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Your grandkid hasn't been kidnapped and there's no State Bureau of Investigation here, police say
By adamg on Thu, 09/20/2018 - 11:22am
Boston Police report they're getting reports of a new wave of phone scams in which people get calls that are allegedly from kidnappers or witnesses to horrible car crashes including loved ones - or from angry officials at the State Bureau of Investigation - all demanding people picking up their phones rush down to a local Western Union office or pharmacy to pick up some Green Dot cards to ward off problems.
Know this, the scammer will sound convincing. The scammer usually has or knows some basic details about your life, including names of family members, places of employment and school information. Please be advised that information like the aforementioned may sound like a lot when mentioned together, but, when one considers how easily it can be ascertained or gleaned from a person’s Facebook, Twitter or Instagram account, it’s not as impressive as first thought. In some cases, the scammer will have made phone calls to several members of the same family, extracting new information from each conversation that is then leveraged against you to increase the believability of the scammer’s claims.
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Comments
Let me also add....
Microsoft is never going to call you and say there is something wrong with your computer....
Also,
When the phone in your hotel room rings, and it's "the hotel manager" who wants to "verify the identity" of the person who checked in by getting name and address, and then credit card number, it's all a lie. Happened to me, and the guy didn't want me to go down to the desk; he wanted me to give him everything over the phone. I called the desk, and before I'd even finished asking about it, they were saying it was bogus. Somebody got a list of the room phone numbers and ran this scam using them. This had apparently happened before, and they'd changed all the phone numbers, but the crooks had got the new ones.
And the IRS is never going to phone you.
Let's just say
that even if it's a legitimate person calling you, it's still invigorating to tell them to eat a bowl of dicks before hanging up.
Take that, "Mom."
Yesterday
Robocall identified itself as being with Steward (I use St. E's), and connected me to a live person who told me that I qualified for "Social Security disability benefits", and that they were following up on a sent mailpiece.
I don't have any mail from them, and if I have a disability, then they can see into the future. I wonder how long it would have taken for them to ask for my SSN. I bid them adieu.
This is why
I carry a very loud whistle on my keychain.
"Yes, hello. Just a minute, let me turn my hearing aid up and get my bank statements. There. Now listen closely and tell me if you can hear me clearly...."
People should have been aware
I think we should have been quite familiar with these scams, since they have been around calling us using this trick since years ago. I have just Googled a little bit about them and found some reports filed by people at http://www.whycall.me/315-761-9795.html since few months ago. Keep spreading the words and inform our family about these scams, folks.