# "Do you have any comment on the book?" -- Random scam phone call? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 10, 2018, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-any-comment-on-the-book-random-scam-phone-call/810345 "2018-03-10T16:53:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2018, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-any-comment-on-the-book-random-scam-phone-call/810345/1 "2018-03-10T16:53:59Z")
_“Hi **Tripler** , this is Joe Bag O’Donuts from the Associated Press. Do you have any comment on the book that was just recently published detailing your account of events?”_ – random phone call from Moriarty, NM. I just got the above phone call on my cellphone number. He couldn’t be any more nebulous even if he had Neil DeGrasse Tyson in the room. I _strongly_ suspect this is a scam of some sort, but I’d never heard of one like this before. What raises my hairs is that the caller used my first name (when I only answered with a “Hello,”) and it’s an in-state number calling my _work_ cellphone number. Obviously, I declined knowledge of any book, or any account of anything, and told him he’d had the wrong number. Anyone else get calls like this? Is this some sort of evolution of the IRS phone scam or something? Tripler Hell, I should have signed _any_ book deal. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2018, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-any-comment-on-the-book-random-scam-phone-call/810345/2 "2018-03-10T17:02:39Z")
Do you share a name with a famous person? ETA: Or someone involved in a crime? Is there a Tripler out there who’s accused of something? ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2018, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-any-comment-on-the-book-random-scam-phone-call/810345/3 "2018-03-10T18:00:59Z")
> [@Tripler](#): > > . . . Do you have any comment on the book that was just recently published detailing your account of events? . . .Obviously, I declined knowledge of any book, or any account of anything, and told him he’d had the wrong number. Why not at least ask “Which book?” It could have answered all your questions. ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2018, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-any-comment-on-the-book-random-scam-phone-call/810345/4 "2018-03-10T22:05:25Z")
> [@Bayard](#): > > Do you share a name with a famous person? > > ETA: Or someone involved in a crime? Is there a Tripler out there who’s accused of something? I don’t know of any other **Tripler** s out there. Although this cellphone number used to belong to a “Jerome,” who has been in some hot water with the law. I keep getting calls from couriers and collections people demanding to speak with him. This is the first time someone’s called directly for “Tripler.” > [@guizot](#): > > Why not at least ask “Which book?” It could have answered all your questions. I wasn’t thinking that fast; I should have!! Conversely, I could say that I am the inspiration for the Bourne Identity. Or maybe a different book… Tripler … maybe “Action Comics.” Yeah, that’s a true account of things. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2018, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-any-comment-on-the-book-random-scam-phone-call/810345/5 "2018-03-11T23:28:51Z")
“It’s a total lie! I didn’t do it, nobody saw me, and they can’t prove a thing.” Yeah, it’s hard to think fast enough to come up with a great response when you’re caught by surprise. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2018, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-any-comment-on-the-book-random-scam-phone-call/810345/6 "2018-03-12T00:58:05Z")
I hope some criminal hasn’t stolen your identity. You not in the witness protection program, are you? ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2018, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-any-comment-on-the-book-random-scam-phone-call/810345/7 "2018-03-12T15:59:11Z")
My default answer to these kinds of questions is “I believe that whatever three consenting adults, an inflatable doll, two cucumbers and a feather duster do in the privacy of their back yard is no business of the police.” Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tastes_of_chocolate/32/3232_2.png) [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tastes_of_Chocolate)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2018, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-any-comment-on-the-book-random-scam-phone-call/810345/8 "2018-03-12T21:28:26Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > My default answer to these kinds of questions is “I believe that whatever three consenting adults, an inflatable doll, two cucumbers and a feather duster do in the privacy of their back yard is no business of the police.” Now I need to ask: What else you have a default answer to? ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2018, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-any-comment-on-the-book-random-scam-phone-call/810345/9 "2018-03-13T12:32:32Z")
As the farmer said to the ventriloquist, “Before we go any further, that sheep on the end is a liar!” Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2018, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-any-comment-on-the-book-random-scam-phone-call/810345/10 "2018-03-13T13:16:30Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > I hope some criminal hasn’t stolen your identity. You not in the witness protection program, are you? I’ve had my data stolen before–most recently with the huge OPM data breach. And my SSN and a business travel card were used within _days_ of flying back to the States to try and open up a Dell computer account [sub]Dell Credit called me to verify, I declined[/sub]. But there are too many coincidences; they called my _work_ cell number (which I don’t give out freely) and asked for me _by name_. I might be making a mountain out of a molehill, but the buzzers are going off that this is a scam of some sort. I just can’t figure out the motive, or the scam. 😕 Tripler “No Sir, I am not buying forty copies of Vibe magazine.” ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2018, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-any-comment-on-the-book-random-scam-phone-call/810345/11 "2018-03-13T13:35:29Z")
Do you work for the government? Is your agency involved in some controversy, and the caller was referring to “your [agency’s] account of events”? My quatloos are still on your name being the same or similar to the person the reporter really wanted, and the reporter bungled a records search. If you haven’t already, try googling your name and some common variants/misspellings. If you have access to a periodical search, look there too. You might have access to something like EBSCO Host through your library’s web site. You might be surprised to find some unsavory character with your name out there. And phone numbers, emails, etc., have a way of spreading farther than you expect. (I thought my first+last name was very uncommon, but it turns out a guy with my exact name lived about 10 miles from me. He’s a little younger than me, but if you were looking for me and you only had an idea of the metro area I lived in, there’s a good chance you’d get his information instead of mine.) ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2018, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-any-comment-on-the-book-random-scam-phone-call/810345/12 "2018-03-13T18:40:17Z")
> [@Tripler](#): > > I don’t know of any other **Tripler** s out there. Although this cellphone number used to belong to a “Jerome,” who has been in some hot water with the law. I keep getting calls from couriers and collections people demanding to speak with him. This is the first time someone’s called directly for “Tripler.” Maybe the guy thought Tripler was an alias for Jerome? I can’t think of any scam this could be, and I’m pretty sneaky. ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2018, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-any-comment-on-the-book-random-scam-phone-call/810345/13 "2018-03-14T00:22:30Z")
> [@Bayard](#): > > Do you work for the government? Is your agency involved in some controversy, and the caller was referring to “your [agency’s] account of events”? Yes, I have government ties, but nope. . . no controversy here. And I got the feeling the reporter was speaking of _my_ version, not that of any agency or organization. > [@Bayard](#): > > My quatloos are still on your name being the same or similar to the person the reporter really wanted, and the reporter bungled a records search. If you haven’t already, try googling your name and some common variants/misspellings. If you have access to a periodical search, look there too. You might have access to something like EBSCO Host through your library’s web site. You might be surprised to find some unsavory character with your name out there. And phone numbers, emails, etc., have a way of spreading farther than you expect. The thing is, I’ve had this unlisted cellphone number for almost two years; I haven’t been published, and I’m not that high on the food chain [sub]yet[/sub] to be contacted by any reporter. I did have an LLC at one point, but that was closed down immediately when I took the new job (was extant for all of 13 days–quickest folding of a company _ever_!). This cellphone number was never associated with that LLC. There was someone with my name here, and I _have_ gotten calls for him about a year ago. He had just retired, and someone here at work called me on the internal landline network. Come to find out we share first and last names, but not _middle_ names. That caller was looing for “E.” and I’m a consonant. They were cool though. But that was through an internal phonebook website, on a landline. Not on an unpublished cellphone. > [@Voyager](#): > > Maybe the guy thought Tripler was an alias for Jerome? I can’t think of any scam this could be, and I’m pretty sneaky. That’s possible. Especially if Jerome is in collections. Maybe the “reporter” wanted the real Jerome to slip and give up his whereabouts so they could serve him? :shrug: Tripler Still no idea. ---
**Author:** ![Sefton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Sefton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sefton)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2018, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-any-comment-on-the-book-random-scam-phone-call/810345/14 "2018-03-14T01:28:20Z")
This is how spies work in the 21st century. They call a predefined set of phone numbers and ask the code question. You failed to respond properly, so they’re probably coming after you. Don’t wait until the last minute to fill out those organ donor cards. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2018, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-any-comment-on-the-book-random-scam-phone-call/810345/15 "2018-03-14T02:47:40Z")
And buy good insurance. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2018, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-any-comment-on-the-book-random-scam-phone-call/810345/16 "2018-03-14T03:01:40Z")
> [@Sefton](#): > > You failed to respond properly, so they’re probably coming after you… We’re tracking them, and they’re seven blocks away. We’ve got a nanny with a stroller that’ll cross in front of them in the next block, so you’ve got two minutes. Grab your Go Bag with the fake passports and 50,000 in Euros, and go out the back NOW. ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2018, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-any-comment-on-the-book-random-scam-phone-call/810345/17 "2018-03-14T12:08:41Z")
> [@Sefton](#): > > This is how spies work in the 21st century. They call a predefined set of phone numbers and ask the code question. You failed to respond properly, so they’re probably coming after you. This isn’t the pre-arranged code. I get a call with four DTMF tones in sequence hinting at me to tune into the proper shortwave band (the only available one in town here, due to topography), and listen for the fourth number in the second string. This’ll tell me whether or not to proceed to the dead drop. None of this ‘posing as a “reporter” crap.’ That’s just some effin’ amateur hour stuff right there. > [@](#): > > Don’t wait until the last minute to fill out those organ donor cards. Already done. I have this temptation to speak in a gravelly, Liam Neeson voice, if that “reporter” calls back: “We’re going to donate _your_ organs. . . punk!” > [@digs](#): > > We’re tracking them, and they’re seven blocks away. We’ve got a nanny with a stroller that’ll cross in front of them in the next block, so you’ve got two minutes. Grab your Go Bag with the fake passports and 50,000 in Euros, and go out the back NOW. I’m not supposed to get on a bus with Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock, am I? If so, we’re all dead–no traffic in this town moves at 55 MPH. > [@Beckdawrek](#): > > And buy good insurance. I already have. It’s underwritten by USSOCOM and the 24th STS. Seriously, I’d asked one of our Security folks about this, and her ears perked up, “I’ve never heard about that one. They asked for you _by name?_.” She suggested it was some sort of live-person phishing scam. Tripler I still don’t know anyone from Moriarty, NM. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2018, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-any-comment-on-the-book-random-scam-phone-call/810345/18 "2018-03-14T12:56:39Z")
It would have worked, too - if it weren’t for you meddling _kids_! Regards, Shodan