Spam phone call

[left-of-center2012]

Got a call (recording) that my Social Security number has been 'frozen' due to criminal activity.

If this is a mistake, I can 'unfreeze' it by calling a toll free number
and paying a fee using my bank account info to pay the fee.
(They'll just take the money for the fee out of my bank account)

Paying them this way is the only way (it said) for me to again be able to use my Social Security number,
ever again,
and to prevent legal action against me for criminal activity.

[lillypaddle]

1. I just responded to this in the lounge. nt

[lapfog_1]

2. got the same phone call

only I'm not on SS and not that near retirement

[left-of-center2012]

7. "I'm not on SS"

But you have a "Social Security number"

[lapfog_1]

8. certainly... but to access the SS services you must file

I haven't.

so my guess is that they are picking people to call at random

[left-of-center2012]

10. The call does not mention SS services

Just that your SS number has been frozen due to illegal activity.

It could be from a payslip, bank records, etc.

[lapfog_1]

12. you think this is legit? What garbage

and they can't "freeze" my SSN... they might try to file for my benefits... but I suspect the SS admin is careful enough to verify identities.

This is a robo scam call, nothing more.

[left-of-center2012]

15. Why do you say I think it's legit?

I called it a "spam phone call"



End of conversation.

[3Hotdogs]

14. Services involving access to your account before you retire. So you know what you are going to get.

[Turbineguy]

3. They must have mistaken you

for a trump supporter.

[MuseRider]

4. I got that a couple of weeks ago.

I hung up but these kinds of calls always make me feel funny.

[question everything]

5. I hope that you hung up!

AARP Magazine has a story about their reporter actually following thru. Gave them a bogus number which they "confirmed."

Remember: a government agency does not contact us via email not via phone!

I just got a call from "Rachel" card members or something, I just hung up. I thought that they shut her off..

[Meadowoak]

6. I got the same call about three weeks ago.

[TreasonousBastard]

9. Threads on this at least every other week. Now that phone calls from India...

Estonia, and every other damn place are almost free we're overwhelmed with robocalls.

And it won't get any better until governments and telecomm cos. agree on a technology to kill it.

[murielm99]

11. I got a letter that is a new one,

so I called S.S. I made a telephone appointment with them and they called me back.

The very official looking letter and form said that I had a claim because I had started to receive a government pension based on non-covered earnings. Nowhere did it list my S.S. number. The form wanted my number, though.

The gentleman I spoke to from S.S. said mine was the third inquiry that day that he had handled about the same thing. He said it was a scam, and to ignore the letter. I am saving the letter and the form, with notes on it.

I don't know where they got my name and address. I have been receiving SS payments since August 2014. I did some substitute teaching for awhile, but not enough to qualify for a pension.

Be careful if you receive anything called a "Government Pension Questionnaire." Contact S.S. and don't send back any forms. As my helper said, all they want is my S.S. number.

[woodsprite]

21. Well, in 2015, Experian (one of the credit bureaus) was breached and resulted

in 15 million ssn's getting out in the wild. That was only one breach, and there have been many, many more. Not all breaches contain the SSN, some may just be cc numbers, address, name, email or driver's license number. Since they wanted you to call, I suspect that the first thing they would ask you is to give them your SSN to "verify their records".

In 2013, where I work had a breach where 75,000 ssn's and other personal info was stolen. Anyone (student, staff, faculty, etc.) who ever collected a paycheck from us was automatically enrolled in a credit monitoring service for 3 years. We received a text/email if anything unusual came up and a report monthly of any activity. As soon as that rolled off someone was using my cc/banking info to open cell accounts and purchase phones. I didn't know anything about it until one of the accounts got put into collections because "I hadn't paid" the $1200 iPhone purchase. Got it straightened out, and locked my credit through all 3 credit bureaus. Of course, one of those 3 bureaus was Experian

Here's another scam, built around the Microsoft "service tech" call. "James" called our house (could barely understand him). Apparently the invoice for the help he gave me with my system hadn't been paid, and he was calling to get that straightened out. I could pay with a credit card and they wouldn't put it into collector's hands. Dipshit! If he had called my MIL, she probably would have given out her info and paid the "bill".

[Stuart G]

13. Please take a look:..from the Social Security Office, a warning, it's legit, please hit the link

https://www.democraticunderground.com/1112561

[left-of-center2012]

16. Yep. It's a real spam phone call

The warning is real.

The call is spam.

[brewens]

17. I had my old truck for sale and listed on Craigslist. I had assholes trying to scam me on

that. Text saying they liked the truck and were fine with the price which was the first red flag. Who doesn't try and get you down a couple hundred buck? Then asking me where to send the check. I assume they were going to tell me it was an electronic check and ask for my bank information. I of course said a check was not necessary and that they could just pay cash when they came to get the truck. Never even got a reply after that.

It would have had to been one serious moron to have given me my asking price anyway. For an old Chevy, it was better than most, but I expected to let it go for at least a couple hundred less than I asked.

[Stuart G]

18. I got the exact same call, I posted this in the lounge,

If you hit the link, it was a San Diego phone number. I called the San Diego Police Department, and they asked if I was conned out of any money, I told them no, and then they said that they could do nothing. My guess is that the San Diego police have received many calls about this..If the number was from San Diego. These people could move from week to week.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/10181216183

[Stuart G]

19. About this con, Here is the saddest thing about it: some people get taken in by it. It works.

How do I know? If I got the call on May 13, and the Social Security office told me that this was going on, and beware of this, and If you got the call on June 3, about 3 weeks later, then if they were not making any money, they would have stopped calling. You do not have a group of people making illegal calls for weeks on end, (assuming that it happened way before May 11) without making money. If this con wasn't working, the people that run it, would have shut the con down. Why? Because it was not working. Why waste your time on a con that doesn't work? Get one that does work. The purpose of this con is to make money for the con artists. It must be working cause they are still calling.

[Hassler]

20. I get so many daily spam calls--8 on Friday--that I don't answer my phone anymore. Straight to

Message.

[BigmanPigman]

23. I have been screening all calls since 1986.

The few times I have actually answered the phone I regretted it since it was always a telemarketer or a scam.

[SCantiGOP]

24. I got a call from the widow of a Nigerian prince

Since she was a Christian I did everything she told me to, including sending her a check for $4,500 to cover bank fees.

That was six years ago. It has sure been nice living between my mansion on the Spanish Riveria and my 85 foot yacht ever since that $80 million dollars was deposited in my account.

You people shouldn’t be so cynical.

[Totally Tunsie]

29. The problem here is that you're living BETWEEN the mansion and the yacht,

not IN or ON them. How is life in the alley?

[SCantiGOP]

30. After my 3rd bottle of MD 2020

It’s pretty nice, but the cops keep arresting me for yelling at my servants when they walk by.

[CaptYossarian]

25. I like my method:

I have 2 hand held phones on the same line. The last time they called, I picked up and answered. When they identified themselves as IRS, I went to the 2nd phone, turned it on, then on one unit I put on the speaker function and the feedback caused them to hang up.

That was my third and final IRS call--about 3 years ago.

An airhorn from a Dollar store works too.

[Srkdqltr]

26. I have gotten several from my oldest grandson.

the first time the voice sounded distressed so I asked..in a stern voice.. Where are you??
he wined again .. grama...this is your oldest grandson.. so I hung up on him..
Just to be sure I called my oldest grandson. He got a good laugh about it and so did they guys he was working with.
Now I just say .. get off my phone.. and hang up.
Got one from my granddaughter like that .. I just hung up.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

31. I don't have grandchildren,

but if I did, and someone said, "I'm your oldest grandchild" I'm sure I'd immediately know it wasn't my real grandkid. I mean, wouldn't they say something like, "Grandma! It's me, Stephanie!"

Also, if your grandchildren call you something other than grandma, you'll immediately know it's a fraudulent call.

[guillaumeb]

27. I have received this one 3 times this year.

But if it did not work, the thieves would not do it.

[TlalocW]

28. Depending on how much time I have

I'll mess with them to see how long I can keep them on the line giving them a bad credit card number, which, whoops, I transposed these two numbers, try it again so I can get 0% interest. Still didn't work? Oh, my fault. That 0 is actually a worn-down 8, try it again. Normally after about 3 tries they realize I'm messing with them and start cursing me out, but recently one guy transferred me to someone else, and we had this conversation.
Scammer: Yes, what is the last name on the account?
Me: Keyface.
Scammer: Yes, thank you, sir, and what is your first name?
Me: Don.
Scammer: Yes, thank you sir... (5 second pause) You mother-fucker!
Me: Figure it out, did ya?
Scammer: <hangup>

Lately though, I haven't had time to play so I've been meaner and after the scammer greets me, I'll say something like, "Listen, I was fucking your whore of a mother last night, and she says she's disappointed in your career choices." Then I start playing my harmonica loudly into the phone while the person yells at me until they hang up. It's childish, but it's also oddly satisfying.

TlalocW