I just got a Medicare scam phone call

[nitpicker]

I keep the phone on "leave a message" to screen out telemarketers and the like.

Someone with a furrin accent called, saying they were from the "US Medicare office".

That was all.

I'm not even Medicare-eligible yet.

IF you get such a message, please don't pick up the phone. Medicare (just like the IRS) will initiate contact ((or your medical provider working with Medicare will)) via snailmail.

[OLDMDDEM]

1. Thank you

I get those calls all the time. I tell them they are a scam and hangup. Then I report the phone number. While it probably doesn't do any good, I feel better doing it.

[TheBlackAdder]

2. I pick up the call just to get someone, say Hi, let them do their speech and park them on mute.

.

If I can waste a minute or two of their time, it drags them down, prevents them from calling another person, and cuts into their scam profits.

I don't treat it as an annoyance anymore, but more as a fuck you game.

So many of their call centers will have an automated message to see if there is a live person, then you will hear a bleep sound or a "Your call is very important to us, please stay on the line for the next available agent" message. I make sure I get a live person.

.

[Paper Roses]

3. I just got from a woman who asked:

"May I speak to the person who handles your light bill." I knew it was baloney.

Well, since she was 'live'. I told her to delete my number and that I was going to report her number. I doubt if it will do any good but I was not going to let this one ride on just a 'hang up'. I was going to report it to my light dept. but the # was gone from my 'called rec'd' list. How do they do that?

It is difficult to avoid some of these calls, you never know if it is important. I just answered one that came from the hospital to confirm an appointment. Not on my contact list. I'm afraid to ignore these calls. If the number is on my received list, it is easy to block but sometimes it is important.

[lastlib]

4. I got a robo-call from the "Department of Social Security Administration".....

Suspicious activity on my account, my account is suspended, press 1 for info. Obvious scam, I pressed 1, and got a very foreign voice. First words out of my mouth: "How would you like a visit from the FBI?" He replied, "F--- you," and hung up.

You can report SS/Medicare scam calls at http://oig.ssa.gov. That's what I did.

[House of Roberts]

5. Calls used to display the number if they weren't in my contacts.

I'm starting to get calls that have a name like they are in my contacts, but aren't. I still don't answer them, but I have seen these only recently.

[NCjack]

6. I played with them. Wasted their time. Told them I knew that the caller

was a scammer, if the IRS wanted more money, it would send me a letter and not surprise me with a court hearing. Also, I am not afraid of the sheriff, and if he shows up at my house, he better have an arrest warrant.

That scammer retaliated by putting my name and telephone number into his group's autodialer. Every person their autodialer called got my ID as the person calling them. All missed calls and messages the group of scammers left were logged into their victims' telephones as coming from me. I got calls back from irritated people and little businesses chasing possibilities that I was a potential customer, causing my phone to ring from 8AM to 9PM everyday, about every 5 minutes. Got no help from phone company or FCC.gov, other than advice: that was really a stupid thing that I did -- when it stops, don't do that again. After 2 months, it stopped.

Now, I don't play with scammers. My telephone screens them, rings for those in my tel list, and sends the others to "leave a message".

I know that I'm am saving scammers time and they use it to call more people. OK, maybe more politicians and telephone company managers will get more calls, and then take action to stop this enormous drag on the productivity of those who work 1-person companies from home.

If you play with them, you could be their next target for retaliation.