Got one 3 times today that I can’t figure out the objective. Caller ID says “None” and the number is likely spoofed to look like a local number. I screen them and hear an obviously recorded female voice ask “Hello, Is John there?” and then it immediately hangs up.
I’m tempted to pick up just to see what happens.
There’s a new scam call here, I’ve gotten a dozen in the last two weeks. The message is “Hello, this is Canadian Border Services. A package has been seized that was sent to you address, containing something illegal (or words to that effect.) A warrant has been issued for your arrest. Press 1 to speak to a border servies officer.” I find it really nice of the federal government that they’d call me to let me know I’m going to be arrested, it gives me time to make a run for it. Curiously, CBP never has shown up.
This being Canada, sometimes for fun I press 1. When I am connected to an “agent” I start speaking French. The federal government would always, always be prepared for that. And yet curiously they never are.
I just got a scam text last night from “Chase”, informing me to call an 888 number immediately. So I called the number on the back of my credit card instead. They said there were no alerts or flags on my account.
It was kind of weird because I had been watching scammer-takedown videos on youtube the last couple of days.
That’s a variation of a US Customs scam that had a brief run a while back. Before that the Social Security “abandoned rental car in your name that’s full of cocaine” scam that was very common.
And I thought amusing the other adolescents by loudly belching at will wasn’t going to be a useful skill later in life…
Boy. It’s going to be awfully hard to top that one.
For a long time I had my outgoing message recorded only in Esperanto in order to confuse scammers. I only changed it when family members started complaining that they couldn’t understand it.
That can’t be true. I recently got a phone message from the Canada Revenue Agency (= the American IRS) claiming that I owed thousands in back taxes, which was a total surprise to me since I have assessment notices showing that I owe nothing. But they would be pleased to resolve the problem upon payment by Amazon gift card to someplace in Punjab, where apparently the CRA has their headquarters. Otherwise, as I understood it, I would be arrested and police were already on their way, sirens blaring.
It says the video is unavailable. What are you trying to pull?
I was told that by the “Treasury Dept”, right after they told me I was in big trouble because they were unable to find my address in order to send my late notice. (Only it was the marshals, not the police.)
I never thought of putting that skill of mine to use. Thanks! (I do it for my grandson, who thinks it is hilarious.)
So they told you the marshals were on their way to an address they couldn’t find? I don’t think even I would fall for that one.
I had a Social Security scammer (when I refused to pay) tell me he was calling the police. A couple of minutes later, the same guy calls(very distinctive voice), claiming to be the Chief Officer of The California Police Force and he was “coming to my doorstop to make you arrest”. I tell him he can’t as he has no jurisdiction in South Carolina(the fake address I use). He hangs up, calls back in seconds claiming to be The Chief Officer of The South Carolina Police Force and his colleague in California has explained all the details(he must talk faster than that FedEx guy).
Turns out he wants my address so he can “come to your doorstop and make you arrest”.
So I give him my fake address, he tells me he’ll be there in 5 minutes. I remark that there’s no way he can cover almost 8,000 miles in 5 minutes.
He cusses and hangs up.
Honestly, your insouciance in this matter boggles the mind.
It’s widely known that the CPP uses Jewish Space LasersTM
You’re damned lucky to still even be here
Lately I’ve been getting calls (again) asking if I’ve gotten my new Medicare card yet. One of the times I’d gotten one of these calls I decided to play along just to see if I can figure out the scam. After being told that the new Medicare cards have chips in them I was asked for my Medicare number so they could check my account. (Gee, if you’re calling me from SSA shouldn’t you already know that?) I gave them a made-up number which they were willing to accept, but then hung up after they started asking for other identifying info.
This seems awfully counterproductive for him:
“I’ll be there to get you in 5 minutes!”
“Shit! I’d better scram!” ::Click!::
No one ever accused these guys of being smart.
There used to be a list of humorous advice for the “new young adult” with things like “Face facts, you must dust.” One of the items was: “If someone offers you a breath mint, take it.” How times change.
I was getting a huge number of spam calls (my cell phone helpfully identified them as “potential spam”). I did answer one or two, and they were a heavily accented person from “Medicare Assistance,” asking for my wife. When I said she wasn’t at that number, they asked if I had power of attorney to make decisions for her. When I said I didn’t, they hung up.
How they got my number instead of my wife’s, I don’t know. Meanwhile, she got no such calls at all! This was a huge flurry of calls, something like ten or fifteen a day. I blocked every number, but they kept coming from new numbers. They finally stopped a few days ago, when the Medicare open enrollment period ended. So I suspect they may have been trying to hawk a Medicare Advantage Plan. But for awhile, it was incredibly annoying!
I just looked up the Medicare Advantage Marketing rules from the CMS website. They are not allowed to market plans by telephone unless you are an existing customer. So these people are illegal whether or not they are trying to hawk a plan or just rip you off.