"Come on, do you REALLY expect me to fall for this scam?"

[Janice Johnson]

A guy said someone called him out of the blue and said something like,"There's been suspicious activity on your credit card Account. Someone has been using your credit card without your permission. We want to help you out, so give us your Social Security number and we will block the card, reverse the unauthorized charges and send you a new credit card. The Guy responded something like,"Come on, do you REALLY expect me to blindly give my social security number to someone who called ME out of the blue claiming there has been suspicious activity on my credit card and claiming to want to help me ? This is insulting. Do you REALLY expect anyone to fall for this obvious scam? The Caller responded something like,"Sure, you're a smart one, but you'd be surprised how many People do fall for this scam! And hung up. The Guy said to the general Public something like,"Never give out your Social Security number to someone who called YOU out of the blue."

[Janice Johnson]

Someone else shared an Anecdote about catching a Scammer in the act.

The literal kid said something like,"I got a call from someone claiming to be my Grandson in a lot of Financial trouble and needing me to send him money. I responded,"I'm a 13 year old Virgin! Nice try, Scammer! The Caller hung up on me. Interesting."

[Dude111]

Sadly alot of people fall for it

[Janice Johnson]

Originally Posted by Dude111

Sadly alot of people fall for it

Only a complete IDIOT would give out their Social Security number to a random Caller who called THEM out of the blue not the other way around.

[ponytail]

Especially seniors. I feel so bad when I hear about seniors falling for these. May scammers fry in hell.

[GentlemanJim]

Originally Posted by Janice Johnson

Only a complete IDIOT would give out their Social Security number to a random Caller who called THEM out of the blue not the other way around.

When I filed for social security retirement 2 years ago, I did so in person at my local SSA beneficiary assistance center.

One week later I got a call from SSA's chicago office, asking for the last 4 digits of my SS# and my mother's maiden name.

All I could think about was all the warnings given about how the government will "never call you soliciting information", but I felt with the timing and all, it would be extremely unlikely that a crook would just happen to know I had just filed AND know the phone number at my place of employ...so, I gave the requested info. And the call was legit. They were just verifying I was who I claimed to be. She told me exactly my benefit amount, and the date of the first payment.

So, not ALL the warnings are legit, either.

[opus]

I’ll happily answer the topic question if you send me your account number, routing number, and mother’s maiden name.

[RetroGuy2000]

Originally Posted by opus

I’ll happily answer the topic question if you send me your account number, routing number, and mother’s maiden name.

I'll do it for half the price: just need a valid debit card number and PIN for identification purposes.

[JamesG]

"There's a sucker born every minute."

[Janice Johnson]

Originally Posted by GentlemanJim

When I filed for social security retirement 2 years ago, I did so in person at my local SSA beneficiary assistance center.

One week later I got a call from SSA's chicago office, asking for the last 4 digits of my SS# and my mother's maiden name.

All I could think about was all the warnings given about how the government will "never call you soliciting information", but I felt with the timing and all, it would be extremely unlikely that a crook would just happen to know I had just filed AND know the phone number at my place of employ...so, I gave the requested info. And the call was legit. They were just verifying I was who I claimed to be. She told me exactly my benefit amount, and the date of the first payment.

So, not ALL the warnings are legit, either.

But you least initiated some kind of contact by going to the SSA Beneficiary Assistance Center on your own volition in the first place. It would be weird if some random Caller called you out of the blue without you ever initiating any contact and asking you for your Social Security number in order to help you out with suspicious activity on your credit card.

[GentlemanJim]

Originally Posted by Janice Johnson

But you least initiated some kind of contact by going to the SSA Beneficiary Assistance Center on your own volition in the first place. It would be weird if some random Caller called you out of the blue without you ever initiating any contact and asking you for your Social Security number in order to help you out with suspicious activity on your credit card.

You're right. The timing seemed too close to be coincidence, plus I had never given anyone but the IRS and the SSA my daytime work number. So the likelihood that some haxxor may have "pulled out a plumb" like that at such a perfect time, made it seem like a safe risk.

But even still, think about all the official announcements that insist that NO GOVERNMENT AGENT WILL EVER ask you to disclose personal data over the phone....yet here was one doing just that.

In retrospect I should have explained my concern, and asked for a phone number I could have called them right back on, just to create an additional layer of certainty. But I didn't think about that until days later.

[Janice Johnson]

Originally Posted by ponytail

Especially seniors. I feel so bad when I hear about seniors falling for these. May scammers fry in hell.

A guy said something like, "My 78 year old Mother who lived alone called me in a stressed state of panic telling me the IRS called her and told her she owed them $1,000 in back taxes and if she didn't pay it, she would be going to Prison for Tax Evasion. She told me they told her she could pay with iTunes gift cards, but she had no idea how to pay with iTunes gift cards.

She told me she was scared of going to Prison for Tax Evasion." I was flabbergasted and couldn't believe Mom ACTUALLY fell for this obvious scam and thanked God Mom didn't know how to buy iTunes gift cards or she would have done it! I ACTUALLY wasn't mad at the Scammer for trying to scam Mom, but thankful the Scammer tried to scam Mom because this was the catalyst for me knowing Mom was too "innocent," to live on her own and I thought,"Mom doesn't need to be targeted by Scammers! She should be living her life in peace! I put her in a nursing home and now her biggest concern is when meal times are and hanging out with her elderly Friends, not being targeted for a scam/scams, the way it should be."

[stevea]

There are a couple more similar scams. They call and mention some large amount that's been charged on your Amazon account--if it's not correct, call them back (this stuff is always on voicemail--I never answer these unknown numbers). Of course, if you call or had answered, just happily supply them with your charge card number, and they'll remove the charge (uh-huh).

Another common one is the same sort of scam, but it involves a large charge for renewing your computer virus protection--something like $399. Yeah, right. Got it.

[Janice Johnson]

Originally Posted by stevea

There are a couple more similar scams. They call and mention some large amount that's been charged on your Amazon account--if it's not correct, call them back (this stuff is always on voicemail--I never answer these unknown numbers). Of course, if you call or had answered, just happily supply them with your charge card number, and they'll remove the charge (uh-huh).

Another common one is the same sort of scam, but it involves a large charge for renewing your computer virus protection--something like $399. Yeah, right. Got it.

I recently got a text message from Chase asking me if I made a purchase of $92. Press 1 for yes, 2 for no. I haven't had Chase in about 4 years! This message came from a 10 digit phone number. REAL text messages from Fraud Warnings come from a five digit number, not a 10 digit phone number. I was given a link to view my activities and for fun I clicked on it. I got the red red flag screen of warning telling me this was a shady Website. I clicked something like,"I still want to go to shady Website at my own risk," and I was sent to Chase's Login Screen. It looked Legitimate but I had read warnings of Scammers creating look alike Bank Websites and then stealing Bank Account information from innocent Bank Account Owners who thought they were logging into their REAL Bank Account. I ignored this login page and exited the Website.

[Frank Gannucci]

How about spam emails saying your Chase credit card account has been limited. All u have to do is click on Show Details link next to the sender, see an email that doesn’t say chase.com to determine that it’s a scam.