How scammers almost got my mom & the creepy way they targeted me – Zilla

25 Comments on How scammers almost got my mom & the creepy way they targeted me – Zilla

1. I don’t bother to answer the phone if I don’t recognize the number. I have a couple of friends who block theirs, well you’d better leave a message.

   My dad got taken in by a pop-up on his computer. Spent $300 and allowed a ‘tech’ onto his computer, then another $300 on some software that would ‘protect’ his computer. Fortunately he called me afterward, realizing he had probably done the wrong thing. Canceled his credit cards, changed all his passwords, of course contested those charges. And I got him a new computer and wiped the old one. He was due anyway.

2. It’s just not Grannies that fall for this scam. About two years ago they pulled this om my mother in law. Well it just so happens the wifes older sister was visiting for out of state. A Lib Attorney. She took the bait hook line and sinker. Calls me in a panic. I tell her hang on and call my oldest son. “Are you in jail?”. “Yes I live under your oppressive rules (Laughing).
   I call the sister in law back, “Did the caller ever mention a specific name?” Nope. These asshole go through the obituaries to find their victims. There’s a special place in hell.

3. Obviously, it can’t be Nigerians or Indians or Russians. I’m going with Millennials. Little shits probably sit in the basement scamming each other’s mom. So don’t put too much stock in them passing the personal info test.

4. It’s nice living here in Guam, nobody bothers us. The wifey don’t answer the door if it’s not the neighbor either. There’s been some door to door scams out here. I’ll just shoot the bastards.

5. I absolutely do not answer my phone for numbers I don’t recognize.

   Also my family is small enough that we would KNOW this for a scam.

   We are also poor enough to realize that none of us could afford to (or would) pay a ransom, bail, or whatever for anyone else, so the callers would be shit out of luck, anyway.

6. My mother in-law got the same call. She was convinced the call was legit and we had the hardest time convincing her otherwise. She has a good heart and would help any of us if we needed it. She is really getting vulnerable in her old age and is an easy target. We worry about her for good reason.

7. They pulled something similar on my elderly mother and she gave them her credit card number.

   The phone call woke her, and along with the surprise of being told her daughter’s family had been in a wreck — she was easily confused.

   She realized immediately after hanging up what she had done and called the sheriff and credit card company.

8. If yer phone # isn’t in my phone addresses, you ain’t reaching me. Friends, docs, local companies etc. are all in my phone addresses. If my phone rings and I don’t see a name, I figure if your call is so fucking important leave me a message. 98% of them never do. Eat shit & die.

9. My father-in-law was stopped at a light in West Palm Beach and two girls in skimpy tops and thongs jumped in his car and stole his wallet. The one girl grabbed his crotch and the other took his wallet out of his pants. Both ran off before the light changed.

   It happened two weeks ago… and last week… and again today.

10. Ann Thracts

    You and your pal should have more respect for the elderly.

11. All our calls go to voice mail. We never answer. Funny how many hang up as soon as the recording starts.

    I hate these POS’s who pray on the elderly and vulnerable. Thanks Zilla for all the info.

12. GOT THE SAME EMAIL SCAM

    Said my father was overseas and needed money to get home. (Gee, I just talked to my father a day ago, and didn’t mention any travels)

    So I says to the creep, “If this is my father, tell me our secret family password, and I’ll wire-transfer the money right now.”

    Ever see The Good The Bad and The Ugly? Remember the name of the tombstone on the rock? Well, our family code is the same one.

    I got the similar looking email deleted by gmail admins.

13. My 90 year old Mom got a phone call that her credit card payment was overdue and she needed to make a payment over the phone immediately. She said, “I’ve never had a credit card in my life”, click.

    When I found out about it, I told her that I was proud of her! Then we discussed some of the other possible scams.

14. We had something similar happen when we lived in Las Vegas. My husband answered and a female said hi, this is your favorite niece. Without thinking, my husband responded “Shirley?” Gotcha. She said yes and her car broke down between San Diego and Las Vegas and she needed money wired immediaely via Western Union to pay to fix her car. I told him to get her number and we’d call her back. Nope. He hung up and I reported it to the police and to the consumer reporter at our local TV station. The cops said there wasn’t much they could do. The reporter came to the house and did an interview which they then aired on the news. I hate people who prey on others like this.

15. My wife doesn’t let me answer the phone I’m an easy mark.
    Want some money for winter clothes for your kids?
    Hungry kids, I will give you some money.
    So now my wife has our lawyer look into the needy person to make sure it’s not a scam again.
    I’ve given the needy over $50,000 my wife says.
    No charity but to the person.
    One time I bought a cart of food cause the person didn’t have enough money.
    $200.00 all they needed was another $50 bucks.
    I was by myself and she was crying and people behind her were getting pissed.
    What are you going to do?

16. A few years ago, I started saving scam phone numbers and storing them with names like: SCAMMER. Now, I don’t know what happened, but recently, I’ve started seeing identities on crank calls that are NOT the ones I created….with names like LIKELY SCAM. Dunno if T-Mobile started doing this or what….but I don’t answer those either.

17. A few years ago I got an urgent e-mail from a friend who lives out of state. It seems that she had been vacationing in England, and while in London she had her pocketbook stolen with all her cash and credit cards in it. She desperately needed me to wire her $1700 to pay her hotel bill and associated expenses immediately, otherwise she would be arrested and detained for non-payment, etc., etc. She said she would pay me back as soon as she got home. Even included a handy link to a site where an instant cash transfer could be made using my credit card or bank account. The recipient would be anonymous to me, of course.

    Well, naturally the first thing I did was pick up the telephone and call her house. She answered it, and she was fine – except that her phone had been blowing up with calls from concerned friends and relatives wanting to know what was going on, was she O.K., etc. Turns out that she had picked up a computer virus (Trojan) and it went through her e-mail address book and shotgunned out all these phony pleas for help to every name on the list. And, since they were coming from her PC they looked legit, address-wise. I don’t know if anybody was suckered in this incident, but if so, I was not one of them.

    Moral of the story: Don’t send any money to anyone without talking to them directly first. And even then, they may be being held hostage.

    🙂

18. I got a similar call a few months ago. Some young lady called and said I needed to donate $30.00 to Hillary Clinton immediately or the world as we knew it was finished. She was very urgent about it, with the election coming up and all.

    I told her that was great news to me and hung up.

19. I’m not a candidate unless my answering machine turns on me.

20. IRS payment/audit, late/overdue. A friends ex called her one night all frieked out and said he got a call from the IRS and they were getting audited and owed back taxes, but he had sent them $850 and that they both were going to be getting notices. She told him, “you really are that stupid aren’t you” and hung up. He wasn’t that old and it surprised me that that scam would work.

    An elderly widow friend got scammed with the late night call that her grandchild was in jail, the whole middle of the night phone call really disoriented her and she was so embarrassed when she figured it out.

21. I think this email scammer video was posted here a while back, but I thoroughly enjoyed it.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QdPW8JrYzQ
    .

22. Red light robberies are so rampant in Detroit, that’s why no one stays fully stopped at a red light. They are just treated as four way stop signs. Under no circumstances do you have any unlocked doors or windows rolled down. They jump in and rob.

23. Thanks for linking & helping to get the word out!

    PS God bless you, Just Sayin, and your big heart. Be careful though! And thank you for helping the lady at the store. I came up short like that when my kids were babies & the choice was either not get the diapers or put back the food but then a kind stranger like you saved the day. I will do the same for someone else when the opportunity comes up.

24. They almost got mom for $2500 last spring. She swears it sounded just like my nephew & conveniently, there was an attorney on the line to corroborated the scam. She loves her grandchildren. Dad stopped her on her way out of the door with a couple of rational questions. They reported it to the local sheriff’s office.

    Special hell for these assholes who prey upon the elderly.

25. I actually had a call and my caller I.D. shows the name “ILLEGAL SCAM”! When I googled the number turns out it was a guy selling auto warranties.

    I would get calls from LECAFLE a scam asking for money for local law enforcement. They called several times and would ask for my wife, when I asked what they wanted her for they would give me some shit about making the financial decisions in the household.
    I told them I was going to pursue legal recourse to track their ass down and take them out. Haven’t heard from them again.