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General discussion

Have you ever been scammed over the phone before?

Nov 18, 2011 8:03AM PST
Have you ever been scammed over the phone before?

-- Yes. (Tell us all about it.)
-- No. (Good for you!)
-- Not sure. (What makes you unsure?)

If you have experienced getting scammed or have come close to being scammed over the phone, please share your experience with us. We're all ears!

Discussion is locked

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Yes - By some coin seller
Nov 18, 2011 9:06AM PST

I was 20 and dumb and fell for one of those coin dealer traps, where they claim one is getting really rare coins for a great deal. I ended up paying about $600 for about $200 worth of coins. I was trying to compete with my mom, who collects coins, but I ended up getting a lecture instead.

On the flip side, this did make me smarter about coins and turned me into a coin collector - a hobby I've really come to love.

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Fraud
Nov 18, 2011 9:07AM PST

My credit cards were transferred into my savings account and the whole amount gone, gone gone. The bank eventually gave me back my money however, told me that this was done using my phone. I have never used my phone for anything to do with my bank accounts. The fraud people were very good to me and also of course the bank, however, the whole business caused a great deal of stress.. So what happened?, who knows!

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phone scam
Nov 18, 2011 10:26AM PST

Caller from "Discover Security" had basically ALL my info except the 3 digit number off the back of the card. As I gave it to them, I realized They had called Me and this could be a scam. I finished the call and immediately called the real Discover Security Dept. sure enough, they were Not the callers. Hopefully, with the info I was able to give them and their immediate knowledge that the card was compromised, they were able to catch the thieves.

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Received calls from a Scammer claiming to be from Microsoft
Nov 18, 2011 10:48AM PST

Received calls on 11/15/11 from a 2 Scammers claiming to be calling from Microsoft, he had a very thick Asian accent. He tried to scare me telling me to go to my EVENT VIEWER and asked me how many errors do you see there & also wanted me to turn on my 2nd computer and that my computers were going to crash if he didn't repair it and he wanted close to $300.00. I knew he was a scam artist so I told him "how do you know I have 2 computers?" but didn't answer my question & proceeded with his scare tactics so I hung up on him. He called right back & called again same day 2 more times later that afternoon but didn't answer my phone but I did pick up the 4th call and an Asian lady did speak better English started her spiel & I immediately asked for her name, Company's name & Phone number she said her name was Anna at 718.553.4415 and that NZXUX was the name of her company which she was calling from, which I knew was bogus but then she hung up on me. BTW, they knew my new Landline phone number which only my family has. On 11/09/11, I was shopping online at Sears site & needed immediate help so instead of calling myself or chatting with the Cust Rep & I chose the option where you type in your phone and it rings back with a Sears Rep. & I think this is the way they got my home number. Next day my laptop kept getting a blue screen & immediately would restart by itself it did this 3 times so I rebooted in Safe Mode & ran a program ASC-IOBIT which fixed my system. But now I'm concerned that they have hacked into my computer and don't know how to protect myself?

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Peer Pressure
Nov 18, 2011 3:29PM PST

I have been called and asked to donate to a very real charity, but after the call was over I realized I gave way more than I normally would because the caller used peer pressure to get me donate a larger amount. I have also been scammed were the scam sent me pretty Christmas stamps to goat me into replication.

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Scammer claiming to be asociated with BT.
Nov 18, 2011 4:44PM PST

I received a telephone call and the person quoted my bt involvement and told me that there was a problem in my area that would destroy my hard drive if I didn't take action right away.
He told me to look in my pc and I would see yellow exclamation marks. He asked me to scroll down and count how many there were.
When I got to over 30 he said i needed to take action right away if I wanted to save my pc. This was going to involve letting some one access my pc to clean it over the internet and purchasing from him, a software download for £150-00.
Because the situation was urgent, I paid for the service and the download. At a later date I had a problem and since this £150-00 included support, I emailed support but never had a response from them.
Since then , my pc froze and I had my hard drive wiped clean an windows 7 installed by a local expert.

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have you ever been scammed
Nov 18, 2011 6:09PM PST
....over phone? Almost. It was a call from India asking if my PC was on etc. I asked for their name and phone number and they hung up. I got onto Microsoft and they came back straight away via email and checked my computer - gave me a program and all was well. Have been called back by Indians but hang up - my son and sister have had same done to them.Advise is to just hang up on the sods.
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You can help yourself
Nov 18, 2011 10:22PM PST

Only if you get away from scammers by going to Google OS and using their new cloud and buy a Chrome Book.

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Scammed by Phone
Nov 18, 2011 10:42PM PST
Yes I have frequently received tis type of call. When they call I listen to all they say but halfway through I apoligise and say that the doorbell has rung and I ask them to hold on whilest I go to answer the call. I leave the phone off the hook and about a hour or so I come back. Surprise surprise I find that they have rung off. I never or very rarely get another call fropm them. I wonder why?!!
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Called but not Scammed
Nov 19, 2011 4:04AM PST

I receive at least one call a day from Jamaican scammers. They call at all hours. Sometimes they leave messages about delivering a package, and they recite my address. I have a call-block system on my phone service, so I just input the number after the caller hangs up. The calls are blocked often, but the scanners just call from other numbers. With the help of Caller ID on my phone(s) and on my TV screen (when it's on), I no longer answer calls from numbers I don't recognize. Friends usually leave voicemails and I can call right back. This has been going on for three months. When the "blocked number" list gets too long for my service, I delete them all and start over. It's a pain!

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telephone scamming:
Nov 19, 2011 4:39AM PST

I've come close to being scammed but became wary, and ended the conversation before i'd given any personal details. Now however, i always ask "did I contact you" if the answer is no then i just hang up, if they say yes,then i am the one to ask the questions as to when, why etc did i contact them?, then guess what? yeah you got it they hang up on you. There are a lot of sneaky thieves out there, so be vigilant. Jean from Liverpool UK

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Have you ever been scammed over the phone before? - New!
Nov 19, 2011 7:22AM PST

I received a phone allalleging that it was from microsoft (with an Indian accent) saying that there were problems with my computer. As I do not allow remote access to my computer and run good quality protection software continuously, I guessed that this was an attempt to scam me for information or money. As a result I told him what to do with the alleged information he claimed to have about my system and rang off.

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scam or cold-call telemarketer?
Nov 21, 2011 12:53AM PST

My mother used to get calls from some guy about some kind of investment opportunity. The guy would ask for my father very emphatically, saying that they spoke a few days before, that my dad asked him to call back, and that it was VERY important. My mom asked what it was about and suggested that she could help him. No, no, he HAD to talk to my father. This went on for years and years, with the same guy. We all had quite a laugh over it. My father had died more than ten years before the guy's first call. My mom never did tell him.

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Supposedly from Microsft
Dec 10, 2011 5:59AM PST

I got a call from an Indian sounding man who spoke so fast swallowing his words that I couldn't understand him and had to make him repeat. I told him he must have the wrong number. "No, No", He said. He was calling from Microsoft, and I had downloaded too many junk files. Funny that the night before I had a slight unusual slowness on the internet, coincidence! I realised though he was a dishonest as I hadn't reported anything and calling me on the phone instead of leaving an email was suspect. Even sending an email would be suspect. If I have problems with my PC I would take it to "a man who knows" how to fix it, at a shop, not some stranger over the phone whom I hadn't contacted. I said a loud goodbye. Alas, there were a couple of calls with no one speaking for a day, but then it was silent. Hopefully it remains so.

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Mobile phone/ prepaid load scam
Dec 14, 2011 11:30AM PST

Yes. Receiving a text message from an unknown number pretending to be one of my friends and asking to load his/her mobile number. Another modus operandi is they will text a victim saying that his/her number was drawn and won the lotto or something, but the victim has to text the pin code of a prepaid load to claim the price.

So dear fellow, the lesson here is we should all be smart and should not be greedy. If we want to gain something, sometimes we have to take the hardest road to achieve what we wanted.