Amazon Scam

[Chef Duane]

<in a heavily middle eastern accent>.... "Hello this is Scott Smith calling from Amazon about your Norton Security expiring.."

But I don't have Norton on my computer and don't have an Amazon account.

"Listen! It will expire today and an arrest for your warrant will be released!!"

Ok, so send the cops.

"NO! You must send money now or arrest issue will be warranted forthwithcoming!! Buy some gift cards!!"

 

[Jackiemac]

I do agree that is disturbing but it might show that the security checks they have in place stopped the hacker from using his credit card to buy it and maybe other things as well.

We are waiting for Amazon to advise. Not sure how it works but they obviously couldn't add an address to ship it. And at first we could not remove from basket either.

Steve thinks it's a flaw in the selling process that allows someone else to put stuff in your basket if they have some info.

 

[Seilerbird]

I guard my email and phone number as if they were gold. I rarely give them out. I also receive maybe one spam email per day and Google usually blocks them. I get maybe one spam call a week and I never answer them. Google also blocks most of those calls. It is why I love Google so much. I am a Googleaholic.

Have you ever noticed the little window that pops up in the right hand corner of a browser and it asks you if you want to proceed with Google, or Facebook, or something else. I absolutely never click on those because you are giving away personal information without reason. I just bypass it and never reply.

How about those worthless reward cards and apps like at McDonald's where you can get a free order of french fries after you spend a few dollars. The free stuff they give you is worthless, they want your personal information. I refuse to give my personal info to anyone who wants it sell me something. They are selling your info. It is worth big bucks.

I kept on refusing an app from 7/11 and the clerks were always shocked that I did not want their "free" app to save money. I tell them I don't want to be spammed. They sometimes reply that 7/11 never does that. Yeah right, until they change policies and they still sell your info.

 

[Jackiemac]

We are also pretty careful Tom, doing same as yourself. We did wonder if it was an Amazon seller that may have got the details as they will have them for shipping.

 

[SpencerPJ]

I watched a documentary on these scams. Many are run through high rise corporate buildings in the country of Lebanon, very elaborate, very involved, very high tech. I certainly would change my password. I have my credit cards set-up to get a text alert any time one is used (wife hates it), and only use one of my credit cards online, with only 5k limit. Pretty crazy, not only did they have access to account, also knew his phone number.

 

[Jackiemac]

I watched a documentary on these scams. Many are run through high rise corporate buildings in the country of Lebanon, very elaborate, very involved, very high tech. I certainly would change my password. I have my credit cards set-up to get a text alert any time one is used (wife hates it), and only use one of my credit cards online, with only 5k limit. Pretty crazy, not only did they have access to account, also knew his phone number.

The lady sounded Indian or Pakistani.

I noticed our bank is stopping some of the text alerts stating you can check info on the app!!

 

[jymbee]

Based on the noise she was obviously in a call centre, so they are trying to scam lots of people.

Indeed. You would think that given that kind of ambient yak yak yak noise from a room full of crooks trying to drain your bank account, the scammers would make an effort to at least space out the scammers desks a bit more.

 

[SpencerPJ]

The lady sounded Indian or Pakistani.

I noticed our bank is stopping some of the text alerts stating you can check info on the app!!

Here in the USA, I'd never use a bank card, only a credit card for anything. We are not liable for fraud on either, but it's easier to tell Discover to stop payment, rather than tell a bank to get my money back. My credit cards (Discover, Capital One, etc) 100% have alerts I can set-up and get notifications and the minimum threshold I set (and that is $1) This is still crazy someone could add an item to your cart, That is a high level security issue. Good luck, I'd probably be so paranoid I'd update all financial passwords, lol. Keep us posted.

 

[ziplock]

very soon after dropping off of social media the number of bogus calls i received dropped drastically

I am guessing he has not had a bogus call since Wednesday night.

I am happy for him.

 

[Firstime RVer]

If I did not originate the contact I will consider it a scam.

If there is an ounce of believability in what I receive, I will call the vendor/contact using a known good number.

That's what we do.
Safe travels and all the best.

 

[gwinger]

very soon after dropping off of social media the number of bogus calls i received dropped drastically

One reason I don't do any social media or use anything associated with Google.
I have received emails that my such and such virus software is do for renewal.
Of course I don't even have that brand of software.
I always run under a VPN when using my browser or doing any online shopping.

 

[garyb1st]

I never answer an unknown number. If it doesn't say suspected span, I'll google the number. More often than not google will not have any matching number.

 

[UTTransplant]

Me too Gary. And since I started doing it, the number of spam calls I get is way down. I used to get 2-3 a day, now it is 2-3 a week.

 

[PancakeBill]

Mine is set to just send to VM, I have had the whole gamut of calls, Toll violations, back taxes, unresolved debts etc. On the back tax i tried calling back, out of curiosity. Got recording saying I could press 2 and not be contacted, so far that actually worked.

Yesterday though I had a recording that my name was randomly picked and I won 1.2 Million dollars, plus they were having a new Mercedes delivered to my address. Just need to call back. Almost did just to hear the scam. My friend wouldn't let me use his phone, I even offered to split the money!

 

[dave541]

I tell them to take the money from my Nigerian bank account. It has millions in it and I cannot access it.

 

[whiteva]

If I am expecting a call from Dr. or such & not showing a name I treat as unknown call and I answer "Fraud investigations, Sargent Jones, can I have your name?" Once , a nurse at the Dr. office hesitated then asked if (my name) was available, I explained the phone number she used was not displayed by company name and we laughed.

If I am not expecting such a call I will not answer or click a text.

 

[Firstime RVer]

Just got a call today from a person (who had a very strong accent) saying that they were from the Medicare office. who started asking me questions like when I first subscribed etc. I told her that if she was from Medicare, she could read me the info like the last 4 digits of my Medicare number, middle name and date of birth, and I would confirm it. She said she was not allowed to do so.
At that point I just hung up the phone.
Let them give you the info that they have, which they will never do, and then hang up. Never ever give them any info.
The real organizations will always send you a written document in the mail.
Safe travels and all the best.

 

[rjshiflet]

Scammers are everywhere. There's rarely a week that passes that my wife or I don't get some sort of scam text or voice mail. We've been firm in not answering any calls that we don't recognize or that aren't in our contact list. We figure if it's important, they'll leave a voice mail. And text scams...we just delete them and move on.

We use credit cards instead of debit cards for our purchases since they are far more protected, easier to dispute and someone can't drain your bank account like they can with debit card info.

We try not to be overly suspicious - but we tend to be actively alert, shall we say.

 

[RayIN]

If a phone # displays on my cordless phone that I don't recognize, I pick up the phone with: " county morgue, may I help you". One woman stuttered for a while then apologized. Another time a man said may I speak with XXXX, I replied there is no-one here by that name that can speak with you, and he hung-up.
Scammers can be fun to toy with.

 

[DonTom]

Scammers can be fun to toy with.

If I get such a call while I here at my computer, I can see it is a BS call on the phone display. I then answer the wireless phone telephone and lay it down on top of the computer speaker. It then has a loud annoying hum. So then, when it gets to a real person, they only hear the loud annoying hum.

-Don- Reno, NV