Telephone scam alert.

SCAM ALERT: I heard about this scam a year or so ago, but today it happened to my elderly mother. She received a phone call from someone pretending to be a family member who was in another city, in trouble with the police, needs money. It was more detailed then that. Anyway, it seemed rather random, but remind people that it's happening, and suggest that they do not give out personal information. Of course they should not give their credit card information, but in addition, do not give out names of grandchildren, etc. (Happened to my mother in Maine, but they said kid was in NYC.)

That happened to me a year or so ago.  Someone hacked into my e-mail and sent a message to all my contacts that I was in jail in some foreign country and needed thousands of dollars to get out.  Fortunately, my husband is one of my contacts, and he was right downstairs, so I found out about it right away, changed my password, and fired off an e-mail to my contacts that I was not in jail, was, in fact at home, and that they shouldn't send anyone any money. 

It was kind of a wake-up call, though, to find out who would have sent money to get me out of jail, and who wouldn't.  If I were really in jail, I mean.

Wait: lisat, are you saying someone rang your mother? I know of the email scam, and the text scam, but not a hoax call. 

My colleague shared a scam with me recently that targeted his elderly mother. Someone called her saying they were from Microsoft and were calling to clean a virus on her PC. They got her to give them access to her PC and proceeded to copy her files (my colleague is still unsure of the depth of what they scrubbed from her PC). But they didn't stop there. They also asked her to pay for this "service" and asked her to wire them $300 via Western Union. Luckily, my colleague found out about the scam later that day when his mom mentioned the wire and he freaked out and stopped the wire. He subsequently cancelled her credit cards and alerted her bank, but both of them are still worried about what info this guy might have stolen. 

Brazen doesn't even describe it.

I don't answer the phone. 

Hahaha said:

My colleague shared a scam with me recently that targeted his elderly mother. Someone called her saying they were from Microsoft and were calling to clean a virus on her PC. They got her to give them access to her PC and proceeded to copy her files (my colleague is still unsure of the depth of what they scrubbed from her PC). But they didn't stop there. They also asked her to pay for this "service" and asked her to wire them $300 via Western Union. Luckily, my colleague found out about the scam later that day when his mom mentioned the wire and he freaked out and stopped the wire. He subsequently cancelled her credit cards and alerted her bank, but both of them are still worried about what info this guy might have stolen. 

Brazen doesn't even describe it.

I got this one the past three days.  number says out of area 900343.  I told them I only had Apple products and they hung up.

The_Soulful_Mr_T said:

I don't answer the phone. 

I don't answer the phone if I don't recognize the area code.  If I recognize the area code but don't know the number then I might answer, but will be very wary.

Unfortunately, for some odd reason my husband's employer, based in Newark, New Jersey and a state agency, has some weird ass phone system so every time they call him it shows a different number every time, with area codes from places like Baltimore or Chicago.  These phone calls are coming from Newark, from his legitimate employer.  It makes no sense, but basically makes it so that he has to answer every phone call no matter the area code.

Yes, Joanne, it was a phone call. The first person who called had a young voice. He said, "Grandma. It's your oldest grandson." Then my mother said, 'Connor?' And the young voice said, 'You know the name of your grandson.' Then my mother said my son's name. Then the young voice said, 'Remember my friend, Dave. He died. He had lung cancer. His family was driving me down to New York to go to the funeral. But we got into a car accident. The car is totaled. The police arrested me. I need $500 to get bailed out.' Fortunately my mother realized it was a scam when none of this made sense. So I don't know how she got off the phone, she didn't tell me.

She called me and I said call the police, which she did. They told her it was a scam happening now. They told her not to pick up the phone when they called again, because they would call again to get the credit card info. 

However, the number that came up on the phone wasn't the same number so she did pick up when they called again. This time it was an older voice saying that he was from legal aid and wanted to help her grandson. Again, I am not sure if she just hung up or how exactly she got off the phone.

The fact that they didn't tell her my kid's name made me feel a bit better. I am not happy that my mother started listing her grand children, but at least they didn't call knowing their names. They did know her name. She doesn't have a Facebook account or anything online except her Kindle account. A bit unnerving. I feel bad for anyone who answers the phone and believes even half of what is being said. That said, picking lung cancer as the reason a kid died is pretty unrealistic. 

I'll warn my clients. Thanks.

Hahaha said:

My colleague shared a scam with me recently that targeted his elderly mother. Someone called her saying they were from Microsoft and were calling to clean a virus on her PC. They got her to give them access to her PC and proceeded to copy her files (my colleague is still unsure of the depth of what they scrubbed from her PC). But they didn't stop there. They also asked her to pay for this "service" and asked her to wire them $300 via Western Union. Luckily, my colleague found out about the scam later that day when his mom mentioned the wire and he freaked out and stopped the wire. He subsequently cancelled her credit cards and alerted her bank, but both of them are still worried about what info this guy might have stolen. 

Brazen doesn't even describe it.

I've had this one several times.  I shocked my son with my reply:  "You will die a painful death if you call this number again".

So sorry for your colleague and his mother.