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Telephone scammers are back


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Hubby took a call (332-939-3780) and was instantly greeted by the "This is your old friend" (but name not given) schtick. He goes, "Howie?" and, of course, is immediately told that, "Yes, yes, this is Howie." Well, since we haven't heard from Howie in about....oh, 30 years...it's safe to say that it wasn't. So, on and on they go for a bit and then hubby finally asks, "What's my wife's name?" He repeats it and suddenly Howie has hung up! I guess Howie was ashamed of forgetting my name, Prunella. Shame, I never got to talk to my old boss and friend.

 

Yeah, folks, they're back, but I have a feeling they never really disappeared. They just go to ground for a while.

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With all the prior reports of this and other phone scams I'm surprised that 1) people freely post their phone numbers on forums, facebook, and other public places and 2) people answer calls from numbers they are unfamiliar with. 

It's only on rare occasions that I'll answer a call from a number not in my contacts list and then only if I strongly suspect it might be a call from a local business or person having a reason to call me.

You can't be scammed if you don't answer.

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2 minutes ago, shortstop said:

  Have had  5 over the past few days.

473-149-1391            833-244-4334

444-171-1757            669-256-3302

449-462-9982

No caller left a message so assume its scammers.  I do not recognize any of these numbers.

 

 

 

That's a drop in the proverbial bucket. I've had HSBC bots change numbers up to 4 times in a matter of minutes. When one number is blocked, they simply use another.

Most unwanted calls are not "scammers", though prudence suggests not answering calls from anyone you don't know.

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bmh, yeah, these guys do speak English. At first, hubby said there was a pause when he answered and then the guy spoke in English. It's safe to say that many are bilingual. As for me, I'll answer the phone because it's fun to play with them for a while. If you prefer not, I don't blame you. FWIW, our number is not on FB (we don't use it) or any other website. I'm sure they're tech savvy enough to have some sort of rote dialing or whatever it's called.

Meanwhile, if you want to have some good laughs, check out James Veitch on youtube. He has several videos on responding to spammers and they're hilarious.

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I answer  the calls if it is something I do not want to hear I just hang up.. it is simple enough not to enter into a conversation with anyone calling..I can tell you that 99 per cent of the calls I do not recognize are telemarketers and not scammers , then there is always  a repairman or someone who is ddelivering somethng etc.. I just answer  and I have never been scammed..I had a few we have your nephew or your daughter  with someone crying in the background calls and I hang up.. I have an unlisted number but it makes no difference to telemarketers..

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I've been getting calls from a lady who is crying and asking for help in Spanish. Since the exact same call has been made at varying times to more than one of our phones in quick succession, and since I don't know any Mexican ladies who are at all likely to be distressed and think I could be of help, I hang up. This scheme seems to have replaced the one where a man calls and says "you know who this is, it's your neighbor" and says he is stranded and needs cash deposited to his account right away.

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Not all unknown callers are scammers: currently, the phone companies are leaving recorded messages to notify their customers of the dialing changeover that takes over Mexico-wide on August 3. I guess we will be re-inputting our contacts in landlines and cells.

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