Off topic but important

[OCtoolguy]

Well, this morning I got the phone call that I have always expected but it never came. Until today. I got a call from my Grandson. Or so it sounded like. But, I very quickly realized that it was a scam but I played along. I did all I could to make the person give me details that only my Grandson would know. They were pretty cagey and managed to give answers that were close but still not detailed. Anyway, long story short, I waited for the part where he asked for money and he supposedly had his attorney standing by on a conference line to give me all the details on where I should wire the funds. I very nicely told him that he was calling the wrong person because I didn't have that kind of cash sitting around and that he would be better off calling his father who he had already told me that he didn't want to get involved. Then, the line went dead. I know that these people are getting their leads and informational details from Facebook because I had just posted something to my Grandson last week and it was the first time in a long time that we had connected through Facebook. So, let this be a warning to all of you. Be ready to ask questions that only your friend/relative would know. It will sound like their voice and you'll even doubt yourself but I guarantee, it will come down to them asking for money and it's a SCAM!

 

[jerry1939]

Ray, If I had as much money as you have, I would just pay them any amount they asked for.   

Good, quick thinking on your part Sir!

jerry

[OCtoolguy]

7 minutes ago, jerry1939 said:

Ray, If I had as much money as you have, I would just pay them any amount they asked for.   

Good, quick thinking on your part Sir!

jerry

Jerry, if you had as much money as you think I do, you'd still be poor. There was a time, but that time has passed. On the subject of being quick, I don't get phone calls from my grandkids. So, I knew right away that it was a scam. But he knew just enough about my grandson that he did a pretty good job. I may have been born at night but it wasn't LAST night.

 

[Rockytime]

I have heard of this scam often. My calls are from the phony IRS. When I call the number they give me and I ask them about jail time they hang up. Can't seem to get an answer. Same thing with,"Your computer has a virus."

[OCtoolguy]

Just now, Rockytime said:

I have heard of this scam often. My calls are from the phony IRS. When I call the number they give me and I ask them about jail time they hang up. Can't seem to get an answer. Same thing with,"Your computer has a virus."

Yes, I've had those too. The one that seems to come from Microsoft and wanting to help me "clean" up my computer to get rid of the virus is the one that I have the most fun with. When they call, and they always seem to have an East Indian accent, I go along with it for a bit but when they want me to turn on my computer, I tell them that I'm away from it and could they call tomorrow morning around 9 a.m. They say yes and sure as heck, they call. Then they tell me to turn on the computer and boot into Windows. I tell them that I don't have Windows. Then they say " are you using Apple" and I say no. That sort of confuses them. Then they tell me that I must have either Windows or Apple. I tell them no, I don't use either one. They ask me what I use. I tell them Linus Ubuntu. That really throws them a curve. I had one guy turn me over to his "supervisor" and he asked me what operating system I was using. I told him Linux Ubuntu version 7.0. He told me he had never heard of it before. I told him he must not be much of a computer guy. Anyway, long story short, I love to mess with those people and waste as much of their time as possible. I could go on and on. There are many great stories to tell. Lately with all the political calls we have been getting, the ones the get past NOMOROBO.com, I always answer "9 1 1, what is your emergency". There will be a pause and they start to hang up. I tell them "don't hang up, we have captured your number and a squad car is being dispatched to your address". They fall all over themselves trying to get out that one.

I love it.!!!

 

[OCtoolguy]

Here is the all time best phone spoof ever by Tom Mabe.

 

[MrsN]

that scam nearly got my grandmother a few years ago.

[OCtoolguy]

6 minutes ago, MrsN said:

that scam nearly got my grandmother a few years ago.

"Almost" being the key word here.

 

[Dee]

My hubby enjoys the money scams.  Especially when they tell him he won a large amount along with a free vacation to anywhere in the world.  He can keep them on the phone for almost an hour before they start cursing and hang up.  His favorite is to try and convince them to subtract the money they need to "complete the process" from the amount they want to send.  They really choke up on that one.  Then they want his address he tells them they found his phone number so they must have the address too.  But just incase they want to verify it the address is "123 my street."  Anyway, he has a blast especially with a cell phone not listed anywhere because he very seldom turns on the thing. 

[crupiea]

I am not that nice. If my loved ones get into legal trouble thats on them, they should have known better,.

Either way thanks for the heads up.

[Hermit]

I no longer have a landline. Cell only. The best $20 I ever spent is for an app called robokill.  You won't get anymore of those spam calls. Super easy to use and I believe it has a free one week trial. 

[OCtoolguy]

3 hours ago, Dee said:

My hubby enjoys the money scams.  Especially when they tell him he won a large amount along with a free vacation to anywhere in the world.  He can keep them on the phone for almost an hour before they start cursing and hang up.  His favorite is to try and convince them to subtract the money they need to "complete the process" from the amount they want to send.  They really choke up on that one.  Then they want his address he tells them they found his phone number so they must have the address too.  But just incase they want to verify it the address is "123 my street."  Anyway, he has a blast especially with a cell phone not listed anywhere because he very seldom turns on the thing. 

My kinda guy.

 

[OCtoolguy]

3 hours ago, Hermit said:

I no longer have a landline. Cell only. The best $20 I ever spent is for an app called robokill.  You won't get anymore of those spam calls. Super easy to use and I believe it has a free one week trial. 

$20 once or monthly?

 

[Sparkey]

Thanks for the heads up.

[kmmcrafts]

I believe cell phones have a set up option where they wont accept any calls not listed in your address book.. I know i did this in the past on older phones.. but now that my kids are bigger and driving etc.. I pick up if it's in a local area code as sometimes they'll call from a friends phone cause their phone battery is dead or for whatever reason.. LOL...

[Hermit]

10 hours ago, octoolguy said:

$20 once or monthly?

 

It was for the year. 

[kmmcrafts]

Funny how we talk about this yesterday and not on my local news is this topic.. Interesting read for me anyway.. on how and why they call.. they also talk about this robokiller app.. and another one called nomorerobo.. 

I went to my apps store on my iphone and.. I don;t see anywhere on it that said anything about it costing money.. but I don't know since I don't use many apps other than the etsy and amazon seller apps and my bookkeeping app.. Now that I think about it... I should deduct my phone bill on my business as I do use it more for business than I do for personal use.. Hmmm 

Anyway if you want to see the news story I'll include the link.. 

https://www.woodtv.com/news/target-8/fighting-back-against-illegal-robocalls/1575131948 

[CharleyL]

I've just added a 5 second long FAX machine answer tone at the beginning of my voice answering message and warned my friends and relatives to ignore it and leave me a message when they call. It significantly reduced the number of robo calls and other SPAM calls that I receive. The robots remove my phone number from their list and the people who call trying to sell me something usually hang up as soon as they hear it without waiting for the voice message that follows it. I'm not saying that it's 100% effective, but it has sure reduced the number of calls that I was getting.

Charley

 

[OCtoolguy]

19 minutes ago, CharleyL said:

I've just added a 5 second long FAX machine answer tone at the beginning of my voice answering message and warned my friends and relatives to ignore it and leave me a message when they call. It significantly reduced the number of robo calls and other SPAM calls that I receive. The robots remove my phone number from their list and the people who call trying to sell me something usually hang up as soon as they hear it without waiting for the voice message that follows it. I'm not saying that it's 100% effective, but it has sure reduced the number of calls that I was getting.

Charley

 

Sounds like a great idea. How did you do it?

 

[Hermit]

I hope this works. This is a voice recording from one of my bots on the app. Watch how fast the telemarketer hangs up when he thinks I had an alien encounter. It's fun to mess with the telemarketers and scammers. Turn your sound up. 

 

[Hermit]

Ok so here's one more. I have different random bots answering the call. This guy can't figure out he's talking to a bot.

[OCtoolguy]

Those are great. I love messing with these callers. I know I'm wasting my time by wasting theirs but I get so much enjoyment that I consider it "food for my soul".

 

[RabidAlien]

Just an FYI, all of those "cute" surveys that keep going around Facebook, they're all harvesting data from you.  "If you had a dog, what would you name him?"  "What flavor potato chip are you?"  "95% of <insert state here> residents cannot pass this simple quiz".  If the site linked has you putting in any data, its saving and selling that data.

[OCtoolguy]

13 minutes ago, RabidAlien said:

Just an FYI, all of those "cute" surveys that keep going around Facebook, they're all harvesting data from you.  "If you had a dog, what would you name him?"  "What flavor potato chip are you?"  "95% of <insert state here> residents cannot pass this simple quiz".  If the site linked has you putting in any data, its saving and selling that data.

You are so right on that.

 

[RangerJay]

On 11/5/2018 at 5:09 PM, Hermit said:

I no longer have a landline. Cell only. The best $20 I ever spent is for an app called robokill.  You won't get anymore of those spam calls. Super easy to use and I believe it has a free one week trial. 

I'm with Hermit on this one - got rid of our landline years ago and telemarketers/scam folks virtually eliminated - then got a voice mail service that screens out robo calls - now no "unfriendly" calls at all.

Jay