# Scam (Internet and Otherwise) Omnibus Thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 4, 2022, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scam-internet-and-otherwise-omnibus-thread/962265 "2022-04-04T18:23:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 21
**Author:** ![OttoDaFe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ottodafe/32/356_2.png) [@OttoDaFe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OttoDaFe)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2023, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scam-internet-and-otherwise-omnibus-thread/962265/401 "2023-02-09T15:02:53Z")
Got an email from “Marley Bob” this morning thanking me for renewing my “Coinbase Security” via PayPal to the tune of USD350, complete with a preview image of the “invoice” which I was invited to download. Which I found intriguing, since a) I’ve received several other emails warning me that my Coinbase account was locked for … reasons, and b) I’ve never done business with Coinbase anyway. As expected, my PayPal account shows no such activity. Forwarded to the PayPal phishing inbox and permanently deleted. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2023, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scam-internet-and-otherwise-omnibus-thread/962265/402 "2023-02-12T21:49:29Z")
Just a heads-up. My wife got one of these calls today, “apparently” from the local police non-emergency phone number (spoofed): > **[Individuals Spoofing Law Enforcement Phone Numbers to Scam Victims | Federal...](https://www.fbi.gov/contact-us/field-offices/atlanta/news/press-releases/individuals-spoofing-law-enforcement-phone-numbers-to-scam-victims)** > > The FBI Atlanta Field Office is warning the public about a phone scam where individuals are posing as local law enforcement officials. When called directly, PD verified it wasn’t them and that this “has been happening.” ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2023, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scam-internet-and-otherwise-omnibus-thread/962265/403 "2023-02-13T04:03:32Z")
We’ve been getting so many scam calls from numbers ostensibly similar to our landline’s exchange that I had our phone system block everything which starts with our area code and first number of the exchange. Landline is via our cable service so we still see each caller ID on our TVs if they’re on and getting input from a cable box. We’ve had “Customs Border” and “Dept of Treas” call in the past week or so. The number associated with “Treas” did give a valid Department of Treasury exchange. ETA: I just checked “Customs Border” and that gave a valid Customs & Border Protection exchange. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2023, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scam-internet-and-otherwise-omnibus-thread/962265/404 "2023-02-17T17:27:54Z")
Just wanted to add this one here, though I posted it elsewhere: > [@"Location Specialist Jackson" -- This phone call is a scam, right?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/location-specialist-jackson-this-phone-call-is-a-scam-right/978457/15): > > I should probably add this one to the omnibus thread (that may or may not exist), but … these people recently came after my wife: The scammers referenced in the article, NOT the FBI wink And they did spoof the local Police non-emergency phone number. Luckily, a tiny amount of my cynicism and paranoia has crept into my wife’s DNA. [For the knowledge base] ---
**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:** [February 21, 2023, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scam-internet-and-otherwise-omnibus-thread/962265/405 "2023-02-21T04:14:08Z")
UPS dropped off a package today with the correct address but with the recipient listed as “Bilbo Burnside” (not the actual name, but close). There has to my knowledge never been a Bilbo Burnside at this address. A search of the name turns up no living person with that name residing anywhere near here. The return address in Fort Worth appears connected with other incidents where unwanted packages were sent, thus I suspect a brushing scam. I have no interest in opening it. I wasted 10-15 minutes on the phone with UPS’ Olga from Moldova, informing her that UPS could pick up the package today, otherwise I’d throw it out. Olga said she’d contact the delivery people but no one showed up. I could hold onto it for awhile but assume it would be OK to discard. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2023, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scam-internet-and-otherwise-omnibus-thread/962265/406 "2023-02-23T09:00:57Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > …the address given is an actual skyscraper in downtown Toronto not far from the CN Center, which I am told is a major building in its own right. Red flag right there. It’s the CN _Tower_, not “Center”: the pointy thing prominent in pictures of the city skyline. And besides, even if it _were_ the “CN Center”, it would be spelt in Canadian English as “CN Centre”. Cite: lived in Toronto for 10 years. ---
**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:** [February 23, 2023, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scam-internet-and-otherwise-omnibus-thread/962265/407 "2023-02-23T18:30:11Z")
> [@DavidNRockies](#): > > Just a heads-up. My wife got one of these calls today, “apparently” from the local police non-emergency phone number (spoofed): Not related to this spam, but I recently got a call supposedly from a police charity - the police department given was very generic, of course. I hadn’t gotten one of those in something like 10 years. They used to be a major spam call back a while ago. ---
**Author:** ![GaryM](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garym/32/241_2.png) [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2023, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scam-internet-and-otherwise-omnibus-thread/962265/408 "2023-02-24T01:10:36Z")
I’ve been getting email that contain nothing but “special characters”. Lots of #$\*}2 ₧ and stuff like that. Formatted into sentence and paragraph shapes. Immediate deleted of course. but I’m wondering what it’s all about. ---
**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:** [February 24, 2023, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scam-internet-and-otherwise-omnibus-thread/962265/409 "2023-02-24T01:47:41Z")
My guess is a character set you don’t have installed (Cyrillic, Chinese or Japanese, etc.) ---
**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:** [February 24, 2023, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scam-internet-and-otherwise-omnibus-thread/962265/410 "2023-02-24T04:23:14Z")
Got a text saying “This is Kim from [my drug insurance co.], stand by for a call. We need to review your insurance plan with you.” I almost answered the call, but then thought “Hey, this could be anyone.” So I called the insurance company. My HSA hadn’t paid the last premium, so I did. The woman said that was all the “review” that was needed. Then I mentioned the call, and Insurance Lady said “Oh, that’s Kim, she handles all delinquent accounts.” I said “Well, you should have Kim call from the corporate number that’s on the web site, instead of an (844) “Unknown Number”. And have her say ‘We need you to pay up’ instead of this talk of a review of my plan.” ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2023, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scam-internet-and-otherwise-omnibus-thread/962265/411 "2023-02-24T05:02:48Z")
I got a phone call today from a “Mike Wilson”, with a very heavy accent. He said he was with “The Border Patrol”, and that packages addressed to me from China were intercepted at the border (? like the packages were people?). He asked if I was expecting any packages from China. These packages were supposedly filled with “cocaine and other drugs”, and he claimed to have already emailed me this info. I was bored at work and had time to string him along for awhile. I asked what email address he’d used, and it wasn’t mine, but instead it was [firstnamelastname012@gmail.com](mailto:firstnamelastname012@gmail.com). He asked me to give him my real email address so he could send it to me. (Yeah, right.) Then I asked where these packages were addressed to. He read off 4 addresses that were associated with me in the distant past - the same addresses that I frequently get asked about by banks and other financial institutions when they want to verify my identity. I of course said none of them were correct, but I was kind of disturbed that these are such common knowledge, yet real banks use this info to verify identities. Finally I asked for his phone number “so I could verify who he was”. He gave me a “badge number”, a “unit number”, and a phone number that wasn’t the one on the Caller ID (which was a spoofed local number). I asked why the phone number he gave me didn’t match the one on the Caller ID, and he hung up. While the call was blatantly a scam, it was less obvious than a lot of them, particularly since he had those addresses. I could see how someone less aware would mistakenly give their email address at the least. I’m guessing I’ll be getting more calls like this, if this is the new scam. I’ll have to think of better responses for the next time I’m bored at work. ---
**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:** [February 24, 2023, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scam-internet-and-otherwise-omnibus-thread/962265/412 "2023-02-24T05:08:47Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > I got a phone call today from a “Mike Wilson”, with a very heavy accent. He said he was with “The Border Patrol”, and that packages addressed to me from China were intercepted at the border (? like the packages were people?). He asked if I was expecting any packages from China. These packages were supposedly filled with “cocaine and other drugs”, and he claimed to have already emailed me this info. - This _is_ the obvious part. If the packages were actually full of cocaine and other drugs, the first you would hear of it would be a not-so-polite knocking breaking your door down. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2023, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scam-internet-and-otherwise-omnibus-thread/962265/413 "2023-02-24T05:12:10Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > This _is_ the obvious part. If the packages were actually full of cocaine and other drugs, the first you would hear of it would be a not-so-polite knocking breaking your door down Oh, of course. But I could see somebody actually believing they had a chance to show their innocence by being cooperative and handing over a simple email address. “Mike” wasn’t being threatening, but almost like he was willing to clear things up. ---
**Author:** ![GaryM](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garym/32/241_2.png) [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2023, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scam-internet-and-otherwise-omnibus-thread/962265/414 "2023-02-24T05:16:58Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > This _is_ the obvious part. If the packages were actually full of cocaine and other drugs, the first you would hear of it would be a not-so-polite knocking breaking your door down. More likely a “controlled delivery” where they deliver the package then as soon as you accept it and close the door they break it down. They will take the time to shoot your dog for no additional charge. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2023, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scam-internet-and-otherwise-omnibus-thread/962265/415 "2023-02-24T05:24:50Z")
ISTM you got a lot of information regarding the scammer. Did you contact any law enforcement agency about this? ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2023, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scam-internet-and-otherwise-omnibus-thread/962265/416 "2023-02-24T05:36:37Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > ISTM you got a lot of information regarding the scammer. Did you contact any law enforcement agency about this? - Yes, and they’re on their way to his door right now unless he provides me with the serial numbers of 3 $500 Amazon gift cards. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2023, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scam-internet-and-otherwise-omnibus-thread/962265/417 "2023-02-24T15:09:20Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > I was bored at work and had time to string him along for awhile. I wish they’d call me at work: “What can the Commerce Department do for the Border Patrol?” ---
**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:** [March 7, 2023, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scam-internet-and-otherwise-omnibus-thread/962265/418 "2023-03-07T02:51:46Z")
Behold. The worse Photoshop I’ve ever seen. [[Album] imgur.com ![](https://i.imgur.com/6afSkCi.jpeg?fb "imgur.com") ](https://imgur.com/a/AG1nVq3) ---
**Author:** ![bobsmom101](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobsmom101/32/2867_2.png) [@bobsmom101](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobsmom101)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2023, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scam-internet-and-otherwise-omnibus-thread/962265/419 "2023-03-07T03:44:48Z")
“Planet: USA”? ---
**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:** [March 7, 2023, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scam-internet-and-otherwise-omnibus-thread/962265/420 "2023-03-07T03:55:16Z")
> [@bobsmom101](#): > > “Planet: USA”? - Yep. And there supposed to be an armored box inside containing an ATM card worth 4,000,000 million USD dollar. (Yep, that’s exactly how it’s phrased.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scam-internet-and-otherwise-omnibus-thread/962265.md?page=20) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scam-internet-and-otherwise-omnibus-thread/962265.md?page=22)