# Have you encountered this (new?) scam/pitch? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 4, 2013, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-encountered-this-new-scam-pitch/662649 "2013-07-04T17:08:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Enkel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/df705f/32.png) [@Enkel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enkel)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2013, 10:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-encountered-this-new-scam-pitch/662649/21 "2013-07-12T10:14:26Z")
In eastern Ohio we’ve been getting “lower your gas bill” calls forever. I get probably 8+ calls a week. I report every one of them to the FCC do not call list. If you go to their site, you can verify that you number is on the list. The form is easy to fill out (especially after the first time, because my browser is set to autofill forms). If they could manage to kill that bitch at Card Member Services, they should be able to lop the genitals off of these jerks. I would vote for _almost_ any politician that said he wanted to make it legal to manually castrate telemarketers with dull, rusty saws. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2013, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-encountered-this-new-scam-pitch/662649/22 "2013-07-12T14:57:28Z")
> [@Enkel](#): > > If they could manage to kill that bitch at Card Member Services, they should be able to lop the genitals off of these jerks. I would vote for _almost_ any politician that said he wanted to make it legal to manually castrate telemarketers with dull, rusty saws. You forgot to mention the ritual staking out over a fire ant hill and the dripping of honey over the body…Hell, I think I would even vote for Rick Santorum if he promised to :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2013, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-encountered-this-new-scam-pitch/662649/23 "2013-07-12T15:05:49Z")
I got the medic alert “it’s already been paid for” call, too, several months ago. I hung up. It took me a while to realize it was a robocall, in part because the voice sounded like an old man. I’ve never heard a robocall with such an old-sounding voice. (I’m sure it was to make it sound friendlier.) Last week, I got a similar call, although for a service, not a product and it was an actual human being. She told me she was calling to schedule my appointment to have this done. I said I hadn’t ordered it and didn’t want an appointment. She very sternly told me that it didn’t matter what I wanted, it _had_ to be done. I hung up. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2013, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-encountered-this-new-scam-pitch/662649/24 "2013-07-12T22:27:09Z")
> [@londono](#): > > That sounds like the medical alert device scam. In this scam, it was said that the scammer tells the victim that a medical device has been paid for already and would be shipped to the victim’s address. But before that happens, the victim has to disclose personal information and credit card details to ‘confirm identity.’ But it’s a bluff and anybody who receives such a call should hang up and report it. I got one of these on my voice mail just today. The message claimed the device and shipping had already been paid for, and that I just needed to press 1 to accept. FWIW I’d say it was definitely a recorded message, but had clearly been recorded so that it would sound like a regular person talking – there were even brief pauses while the guy supposedly looked at the order form. But the first part of the message was cut off just the same as when I get an automatic call from the pharmacy; a human being would have waited until the tone. The whole “press 1” thing also wouldn’t really make sense if this were a live call. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2013, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-encountered-this-new-scam-pitch/662649/25 "2013-07-12T22:42:31Z")
I keep getting invitations to a “Travel Seminar”-its a scam that promises you reduced price air tickets and hotel rates. You join a “club” (it costs about $10,000/person), and you get this benefit for 6 years. I went to one-most of the people who joined regretted it later. ---
**Author:** ![norvalnormal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f19dbf/32.png) [@norvalnormal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norvalnormal)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2013, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-encountered-this-new-scam-pitch/662649/26 "2013-07-13T22:56:38Z")
I am _still_ getting the Already Paid For pseudo-Medical Alert robocall 3-4 times a day on my home/business landline phone (I have a cell but use it rarely). For the love of g-d make it stop!! ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2013, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-encountered-this-new-scam-pitch/662649/27 "2013-07-13T23:10:36Z")
My Ooma box catches most robocalls before they even get to my phone. But, since I follow a pretty strict policy of letting unknown calls go straight to the answering machine, I never have to talk to telemarketers, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![computergeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e56c9b/32.png) [@computergeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/computergeek)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2013, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-encountered-this-new-scam-pitch/662649/28 "2013-07-14T00:33:22Z")
I got another one today, but I now am prepared and hung up after the first sentence identifying it as a Medical Alert pitch. ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2013, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-encountered-this-new-scam-pitch/662649/29 "2013-07-14T01:12:21Z")
I’m still getting the, “I’m from Microsoft. There’s a problem with your computer.” Now I scream as loud as I can “GET A REAL JOB!!” Then, I lower my voise to normal, with a bit of a catch, and beg, “Please, stop hurting people, would you want someone doing this to your own mom?” Twice, the young man has apologized before hanging up. ---
**Author:** ![brainstall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/35a633/32.png) [@brainstall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brainstall)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2013, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-encountered-this-new-scam-pitch/662649/30 "2013-07-14T01:29:18Z")
As a new receptionist at work, I got fooled into passing some scam calls on, but now there’s a couple that I recognize, because even though the caller is different, the script is almost word for word the same every time. They manage to make it sound so natural. Pressing just a little, by asking them exactly what they want because I don’t have someone with that exact job title and I’d like to find the right person for them, or asking for more details because I am the person they need to speak to in purchasing often results in them hanging up in my ear. Most disappointing, I’d sometimes welcome the diversion of toying with them on a slow day. I do know someone at one of our branches got scammed into one of the massively overpriced toner ‘deals’. I almost got sucked in, too, but managed to just take a message and promise to call back after I ‘checked with the boss’. ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2013, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-encountered-this-new-scam-pitch/662649/31 "2013-07-14T03:24:26Z")
> [@picunurse](#): > > I’m still getting the, “I’m from Microsoft. There’s a problem with your computer.” > Now I scream as loud as I can “GET A REAL JOB!!” Then, I lower my voise to normal, with a bit of a catch, and beg, “Please, stop hurting people, would you want someone doing this to your own mom?” > Twice, the young man has apologized before hanging up. I’ve also done this. “Why are you trying to rob, me. Does your mother know you’re a thief?” ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2013, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-encountered-this-new-scam-pitch/662649/32 "2013-07-14T13:16:56Z")
> [@picunurse](#): > > I’m still getting the, “I’m from Microsoft. There’s a problem with your computer.” > Now I scream as loud as I can “GET A REAL JOB!!” Then, I lower my voise to normal, with a bit of a catch, and beg, “Please, stop hurting people, would you want someone doing this to your own mom?” > Twice, the young man has apologized before hanging up. I have fun with these calls-I revert to my Indian accent, and state, “Good, my cousin Ravi from Bombay works for Microsoft, do you know him?” I indulge in small talk till he hangs up. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2013, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-encountered-this-new-scam-pitch/662649/33 "2013-07-14T13:31:35Z")
Is there any way I can get people to stop calling me and sending me mail about renewing the extended warranty on my car? I swear, whoever “they” are has spent more money trying to get me to do this than the warranty would cost in the first place. For a while, I was getting several pieces of mail a day, and multiple phone calls from several sources. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2013, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-encountered-this-new-scam-pitch/662649/34 "2013-07-14T20:53:11Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > Is there any way I can get people to stop calling me and sending me mail about renewing the extended warranty on my car? I swear, whoever “they” are has spent more money trying to get me to do this than the warranty would cost in the first place. For a while, I was getting several pieces of mail a day, and multiple phone calls from several sources. > > :smack: Thell them the car is totaled and now you take public transportation. ---
**Author:** ![norvalnormal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f19dbf/32.png) [@norvalnormal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norvalnormal)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2013, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-encountered-this-new-scam-pitch/662649/35 "2013-07-23T18:22:12Z")
Just received the approx. 150th call from these fuckheads. Last week, I pressed “1” to be connected to a real-life person and said some nasty things to her, some of the 4-letter variety. 10 minutes later, my phone rang, with the Caller ID being a series of zeros. I let it go to my voicemail, and when I went there, it was the same “lady” (or man; his/her voice was intentionally “disguised” in an idiotic way) letting me know that she had my name and street address and that she would be “visiting” me later that evening. G-d help me, even tho I know it’s likely this boiler room operation is nowhere near the state wherein I reside, I put a heavy clawhammer by my front door (it’s still there). ---
**Author:** ![norvalnormal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f19dbf/32.png) [@norvalnormal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norvalnormal)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2013, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-encountered-this-new-scam-pitch/662649/36 "2013-07-23T18:26:50Z")
\ In the voice mail she left, she did in fact recite to me my name and current street address, versus merely claiming she was in possession of this info … I don’t care whether this operation is in the US of A or elsewhere, I want these folks droned, posthaste!! ---
**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:** [July 23, 2013, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-encountered-this-new-scam-pitch/662649/37 "2013-07-23T20:45:26Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > I have fun with these calls-I revert to my Indian accent, and state, “Good, my cousin Ravi from Bombay works for Microsoft, do you know him?” > I indulge in small talk till he hangs up. I used to get these all the time. The last one the guy with a thick Indian accent said his name was Jim. Being professionally outraged, I told him where I was going to stuff his balls if I ever caught him. I’ve never gotten another. ---
**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:** [July 23, 2013, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-encountered-this-new-scam-pitch/662649/38 "2013-07-23T20:49:39Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Is your name Jim? > > There is a scam that has hit around here. We have taken several reports on it. Someone calls on a scratchy phone line claiming to be a relative and saying they are kidnapped. You have to send money or they will be killed. Another variation is someone claims to be a relative and calls saying they are in a foreign country and their wallet has been stolen and they need money wired to get home. Usually the suspects have done enough research to known the names of relatives. Its not completely random. > > [Police in Middlesex County warn of fake kidnapping scams - nj.com](http://www.nj.com/middlesex/index.ssf/2012/12/police_in_middlesex_county_war.html) We’ve had those here for ages. They mostly seem to be calls claiming to be grandchildren of elderly people. Our new phone announces caller ID aloud, which means we don’t even have to get up to answer a call from Joel Free Caller. (It doesn’t announce it very well.) Big help. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2013, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-encountered-this-new-scam-pitch/662649/39 "2013-07-28T18:15:13Z")
We got the medical alert call this week also - wanted to schedule an appointment to install it. I’ve forwarded on the link to my in-laws to make them aware of it (as my MIL _does_ have mobility issues). ---
**Author:** ![legalsnugs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/45deac/32.png) [@legalsnugs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/legalsnugs)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2013, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-encountered-this-new-scam-pitch/662649/40 "2013-07-29T17:41:08Z")
Whatever happened to the “Do Not Call” law in the U.S.? I’ve been out of the country for 5+ years but I thought that was supposed to end calls like these. I live in the UK now and only occasionally (I yell at them to never call here again and hang up and it’s getting less frequent) get a sales call, usually for a legal claim: “Have you recently been in an automobile accident? We can help!” I wish we had a DNC law here. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-encountered-this-new-scam-pitch/662649.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-encountered-this-new-scam-pitch/662649.md?page=3)