as evil as they are.”

I have fun messing with them, too. I figure that if I’m occupying their time, then someone who’s vulnerable isn’t being targeted. (That’s how Mom handled Jehovah’s Witnesses when they came to the door. They always got coffee and donuts.)


19 posted on 07/03/2024 4:40:27 AM PDT by MayflowerMadam (Bannon didn't kill himself.)
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To: SeekAndFind

I got two phishing attacks yesterday. One was a text purporting to be from Florida’s SunPass saying I owed $279. (Click here to dispute.). The second was a email saying someone had posted a $1279.52 charge on my PayPal account. (Click here to dispute.)


20 posted on 07/03/2024 4:50:27 AM PDT by Gen.Blather (Wait! I said that out loud? )
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