SCAM open season

[question everything]

Alice from Amazon, or simply "dear Amazon customer," Olivia from Apple Support, an ominous voice from the Social Security Administration. I don't bother to listen beyond the first few words. No, no caller ID but, really, not each caller would be if, say, a call comes from a clinic reminding of an appointment.

The simple fact that it does not address one by name - there are more than one person collecting Social Security benefits in this household - is a simple indication of a scam.

And in some days, the same call once an hour.

The worse - aimed at seniors obviously - is "a reply" to an inquiry about some medical info.

[Wellstone ruled]

1. Noticed Friday,

those calls were routed via Ontario Canada and Jamaica. Usually they Spoof South Dakota or New York Numbers.

[Merlot]

2. Plus, the IRS will never call you. They send mail.

I picked up one of those scam IRS calls just to pester them. I told them to mail me the amount of debt I owed and they hung up. Haven't heard back from them.

[Archae]

3. Got an e-mail from "Apple" this morning.

Fake of course, said my "Apple ID" (whatever the hell that is,) was "invalid."

[lindysalsagal]

4. I'm on a car warranty extension list...PITA!!!

[0rganism]

5. got a new one last week: watch out for phone surveys

people who are inherently resistant to "sales" calls may be willing to open up about their personal info to a survey contractor

they got me to violate one of my primary rules: never say "yes" on a cold call (it can be edited into various "service acceptance" audio logs for legal cover when scamming your phone bill)

they also got me to say my first name.

what a damn disaster.

[question everything]

7. Good point. We usually refuse just because we do not feel like it, often call when inconvenient

[question everything]

6. More: Scammers are trying to rob Amazon Prime users of $800. Here's what to know.

Ron Kroll just finished buying six or seven gifts online for his grandchildren. So when he got a phone call from Amazon that claimed that he had nearly $800 in charges on his account, well, he kind of panicked.

"It was a recorded message, supposedly from Amazon, stating that there was a pending charge of $799.75," he said.

"This is Amazon calling," he remembers hearing.

Scammers, no doubt, will be working overtime in December to impersonate all sorts of big names, including Amazon, as holiday shoppers order more online to deal with social distancing as COVID-19 cases spike in many communities.

The holiday season leaves many families juggling so many errands and odd jobs that some consumers end up being more vulnerable to a scam call. If you're busy and overstressed already, you're not always playing at the top of your game. One automated call that I received this week told me that my Apple iCloud account had been compromised and I shouldn't use it to buy online until I fixed the problem. Press 1, the voice said. I hung up, knowing that scammers will try to capture login information, and might even ask for access to my computer.

Kroll, a retired police sergeant from the city of Westland, Michigan, usually doesn't even pick up his cellphone if he doesn't recognize the number. Yet, he was expecting a delivery and thought maybe, this was the call. The recording advised him that he needed to press 1 now if he did not make those purchases to connect with an Amazon representative. Fortunately, being flustered worked this time in the consumer's favor. Kroll, 61, told me that he was on a walk at the time, rushed to punch the No. 1 but ultimately fumbled making the return call immediately because he was wearing gloves and hit the wrong numbers a few times too many on his iPhone.

(snip)

Scammers try to scare you into thinking that your bank account or credit card has somehow been compromised – and you must act immediately by handing over more personal information to fix the problem. One red flag of a scam: The robocall asks you to hit 1 or some other key to continue. The Federal Trade Commission also has a new website – ReportFraud.ftc.gov – where consumers can report a scam whether they have lost money or not. As part of this new service, the consumer receives some advice on what to do next when it comes to a particular problem.

More..

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/scammers-trying-rob-amazon-prime-110038216.html