• "There ain't no such thing as a free lunch."
• If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.
• You have not won big bucks from a benign benefactor, a pot of pesos from PCH, dinero from a doctor, a car from a caller, or a grant from a gracious government
• The tooth fairy really does not exist
• You have not won a contest that you never entered.
• Everything you read on the internet or hear on the phone is not necessarily true.
• It is illegal to ask for money for a loan or prize, before awarding the loan or prize!
• "Free Trips" are loaded with mandatory & costly extras, and you usually must give them your card number after listening to a loooong spiel at a hotel.
• Microsoft or a different famous software company, or one of their agents did NOT cold call you to fix your computer.
• The moon is not made of green cheese.
• The IRS will snailmail you, rather than phone you, if there is a problem.
• Jackalope milk is not an aphrodisiac.
• If you Vanilla Card, GreenDot, MoneyGram, Western Union, iTunes or use ANY gift/money/reload PIN-type card to send money to a scammer, the money is gone. In fact, as of June, 2016, it is ILLEGAL for telemarketers to ask for payment via these methods.
• You should beware of Geeks bearing gifts, specially if the gift is a wooden horse with termites, or a statement that your computer is infected.
• 876 is NOT your lucky number, and it will cost you money to call that area code!
• The number you see on your Caller ID may not be the number of the person who called you!
• The Do Not Call List works as intended. It is NOT a call blocker!
• If you fall for a scam, you will be put on a "sucker list", and will get many more scammy calls!
More information regarding those facts (and others) may be found at
http://phonehelp.2truth.com/facts.html
Remember to return here, to 800notes.com, after you look at any of the information at that site, either to post more information, or to let us know you avoided the scam.
This number called me yesterday 202 178 2586 claiming to be from the US Government. The man on the other end had a heavy accent that was hard to understand but I did hear him tell me that because I was a good citizen and I have stayed out of trouble for the last 6 months I am going to be awarded with a government grant. Needless to say that I was writing the words "bull [***]" on my note pad the entire time. I had to sign up for life lock after that call because I forgot not to ever say yes over the phone to a stranger with wild claims. There is a scam going around where the only real objective is to record you saying yes so they can use that recording of your voice to steal your identity or something. So anyway this scammer gave me a validation number and told me to call 202-527-9668 to claim my government grant. LOL I'm not stupid enough to fall for that. I looked up 202-527-9668 and it's a Verizon home phone in Washington DC.