Friday Follies - Wham! Bam! Scam!

Scammers seem to be getting more and more bold and pervasive.  You would think that with all of the alerts in the news and continuous education of the public, they would give up and go home, but nope.  They are still there and still playing their little games.  They aren't little games though, and they cost people millions of dollars every year, not to mention the embarrassment and heartache.

Very recently both of our mobile phones were the target of one of the latest scams.  Our phones rung once and then the caller hung up.  The missed call had a number displayed and said it was from Cuba.  Cuba?  Obviously we don't know anyone there and did not call them back.  Maybe my rich Nigerian uncle that passed away recently moved to Cuba?

Look out for that Cuba number!

A quick Google search told us that it was indeed a scam, and when you call back you stay on hold, and somehow it charges your phone account.  Tricky - I can imagine that people fall for it, curious to find out who they know in Cuba.  Even worse if you know someone that lives or travels there.

The scams are many.  Even though we are on the 'do not call list', we still get the odd phone call through to our landline.  The most common calls are the ones from 'Microsoft' telling us that they are getting an alert about a problem with our computer, or the one from the insurance company following up on an accident that someone in our household has had.  We get that one at work too, and have a lot of fun with it.

Watch out for scams!

If I have time at work and need a laugh, I will start to string them along, asking for more information about who had the accident and when.  Obviously I am very concerned, as there has definitely been an accident in the car, but no one will own up to it and I really want to get to the bottom of it.  They ask me for the name, I say that they must have it on file as they called me - or a date - or a police report - or something.  If you remain calm, ask logical questions, and appear like you are trying to help them, I can attest to the fact that they get flustered and hang up.  Quite often we get another call shortly after, saying the same thing.  I am usually extremely glad that they called up as I had been discussing it with one of their colleagues and been cut off, and I really, really want to get to the bottom of it.  And again we are cut off for some reason.  It's fun and a nice break from my work, and it keeps the scammers tied up.  Sometimes my co-workers ask to have a turn, and I transfer the call to them. This is tricky though, because if the scammers catch on that you are a business, they hang up, which is no fun at all.

"Oh yes, someone has had an accident."

Shawn has a much different approach when we get these calls at home.  He has perfected the loud whistle - it's ear piercing and will ring in your ears for half an hour if you are close to him.  As I hand the phone over to him, he let's loose.  It really must hurt their ears if they have headphones on.  After one such response, the scammer must have been mightily pissed off, because he called back and hung up about 10 times.  Ha ha, got under your skin, did we?!  Unfortunately, Manu is usually collateral damage and gets freaked out and runs away and hides in the bathroom.  It takes a lot of coaxing to get him out again, so it's not a perfect strategy.  But still, you have to weigh up the pros and cons.

Another tactic employed by my husband is to have a little discussion with them.  His first question is usually 'Do you have a mother?' and the next is 'What would you think if someone scammed her like you are trying to do to people?'  Usually the scammer hangs up, but we have had them call back insisting that it isn't a scam.  Nice try, buddy.

Some cats aren't to be trusted.

I have tried all sorts of things, like putting the phone up to the dog who is panting, putting the phone down and walking away to continue on with whatever I was doing, or making enough non-committal sounds to keep them on the line.

I don't seem to get a lot of fake friend requests on Facebook (is it the cat picture in my profile - do scammers not like crazy old cat ladies?), but Shawn gets the odd scantily dressed woman trying to friend him.  I do get emails from Russian ladies that think I'm lovely and sexy and the strong man that they are looking for.  Do people really think those emails are legitimate?  They must, or the scammers wouldn't do it.

The scams that scare me are the emails that come through from banks, the tax office etc.  Years ago, you could pick the scam right away as there were mis-spelled words and grammatical errors.  But they are getting more and more clever, and it's often almost impossible to tell that it's not from your financial institution.

"There appears to be a problem with your computer."

There are scams selling puppies that don't exist and hairless cats that are just shaved regular cats, scams praying on people's loneliness, scams taking advantage of kind hearts and scams trying to play a long game and take every penny you have until they've bled you dry.

Just remember, never, ever give out personal information on an email and try and be cynical.  There are way too many people trying to part you from your money. 

I can do that on my own, thank you very much.  I don't need any help.