A couple days ago, I got a phone call. On the other end was a guy with a very thick accent (I mention this because that’s the reason why I stayed on the line so long… I was trying to figure out what he said). He told me that my phone number was randomly selected to win a free cell phone. I thought that sounded odd, but figured that maybe someone else in my family had entered a contest at a mall or something.
Anyway, I listened for a while, gave him my name, confirmed my address (he already had this listed… I wouldn’t have given it out otherwise)… and then he asked me for my social security number and my driver’s license number.
This raised an alarm bell in my head. I spent a second thinking this over. I finally decided that this had gone on long enough. I told him that I don’t know my social security number, gave him a bullshit excuse that I had to leave to go to a meeting, and asked him to call back later that night. He didn’t. I figure, at best, I just lost a free cell phone (probably some POS, anyway).
However, I’m thinking… does this sound like an identity-theft scam? I can’t think of any reason why they’d need my driver’s license and social security numbers to give me some random prize (especially one as insignificant as a cell phone). What do y’all think? Did I luck out, or overreact?