Online fraud

[Tulecreeper]

Yes! So simple, but effective. Get a call from an unrecognized or "restricted" number? Just hang up without even answering. If it's a real person that has an actual reason for speaking with you and not a robocall, they'll just redial. Tiny bit of inconvenience for them, but...

I do this any time I get a call from someone I don't recognize. Usually I've blocked some kind of spammer, but sometimes it's a legit call from, for example, someone at a doctors office that uses a different number then what you have for them.

I can add a number to a "Reject Number" list on my cell phone. Every time I get a call and no message is left, I add that number to the list. About 6 months ago, the last time I bothered counting, I had almost 300 numbers on that list. I'm sure it is well over that now.

 

[Tulecreeper]

IMO, most social media is a scam.

If you use services which require security questions, why are you still giving them legitimate answers? They are additional opportunities to use secure passwords and phrases which are things people will not be able to guess, search, or phish for.

What's your mom's maiden name?
Th!$i5aSc@m9917 roses are r3d

What was the make of your first car?
My favorite color is blue.

What was your first phone number?
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOP9876543210

For security questions, I always answer the question with a literal answer. "Where did you meet your spouse?", for example, does not get a reply "Smallville", it gets a reply like "123 Main St" because that would be the address of the church/bar/restaurant where we first met.

 

[DonTom]

The landline I have by cable in Auburn, CA (Optimia cable) filters out spam calls. I have yet to get even one robo call there.

However, the cable service I have in Reno (Spectrum) does not filter anything and I get robo calls all day long. And it says "spam risk" on the display. If they know, why cannot they do the same as in Auburn? It's the same with all others I know who live in Reno, with other cable services, such as AT&T cable.

I have no idea why they can do this in Auburn, CA but not in Reno, NV.

-Don- Gallup, NM

 

[John From Detroit]

I see those posts all the time, and I'm only on FB a couple times a week. Questions like: Without naming the city you were born in, what is it famous for?, or, Of all the pets you've owned, if more than one of them had the same name what was it?

The scammers keep track of who answers the questions and they have a logarithm they run all these answers through and you would be surprised at how much info they can glean.

Yup that is why NONE of those questions have answers that lead to my passwords. Of course a lot of my passwords are like 96#v&#^7Za37ybr Which is also NOT one of my passwords.

 

[DonTom]

I just now received this message:

Donald Huff
From:[email protected]
Toonald Huff
Bcc:[email protected]

Fri, Oct 27 at 9:39 AM


Hello,

I need a favor from you. I'd appreciate it if you could email me back asap.

Thanks,
Donald


This time, two things give it away. The email address is wrong and also, he NEVER uses the name "Donald". He goes by "Don" just as I do.

Again, this did NOT go to my spam folder, but my main email folder.

-Don- White Rock, NM

---

 

[Tulecreeper]

I just now received this message:

Donald Huff
From:[email protected]
Toonald Huff
Bcc:[email protected]

Fri, Oct 27 at 9:39 AM


Hello,

I need a favor from you. I'd appreciate it if you could email me back asap.

Thanks,
Donald


This time, two things give it away. The email address is wrong and also, he NEVER uses the name "Donald". He goes by "Don" just as I do.

Again, this did NOT go to my spam folder, but my main email folder.

-Don- White Rock, NM

---

I get way more legitimate emails in my Spam folder than I get Spam in my Inbox. Half the Spam I do get looks like this:

ここをクリックして賞品を獲得してください。

 

[Oldgator73]

I got a voicemail that says “This is to authorize payment of $1499 for the recent order of Apple MacBook Pro on your Amazon account if you do not authorize this payment please press one to speak to our customer service support representative“

 

[Tulecreeper]

I got a voicemail that says “This is to authorize payment of $1499 for the recent order of Apple MacBook Pro on your Amazon account if you do not authorize this payment please press one to speak to our customer service support representative“

If you actually have an Amazon account, I'd log on from a separate device and see if someone ordered one of those with your info.

 

[Oldgator73]

If you actually have an Amazon account, I'd log on from a separate device and see if someone ordered one of those with your info.

Did and they didn’t. Researched the phone number, it’s a scam.