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Scams - Past, Present and Future

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Slim Cognito
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Scams - Past, Present and Future

#1

Post by Slim Cognito »

Lest I hijack another topic, I thought I'd start this.

We've all gotten the phone calls from "Amazon," "Social Security," and, last but not least, re: our car's warranty. Sadly, lots of people fall for them, even with PSAs.

In the Crazy Trumper's thread, I got off on a rant about an online scammer that got over $1K from an acquaintance of mine by pretending to be an American soldier stationed overseas. A scammer had stolen someone's profile photos and created a fake identity, then scammed her, through Instagram, asking her to send gift card info to him using her phone's camera.

But it doesn't have to be Instagram or Twitter. Just last week someone hit me up on Facebook. I normally don't accept friend requests but I have a reunion coming up and, as in the past, old classmates show back up on Facebook and start sending out friend requests. I don't remember many of my old schoolmates as I wasn't there much (no, not skipping, I spent afternoons either at art school or working). But, my bad for not checking how many mutual friends we had. No sooner had I accepted, he started DM'ing me wanting me to download another app for chatting. I immediately blocked him as I had become familiar with the pattern after the above acquaintance told her story.
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Re: Scams - Past, Present and Future

#2

Post by Slim Cognito »

Another scam, big in Florida right now, but probably other places as well.

Florida home insurers are in big trouble down here, lots of them going under as they don't have the capital to cover losses in case of a major storm. We've been lucky so far this year. Lots of people, including our next door nazis, are going to lose their insurance because their roof is over 10 years old (15, and it's a 30 year roof - comp shingles) and if they don't replace it right away, they're insurance-less, with a mortgage and it's still hurricane season.

So a lot of scammers are knocking on doors posing as roofers. They sell their product by promising they can start within the month (all the respected roofing companies are backed up for months because of the above loss of insurance threat). The scammers ask for deposits of 1-2K and disappear.
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Re: Scams - Past, Present and Future

#3

Post by Slim Cognito »

This is an old scam that almost caught my husband. Not sure if it's still around.

He had an old 50s caddy (not a 59) for sale on Craig's List. This was back in the early 00s. He got a call from someone who offered him about $1.5K more than his asking price. They would mail him several $100 postal money orders. The MOs were to arrive on a Friday, he was to deposit them immediately. He could pocket the extra $500 but was instructed to cash out $1K to give to the guy who was to pick up the car, only the guy probably won't take the car. They often target classic cars that don't run and they can't arrange for a transport vehicle until he has his $1k cash.

When hubs told me of this great deal, I told him immediately it didn't pass the smell test so I called my brother who worked as a federal probation officer. They have an IRS division in their building. They asked us to play along and accept the offer, then when the MOs arrived in the mail, to call him and he'd come out and pick them up.

I have to say they were pretty impressive counterfeits. So did the feds.

Back to the scammer. He called several times, I suppose to make arrangements to pick up the $1K in cash, but we let all calls go to voice mail and he finally gave up.

A couple of years later, I moved to the Lake of the Ozarks, (that Ozarks) and, as it turned out, my new next door neighbor lost several thousand dollars when he fell for the same scam selling his motorcycle. Cuz your bank doesn't like it when you deposit counterfeit checks, then withdraw the cash before they can run the paper through the verifying machines.

And the scammer took his motorcycle, I assume to a chop shop.
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Re: Scams - Past, Present and Future

#4

Post by Volkonski »

According to the local Oldies radio news this morning the county police arrested a man this morning who has been posing as a contractor to scam folks needing house repairs.

The police have identified about 100 victims so far and expect to find more now that he has been arrested.
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Re: Scams - Past, Present and Future

#5

Post by sugar magnolia »

A woman I know has been scammed out of (minimum) $600,000 so far by an online "fiance" who is overseas military. She is actually the widow of a high ranking military officer and had money of her own. Her fiance has taken all of her money, made promises to her that my cat wouldn't believe (4.2 carat engagement ring she's only see a picture of) and has convinced her he has bought her 2 houses for them to live in when he gets home and they get married, so she has put her own home on the market. She's sold most of her personal belongings, too. Some of the things he has told her are absolutely batshit. They were supposed to meet up in Atlanta one time so she flew over there with literally enough money to eat lunch on and no return ticket. She was stuck until she could borrow money from her son to get home on because of course the fiance didn't show up. He called her 3 weeks later and said he'd been in a coma in an Atlanta hospital after getting shot in the shoulder. Many more details that I couldn't follow that didn't make sense. And that's just one of her stories. We worked on a movie set together for several weeks so I had to listen to constant phone conversations with him all day. She was sending him money and then turning around to borrow money from us for gas to get home. It was absolutely wild.

Once I realized she had never actually MET this man, I tried to talk to her about what was going on and when that didn't work I called the elder abuse hotline thing with the AG's office. Got nowhere with that either. She still calls me periodically and I just let it go to VM. Her house will have a for sale sign up for a couple of weeks, then it comes down, then it goes back up. It's a huge ass house and in a good neighborhood so something must be terribly wrong with it. She's out of money so can't do needed repairs like repainting or new roof. It makes me sad for her, but she's not willing to listen. It's already cost her her relationship with her son.
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Re: Scams - Past, Present and Future

#6

Post by Suranis »

I got involved in chatting to one a couple of years ago, and she very quickly lead the talk around to her sick mother. I quickly realized she was angling me to give her money for it, and I probably was talking to different people. So I was getting scammed. Pretty heartbreaking for a lonely guy.
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Re: Scams - Past, Present and Future

#7

Post by MN-Skeptic »

On a recent trip to Target, I got chatting with the checkout person about Target gift cards. She said that there was a woman who would come in and buy several thousand dollars worth of gift cards at a time to send to someone. Target employees tried to tell her it was very likely a scam, but she wouldn't listen. So the last time that checkout person waited on her, she told the lady that Target has a limit on how many cards you can buy in a year and she had reached her limit. I'm sure it didn't put a complete halt to her being scammed, but it was all the checkout person could do at that moment.
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Re: Scams - Past, Present and Future

#8

Post by Kriselda Gray »

I'm sure the customer didn't think so (at least at the time - someday she might), but that was very kind of the cashier!
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Re: Scams - Past, Present and Future

#9

Post by AndyinPA »

Well, if we're talking scams... As I mentioned in the traveling thread, we got scammed a few weeks ago in Seattle at the train station. We had just got in, but it took time to get the luggage and handle the luggage since the hubby wasn't able to do much with his. I had heard an announcement at the train station about a current taxi scam, but had been too distracted to really pay attention. We were the last ones outside. I was just trying to dig out my cell phone to call the cab company when a cab drove up. We told him where we were going, and he loaded the luggage up in the trunk, and we got into the cab. As soon as we got into the cab, I had a feeling something was wrong. He gave us a price, and that was my first warning. But the luggage was in the trunk, so I said okay. When we got to the hotel, he wouldn't take a credit card, so I had it in my hand while I dug cash out of my wallet. My husband tripped right outside the cab at the same time. I gave him the cash, and got out of the cab to see what was going on with my husband. The cab driver drove away as soon as I was out.

We weren't really out much money, maybe $7-8, but I lost my credit card in the process. It either landed on the floor, or it went down the grate. I was pretty sure we had been scammed almost as soon as I got into the cab. I was sure of it when I saw the non-working credit card reader, but it was too late. The real hassle came when I realized hours later that my credit card was gone. I knew when I had used it last, so it wasn't hard to tell where it likely was. No one ever tried to use it, but I had to cancel it. I had other cards, but my husband didn't. It wasn't the best way to start a vacation.

Very minor as scams go, but aggravating nevertheless.
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Re: Scams - Past, Present and Future

#10

Post by Volkonski »

“If everyone fought for their own convictions there would be no war.” ― Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace
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Re: Scams - Past, Present and Future

#11

Post by Slim Cognito »

AndyinPA wrote: Sun Aug 28, 2022 7:28 pm Well, if we're talking scams... As I mentioned in the traveling thread,...
Thanks for the heads-up. I'll be traveling solo in a month so...good to know.
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Re: Scams - Past, Present and Future

#12

Post by Foggy »

One I've been getting lately is emails thanking me for my payment - usually between $300 - 400, and a link or phone number. But I know what's left my accounts and what hasn't, and who I do business with. I haven't taken the time to find out the rest of the scam.
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Re: Scams - Past, Present and Future

#13

Post by MN-Skeptic »

I just got a very authentic looking email purportedly from Intuit, thanking me for my Paypal purchase from Target for a Galaxy smart phone for $958.81. But the email was spoofed to show that the email was coming from an intuit address which I know is not correct since I've ordered from intuit before and I can see that it's off by one letter. And why would the email be from intuit if I bought something from Target using Paypal? There is a phone number to call if I have any questions, but I can't google find that phone number, so it's obviously not real. There is an attached pdf file purportedly of the invoice but I wasn't born yesterday. However, as real as the email appears, I'm sure some folks will be fooled by it and call that phone number.
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Re: Scams - Past, Present and Future

#14

Post by AndyinPA »

I got an email yesterday telling me that my Amazon account was frozen because of suspicious activity. I know there hasn't been any activity. All I had to do was go to Amazon and look at my lists. All there. Not frozen. Big surprise. I've had a number of things like this lately.
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Scams - Past, Present and Future

#15

Post by RTH10260 »

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Scams - Past, Present and Future

#16

Post by Walt Tuttle »

Got an Amazon package in the mail. Seemed weird, I didn't order anything. Package contained one can of Happy Belly Whole Kernel Sweet Corn. Retails on Amazon for $0.79. I guess I'm buying my groceries one item at a time now.

Seems I might be a victim of a "brushing" scam. No suspicious activity on any account or credit cards. Yet. Reported it to Amazon.

According to Amazon, I don't need to return the package. :thumbsup:
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Scams - Past, Present and Future

#17

Post by sugar magnolia »

I got a single 24" wide sheer curtain panel.
My husband got a package of foam hat sizers.
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Scams - Past, Present and Future

#18

Post by Sam the Centipede »

sugar magnolia wrote: Wed Apr 26, 2023 1:33 pm I got a single 24" wide sheer curtain panel.
My husband got a package of foam hat sizers.
:confuzzled: Useful if you wish to buy a foam hat, I guess. :shrug:
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Scams - Past, Present and Future

#19

Post by jez »

I got a set of blue tooth ear buds. Work nicely, actually.
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Scams - Past, Present and Future

#20

Post by Slim Cognito »

I do remember my son getting a pair of pajamas from Amazon. The poor kid took after his parents; we all lost the height lottery. So when these giant PJs showed up, everyone was confused. He kept the Tshirt and gave the pants to D.
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Scams - Past, Present and Future

#21

Post by keith »

Sam the Centipede wrote: Wed Apr 26, 2023 1:44 pm
sugar magnolia wrote: Wed Apr 26, 2023 1:33 pm I got a single 24" wide sheer curtain panel.
My husband got a package of foam hat sizers.
:confuzzled: Useful if you wish to buy a foam hat, I guess. :shrug:
I need a couple of those to fix my fedora thats a touch too big.

I used to get receipts and notices (but not actual goods like youse guize) from somewhere purporting to be from Amazon.co.UK. i reported it to Amazon real site and they said it wasnt from them.

I blocked the address and havent heard from them since.
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Scams - Past, Present and Future

#22

Post by roadscholar »

keith wrote: Sun May 28, 2023 11:26 pm
Sam the Centipede wrote: Wed Apr 26, 2023 1:44 pm
sugar magnolia wrote: Wed Apr 26, 2023 1:33 pm I got a single 24" wide sheer curtain panel.
My husband got a package of foam hat sizers.
:confuzzled: Useful if you wish to buy a foam hat, I guess. :shrug:
I need a couple of those to fix my fedora thats a touch too big.

I used to get receipts and notices (but not actual goods like youse guize) from somewhere purporting to be from Amazon.co.UK. i reported it to Amazon real site and they said it wasnt from them.

I blocked the address and havent heard from them since.
I have heard that you can shrink Fedoras a bit by steaming them lightly, but I've never tried it personally. :shrug:
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