# Phone call felt 'scammy' **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 21, 2010, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phone-call-felt-scammy/547491 "2010-07-21T17:31:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2010, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phone-call-felt-scammy/547491/1 "2010-07-21T17:31:12Z")
So I get a call this morning from the “Publisher’s Headquarters.” "Congratulations, you’ve been selected as a finalist. You can win $25,000, a new car, etc etc. Also some magazine subscriptions. You were entered by your bank and/or credit card company. “We just need to notify you by registered mail if you win. We have your address as XXXXX, [my actual address], is that correct?” I allowed as how mail would reach me there. “And we just like to know a few things about magazine subscribers. How old are you?” OK, this was my first major flag. The setup sounded scammy anyway, but so far all I had done was confirm what they already knew, and what anyone with Internet access could find: my address. But not “what age range do you fall into?” They asked for my age. So I gave them a fake age, but told them that was my spiritual age, being young at heart. “Are you married? How long?” I kept giving obviously fanciful answers while Googling away. I’m not the first person to get this call, but apart from speculations about identity theft, I found nothing concrete. Finally they hung up. What was the scam? ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2010, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phone-call-felt-scammy/547491/2 "2010-07-21T17:34:31Z")
My WAG is that they’re trying to make you buy some overpriced magazine subscriptions, and are maybe collecting mailing list data in the process. You’ll start receiving magazines soon - oh, guess you “won” those? Then you’ll be receiving some big bills and they’ll claim you agreed to become a magazine subscriber during the phone call. ---
**Author:** ![PapSett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@PapSett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PapSett)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2010, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phone-call-felt-scammy/547491/3 "2010-07-21T17:47:23Z")
I got pretty much the same call a couple weeks ago. I listened patiently and when asked for more info, said no think you, this is a huge scam, please take me off your calling/mailing list. The woman acted very offended. “Oh, NO ma’am, you are wrong!! This is _not_ a scam…” blah blah blah. Yeah, right, whatever. She asdsdured me I’d e gettin my winner’s registered letter any day… Still waiting. ---
**Author:** ![Beadalin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Beadalin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beadalin)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2010, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phone-call-felt-scammy/547491/4 "2010-07-21T18:00:45Z")
Yeah, I’m thinking that, at minimum, your address will be sold to lots of other marketers. You’ll also probably start receiving magazines – say, three free issues, followed by a bill for the automatic renewal. Most people, through sheer inertia, never cancel unwanted subscriptions and just pay the bill. ---
**Author:** ![pbbth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f9ae1b/32.png) [@pbbth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pbbth)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2010, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phone-call-felt-scammy/547491/5 "2010-07-21T18:09:35Z")
Did they keep asking questions until you said the word yes out loud? I know with the people who call offices to scam them out of money by selling them expensive ink will ask you question after question until you say yes so that when you come back and say you didn’t agree to this order they have doctored the recording so when they say, “We are sending you 4 boxes of toner for printer model X43-0, correct?” your response is positive. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2010, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phone-call-felt-scammy/547491/6 "2010-07-21T18:12:36Z")
> [@pbbth](#): > > Did they keep asking questions until you said the word yes out loud? I know with the people who call offices to scam them out of money by selling them expensive ink will ask you question after question until you say yes so that when you come back and say you didn’t agree to this order they have doctored the recording so when they say, “We are sending you 4 boxes of toner for printer model X43-0, correct?” your response is positive. I don’t recall. The most obvious place was for my address, and I specifically recall saying, “I’ll get any mail sent to me there,” rather than simply “yes.” But it’s possible or even likely I uttered the word “yes” during other parts of the call. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2010, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phone-call-felt-scammy/547491/7 "2010-07-21T20:11:24Z")
I’m guessing the “free” magazines you just won require you to pay processing/handling/shipping fees… monthly. Reminds me of the “free” home security system the door-to-door guys want to give me and install for “free” all in exchange for allowing them to advertise their company on a 10"x10" sign on my front lawn. Seems they always forget to mention the monthly monitoring service charges they will be billing me for. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2010, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phone-call-felt-scammy/547491/8 "2010-07-21T20:17:32Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > Reminds me of the “free” home security system the door-to-door guys want to give me and install for “free” all in exchange for allowing them to advertise their company on a 10"x10" sign on my front lawn. > Seems they always forget to mention the monthly monitoring service charges they will be billing me for. I get these guys once a year or so. “Do you know your neighbor Bill? He got one of these systems. But because your house is on the corner, our sign would have better visibility, so we’ll install this Premium security system FREE just for the opportunity to plant our sign. You’ll just pay a monitoring fee of $70/month.” Me: “So you want me to pay $70/month for the privilege of advertising for you on my lawn?” ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2010, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phone-call-felt-scammy/547491/9 "2010-07-21T20:25:01Z")
> [@pbbth](#): > > Did they keep asking questions until you said the word yes out loud? I know with the people who call offices to scam them out of money by selling them expensive ink will ask you question after question until you say yes so that when you come back and say you didn’t agree to this order they have doctored the recording so when they say, “We are sending you 4 boxes of toner for printer model X43-0, correct?” your response is positive. I’ve seen this one before. They hit some unexperienced employee pretending to be your current supplier. “Hey Joe this is Bob. Can you do me a favor and check your current on hand supply of toner cartridges?” Unexperienced employee Joe checks the supply cabinet. “Uh, it looks like we have 5 left.” “Oh, you’re running a bit low. I’ll sent a dozen to you. Okay?” “Uh… sure.” A dozen show, somebody in receiving signs for them, accounts payable gets a massive bill from no name company. “They’re not our supplier! Who the hell ordered these?” Calls up no name company to dispute the order. “Those were ordered by Joe. I told him I’d sell him a dozen. He said okay.” I hated those creeps. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2010, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phone-call-felt-scammy/547491/10 "2010-07-21T20:47:31Z")
Sounds scammy to me, because it breaks rule number 1, that is: 1. You generally don’t win competitions you never actually entered. ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2010, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phone-call-felt-scammy/547491/11 "2010-07-21T20:57:03Z")
I’ve gotten the security system call before. They called me up and said I was a finalist in some drawing they had for a riding lawnmower and that I won a free security system. They wanted my address so they could come install it. I asked if there was a monthly monitoring fee. It was 40 bucks or so. That’s when I hung up. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2010, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phone-call-felt-scammy/547491/12 "2010-07-21T21:14:13Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Sounds scammy to me, because it breaks rule number 1, that is: > > 1. You generally don’t win competitions you never actually entered. Or being entered by your bank or credit card company. ---
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2010, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phone-call-felt-scammy/547491/13 "2010-07-21T21:25:06Z")
I’ve been receiving a series of phone call from an Indian guy (or guys) saying he is calling about the problem with my computer system. Actually my wife has received most of them, and she said they actually went so far once as to ask her for her SSN. (Fortunately she refused.) The last one came to me a few days ago. I asked that I be put on their no call list. He acted confused, and I apologized saying it was difficult for me to tell if he was a salesman or a criminal. So far no callbacks from them. ---
**Author:** ![Serenata67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/serenata67/32/10646_2.png) [@Serenata67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Serenata67)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phone-call-felt-scammy/547491/14 "2010-07-22T02:10:53Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Sounds scammy to me, because it breaks rule number 1, that is: > > 1. You generally don’t win competitions you never actually entered. When I worked for the bank and took anti-fraud training, that was one of the big questions we were supposed to ask. If someone is suspicious about a check, we were supposed to ask that. Big time scam alert. ---
**Author:** ![lezlers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/258eb7/32.png) [@lezlers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lezlers)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phone-call-felt-scammy/547491/15 "2010-07-23T01:45:33Z")
> [@pbbth](#): > > Did they keep asking questions until you said the word yes out loud? I know with the people who call offices to scam them out of money by selling them expensive ink will ask you question after question until you say yes so that when you come back and say you didn’t agree to this order they have doctored the recording so when they say, “We are sending you 4 boxes of toner for printer model X43-0, correct?” your response is positive. You can go to jail for this. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 9:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phone-call-felt-scammy/547491/16 "2010-07-23T09:03:25Z")
In this age of unrelenting, unsolicited sales pitches that invade your phone, mail and inbox, I have a blanket ban on anything that whiffs of a sales call, never mind a scam. \*\*Even if \*\*I am a customer of yours (I’m looking at you, Sky TV), if I haven’t already contacted you to ask about toner, magazine subscription, my broadband provider, home extensions, car insurance or my satellite TV services, then you don’t get anything out of me except ‘I don’t accept sales calls to my personal phone, goodbye’. ---
**Author:** ![Wallenstein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b5a626/32.png) [@Wallenstein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallenstein)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phone-call-felt-scammy/547491/17 "2010-07-23T11:57:50Z")
> [@Greg\_Charles](#): > > I’ve been receiving a series of phone call from an Indian guy (or guys) saying he is calling about the problem with my computer system. Actually my wife has received most of them, and she said they actually went so far once as to ask her for her SSN. (Fortunately she refused.) > > The last one came to me a few days ago. I asked that I be put on their no call list. He acted confused, and I apologized saying it was difficult for me to tell if he was a salesman or a criminal. So far no callbacks from them. You should read these articles from the UK which outlines a scam that sounds just like you describe: > **[Police crack down on computer support phone scam](https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2010/jul/19/police-crackdown-phone-scam-computer)** > > Nineteen websites offering fake computer support have been closed down by the Metropolitan police e-crime unit > **[Those 'PC virus' phone call scams: the unanswered questions](https://www.theguardian.com/technology/blog/2010/jul/20/phone-calls-india-scams)** > > There are still loose ends which we need to tie up about the call centres that try to con people out of money for doing 'PC repairs' against 'malware' that you've 'downloaded' ---
**Author:** ![Terraplane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@Terraplane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terraplane)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phone-call-felt-scammy/547491/18 "2010-07-23T14:44:36Z")
I get shit like this at work every once in a while. > [@](#): > > “Hello I’m calling on behalf of the phone company. You’re eligible for a $400 rebate! I just need to confirm some of your account details. Your address is 123 Blah Blah Blah Street, is this correct?” > > “You’re calling on behalf of our phone company?” > > “The phone company, yes.” > > “_Our_ phone company!?” :dubious: > > “The phone company, yes.” > > “I’m pretty sure our phone company has the address already. They seem to get the bills sent here with no problem.” > > “Yes I just need to confirm the information so we can send you your $400 rebate.” > > “No.” > > (Long pause) “I just need to confirm your information so we can send you your $400 rebate.” > > “No.” > > _click_ A coworker made the mistake of confirming the details on a call like this once and we wound up with a $39.95 charge on our phone bill from an outside company. I looked them up and apparently the company is notorious for this. I called and bitched and they removed the charge right away and never charged us again, I guess they rely on businesses that don’t closely monitor their phone bill. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phone-call-felt-scammy/547491/19 "2010-07-23T14:57:51Z")
Aaaaah, I got one of these when I’d first started working at a small independent shop. A call came in asking me to confirm the business’s name, address, etc. for some directory or phone book. They had us as the previous business’s name. My boss heard me on the phone, rushed over and literally pressed the button to hang up on them, which shocked me because she’s normally very polite. She told me it was one of these semi-scams. It’s “free” to be listed but they deliberately have something wrong, IIRC, and there’s a big fee for correcting the info. Something along those lines. She told me a previous employee of hers had fallen for the same thing several months earlier and that’s how she knew. Buncha bullshit. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phone-call-felt-scammy/547491/20 "2010-07-23T15:21:15Z")
Yep, that’s a big bullshit loophole they’ve found. Apparently if someone calls you and tells you “Hey, I’m going to sent you this thing. Is this your address?” and you confirm it, it gives them the right to send it to you and then bill you for it. Same for those charities that call and say “You don’t have to give us any money now, but can we at least send you a pledge form? Is this your address?” If you agree the pledge form is actually some sort of bill that you become liable for. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phone-call-felt-scammy/547491.md?page=2)