OT: More Scams

[William]

Just had three different VM's left on my phone that I apparently have "...a legal complaint against my SS number" and I better call them back asap before legal action is taken.

At least they bid me a bless-id day at the eand of their threatening message.:D


I guess I better call them back and resolve this.:banana:








W.

[parris]

HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!:banana::banana::banana:

[Louis]

William, just PM me your cc# and the security code on the back side and I'll take care of it for you.

[William]

William, just PM me your cc# and the security code on the back side and I'll take care of it for you.

Really??? Thank you so much for taking care of this for me. PM coming with all CC# info and have a bless-id day.:D:D:D







W.

[Louis]

Speaking of scams, I hope no one here has been riding with this guy on his "distinctive French-made bicycle."

https://nyti.ms/37z1xEJ

Detectives said they used surveillance footage to track Mr. Dulos from his home in Farmington to Ms. Dulos’s home, about 75 miles away, on May 24, according to court documents. They said that they believed he borrowed a truck that one of his employees, Pawel Gumienny, had previously parked outside Mr. Dulos’s home.

Cameras on school buses showed the truck parked just 100 feet from the spot where Ms. Dulos’s car was later discovered. Investigators believed that Mr. Dulos then traveled the three miles to Ms. Dulos’s home on a distinctive French-made bicycle that Mr. Gumienny told them about, warrants said.

The police believe that Mr. Dulos was lying in wait at Ms. Dulos’s home, where he attacked her sometime between 8:05 a.m. and 10:25 a.m., a warrant said. They then believe he drove Ms. Dulos’s body away in her own car before driving the borrowed truck back to Farmington, the warrant said.

[xtheendisnearx]

I keep getting emails that my Amazon is locked and to unlock it i must reply and provide verification of my address and payment card/bank account. :no:

[m_sasso]

Crazy, received a phone call from a group identifying themselves as Apple Support in the US stating someone was trying to access my Apple account from Germany.

I am in Vancouver, BC, Canada, they are reaching me by way of my Google Voice VOIP line, the number is registered to Royal Oak, Michigan, I am actually answering the phone call on my Apple computer through Google Voice.

They want to know if I am in Germany trying to access my Apple account, no.

I want to know who they are. The caller has me type in www.applesupport.com address in my browser and provides a name to search, comes up an Apple Computer security employee at Apple, lots of computer security citations under the name come up.

Puts his supposed supervisor on the line and he provides another name, do a search, lots of Apple software security citations under that name also.

Impersonating actual Apple employees.

Caller ID the number they are calling from, the number comes up an Apple Service Centre in Baltimore, MD.

Apple phone number being spoofed.

Wants me to go to a well done setup spoofed Apple site on my computer and download remote access software so I can supposedly access an Apple Security Server and they can check out my credentials.

Ha ha, OK, give me a phone number and I will give you a call back, not going to allow you to access my computer remotely unless I am confident you are who you say you are, click, gone.

They were pretty tight/convincing and had been practicing for some time, be careful out there!

[AngryScientist]

be careful. they may cancel your SSN.

then, you wont even exist. there will just be a big William sized black hole in the universe.

dangerous stuff.

[MikeD]

I keep getting emails that my Amazon is locked and to unlock it i must reply and provide verification of my address and payment card/bank account. :no:


I got a phone call from probably a fake Amazon number where a recorded message asked about a purchase originated from another state. I hung up when it transferred me and I haven't heard back. I checked my Amazon account and credit cards and saw nothing out of the ordinary. I assume this was a scam.

[dookie]

IRS called me recently and left a call back number. Dunno why, but I blocked my caller ID and did call them to ask questions and call their bluff. They hung up on me of course, so I called right back...

When they didn't answer, I used the little bit of telecom system knowledge I have to request their voicemail and managed to guess the unchanged default password (last 4 digits of the number). Dumbasses.

I listened to their messages and actually called back a couple people who seemed to believe the scam, then changed the password.

Of course within 24hrs the number was dead, but I got a little satisfaction about poking back. ****ers.

[Louis]

When they didn't answer, I used the little bit of telecom system knowledge I have to request their voicemail and managed to guess the unchanged default password (last 4 digits of the number). Dumbasses.

I listened to their messages and actually called back a couple people who seemed to believe the scam, then changed the password.

I was wondering who changed the password on the office phone system.

We are so going to audit you. You'll wish you had never learned the letters IRS.

[Hindmost]

Couple of weeks back on my landline I got that message from Apple Computer that they were very concerned about the security of my devices. They robo-called me every 45 minutes for the better part of a day. It was starting to get very irritating.

[fiamme red]

I received the e-mail below.

"Why you receive this email?" "Follow the link for unlock your Amazon Account:"

Scammers are getting too lazy to run a grammar check. :rolleyes:

Dear Client

Your Amazon Account has been LOCKED for security reasons.

Someone has tried to sign in to your account from a different IP Address. Please verify your identity as soon as possible or your account will be disabled due to concerns we have for the security and integrity of Amazon Community.

Follow the link for unlock your Amazon Account:

Click here to verify your account

Why you receive this email ?

Amazon requires verification when you just sign in to unrecognized devices. Your Amazon account cannot be used until you verify your account information.

Thank for choosing Amazon,
Amazon-web Security Team

[Rpoole8537]

As my good friend Phil once said, if these people would put their brains to work doing something constructive, they wouldn't have to lie, cheat and steal to make a living. I get at least two or three each week. This includes people who want me to think that I have won something very special! If they want me to think I have won something special, they should offer a custom titanium frame. I might become suddenly vulnerable.

[parris]

I think I mentioned this one but can't be sure.

About 2-3 weeks back I got an email saying that I had been popped for speeding at 25-30mph over the limit and to follow the link to setup payment in 72 hrs.

The funny things were that the address that I supposedly did this was in front of the Binghamton NY police dept, AND that the email was sent to my work account AT THE BROOME COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT! :banana:

I've worked for the Sheriff for better than 20 years and if I HAD done something like that I wouldn't have to worry about an email... Maybe my ass but not email.

[Blue Jays]

I was similarly accused of a lengthy list of crimes for which I would be prosecuted and jailed.
At conclusion of the extensive and ominous call, I was similarly advised to have a blessed day!

:hello:

[Spaghetti Legs]

Couple days ago my wife got a cell phone voice mail with a very normal sounding guy saying he was calling from the police department of our last hometown (phone # was from that town's area code as well) saying a car registered to our old address (gave out correct old address) was involved in an accident and she needed to call to "clear some things up".

My wife asked me if it was legit. It clearly wasn't as the VM started out by saying "I know it's scary to get a call from the PD but you're not in trouble" and if a cop wanted info and had a local address, he/she would just go there and knock on the door. I'm sure something like a SSN and DOB, etc is what was needed to "clear things up"

Anyway, I'm going to get my wife to give me the VM file and email it to the PD.

[Tony T]

Just had three different VM's left on my phone that I apparently have "...a legal complaint against my SS number" and I better call them back asap before legal action is taken.

At least they bid me a bless-id day at the eand of their threatening message.:D

I guess I better call them back and resolve this.:banana:

W.

Really?? This is unbelievable! You listened to the end of all 3 messages? :banana:

[Vientomas]

I received the social security scam call as well. They left a message for me to call them back. Being in a mood, and having a little bit of free time, I returned their call. When they asked my name, I said Homer Simpson. When they asked me for my social security number, I made up the digits. Then they asked for my zip code...I made one up and then they asked what city I lived in...I had do some fast google foo and matched up the fake zip code with the city.

After they "looked at my file" I was informed that I had been accused of social security fraud. I asked if they watched TV. I infomed them if they did, they would know Homer Simpson is a cartoon character. They hung up. I called back around a dozen times...getting maybe 4 or 5 different operators. Each time I made up some other **** to waste their time, they thought they had a live one on the hook. Ultimately, after stringing them along, I told them to get real jobs and to stop scamming people. Eventually, they blocked my number. I have not heard from them since. F-them.

[oldpotatoe]

As my good friend Phil once said, if these people would put their brains to work doing something constructive, they wouldn't have to lie, cheat and steal to make a living. I get at least two or three each week. This includes people who want me to think that I have won something very special! If they want me to think I have won something special, they should offer a custom titanium frame. I might become suddenly vulnerable.

Problem is, these scams work all day every day..Unfortunately the victim is often somebody elderly....I have gotten the amazon one, ebay one, your bank acct has been hacked, one, etc...There are a lot of people who are not as 'with it' on the interweb/email, etc..unfortunately. The Feds either don't care or their budget has been slashed to the point that the FCC or whomever tracks this stuff(FBI?), cannot be effective.

BTW-For ME. I never, ever follow a link that comes on an email. For phone, if the call comes up 'unknown', a let it ring and wait for a voice mail..if none, I block that number.

[fiamme red]

Just got a PayPal scam in my e-mail:

PayPal is looking out for you

At PayPal, safety and security are our top priorities, and we routinely monitor accounts for any unusual activity. we've taken extra precaution to confirm that your PayPal account is secure and have assigned your account with a temporary limited.

You will need to restore your account to re-access your PayPal account.

To restore your account:


Click "Log In Now." In the below section.
Follow the steps to restore your PayPal account.

[Keith A]

Problem is, these scams work all day every day..Unfortunately the victim is often somebody elderly....I have gotten the amazon one, ebay one, your bank acct has been hacked, one, etc...There are a lot of people who are not as 'with it' on the interweb/email, etc..unfortunately. The Feds either don't care or their budget has been slashed to the point that the FCC or whomever tracks this stuff(FBI?), cannot be effective.

BTW-For ME. I never, ever follow a link that comes on an email. For phone, if the call comes up 'unknown', a let it ring and wait for a voice mail..if none, I block that number.It is sad and it makes me angry that our elderly are being victimized by these losers.

I have seen increase in both the emails and phones, and received ones from many of the big names. Most of these companies have a way to report this issue, and I often do this -- not sure it makes any difference or not.

Peter gives some good advice, and this is pretty much what I do. I have told my elderly mother to never answer her phone if she doesn't know the number, and don't respond to any email or click on the links of anything that seems odd. She is good about letting me know when this happens, but I can tell it still troubles her when she sees an email stating there is a problem with one of her accounts.

I posted this a while back, but in some cases they are getting pretty good at trying to scam us...

I had a new one last week, that was pretty slick. They tried to reset my password on Netflix, and so I got a legitimate email from Netflix. I scrutinized the email pretty carefully, and determined it was real. So I logged in my account and everything seemed fine. Then a few hours later, I got their fake email which looked almost identical to the one I got from Netflix. This time, they were saying my payment method was no longer valid. I didn't look at this email closely and assumed it was real. I logged back into Netflix directly, not using one of the links in the email, and my payment info was good. Then I went back and examined the second email -- sure enough, all the links went the scammer's website which I'm sure wanted my CC info.

I must admit, that was pretty good.

[Keith A]

This has been around for awhile, but it's amazing (and scary) to see the scammer's attitude when he was exposed...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CuVFcizDwqw

[Hindmost]

I was sitting with my elderly mother one day when she got a phone call from her "grandson" in jail for a DUI and he needed money via a credit card number. I listened on her end of the conversation which she handled sincerely. She finally refused to do anyting and after she hung up we discussed what had happened.

She described the person calling as being her grandson, my nephew. Knowing him it was all very plausible. I assured her that if it was my nephew on the phone he would have work it out on his own. I was skeptical but for some reason there was a high level of credibility.

[Peter B]

This one is an entertaining take on what most of us have experienced.

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

[DeBike]

I get so many robo calls that I cannot remember them all. IRS, various computer tech, SSA, etc. My blocked number list is getting longer and longer.

[fiamme red]

I just got this e-mail. I'd better send the bitcoins right away!

Hello!

I am a hacker who has access to your operating system.
I also have full access to your account.

I've been watching you for a few months now.
The fact is that you were infected with malware through an adult site that you visited.

If you are not familiar with this, I will explain.
Trojan Virus gives me full access and control over a computer or other device.
This means that I can see everything on your screen, turn on the camera and microphone, but you do not know about it.

I also have access to all your contacts and all your correspondence.

Why your antivirus did not detect malware?
Answer: My malware uses the driver, I update its signatures every 4 hours so that your antivirus is silent.

I made a video showing how you satisfy yourself in the left half of the screen, and in the right half you see the video that you watched.
With one click of the mouse, I can send this video to all your emails and contacts on social networks.
I can also post access to all your e-mail correspondence and messengers that you use.

If you want to prevent this,
transfer the amount of $500 to my bitcoin address (if you do not know how to do this, write to Google: "Buy Bitcoin").

My bitcoin address (BTC Wallet) is: 1DUU7hxBfrE8RqDdLHPR546QMV6TkpNBg8

After receiving the payment, I will delete the video and you will never hear me again.
I give you 50 hours (more than 2 days) to pay.
I have a notice reading this letter, and the timer will work when you see this letter.

Filing a complaint somewhere does not make sense because this email cannot be tracked like my bitcoin address.
I do not make any mistakes.

If I find that you have shared this message with someone else, the video will be immediately distributed.

Best regards!:rolleyes:

[robt57]

Best Regards. [insert snickering Mutley]

[speedevil]

The problem with blocking numbers is that the scammers are using my (your) area code and exchange to make it more likely that someone will pick up the phone. Often, the number they are spoofing belongs to an actual person or business.

The scammers are getting smarter, but ignoring calls from numbers I don't recognize seems to be the best approach (but annoying nonetheless).

[Keith A]

I get these all the time. Notice where the email address is from and where the link points to.

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: AppIe Support <8o5nslqbjasxbik-wnwc5pbryosowlva@ttlnu5xt-01774423.design>
Sent: Tuesday, February 11, 2020, 10:28:50 AM EST
Subject: Apple ID Locked

𝖣𝖾𝖺𝗋 𝖢𝗅𝗂𝖾𝗇𝗍,

𝖸𝗈𝗎𝗋 𝖠𝗉𝗉𝗅𝖾 𝖨𝖣 𝗁𝖺𝗌 𝖻𝖾𝖾𝗇 𝗅𝗈𝖼𝗄𝖾𝖽 𝖿𝗈𝗋 𝗌𝖾𝖼𝗎𝗋𝗂𝗍𝗒 𝗋𝖾𝖺𝗌𝗈𝗇𝗌. 𝖳𝗈 𝗎𝗇𝗅𝗈𝖼𝗄 𝗂𝗍, 𝗒𝗈𝗎 𝗆𝗎𝗌𝗍 𝗏𝖾𝗋𝗂𝖿𝗒 𝗒𝗈𝗎𝗋 𝗂𝖽𝖾𝗇𝗍𝗂𝗍𝗒.

𝖴𝗇𝗅𝗈𝖼𝗄 𝖠𝖼𝖼𝗈𝗎𝗇𝗍 > (this points to http://snip.ly/ht976z?idtrack=lFSa18b1)

𝖨𝖿 𝗒𝗈𝗎 𝖽𝗈𝗇'𝗍 𝗎𝗇𝗅𝗈𝖼𝗄 𝗒𝗈𝗎𝗋 𝖺𝖼𝖼𝗈𝗎𝗇𝗍 𝖻𝖾𝖿𝗈𝗋𝖾 𝟤𝟦 𝗁𝗈𝗎𝗋𝗌, 𝗒𝗈𝗎𝗋 𝖺𝖼𝖼𝗈𝗎𝗇𝗍 𝗐𝗂𝗅𝗅 𝖻𝖾 𝖽𝗂𝗌𝖺𝖻𝗅𝖾𝖽.

𝖲𝗂𝗇𝖼𝖾𝗋𝖾𝗅𝗒,

𝖠𝗉𝗉𝗅𝖾 𝖲𝗎𝗉𝗉𝗈𝗋𝗍

[C40_guy]

The problem with blocking numbers is that the scammers are using my (your) area code and exchange to make it more likely that someone will pick up the phone. Often, the number they are spoofing belongs to an actual person or business.

The scammers are getting smarter, but ignoring calls from numbers I don't recognize seems to be the best approach (but annoying nonetheless).

We still have landlines (yea, we're old), but our landlines are VOIP (we're not *that* old). Our service, Ooma, allows us to block numbers and have known spammers autoblocked.

Beyond that, *only* people in our contact file get to actually ring the phone. Everyone else (who hasn't already been IDed as a spammer) goes to voice mail. Then we can listen to the VM delivered by email. 99% of those callers then get blocked.

The iPhone has a similar feature - you can silence anyone who is not in your contact file. Unknown callers will automatically go to voice mail. It's easy to toggle if you're expecting a call from someone, but don't know their number.

These two tactics have dramatically reduced the number of intrusions (phone ringing).

For email, I used Spamarrest for a number of years but got tired of having to visit their site to approve new inbound email addresses. So I am now using a server side filter, where I can add in new rules to auto-delete spammers. That's been pretty effective...and beyond the standard built-in filters that my ISP provides, I think I have a hundred or so additional rules built. All these bad messages never get to my client-side inbox.

Yea, I'm a bit of a techie...and enjoy playing Whack-A-Mole (sometimes).

[Spaghetti Legs]

Got this one today. Those friendly folks at Amazon need to get a spell checker. I guess that’s what happens when you have porpoises doing your security.

Recent update from security app porpuses - [ xwutd1aSv ] [DUX]

Helo Dear,



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