18 Nov 2008
When we started 800Notes.com we had no idea that telemarketing fraud comes in so many flavors. The variations include 'cramming', 'slamming', credit card scams, calls from telemarketers pretending to be IRS, sweepstakes and lotteries scams, advance fee loan scams, phone toner scams, fat finger dialing scams, and area code phone scams.
Typically the goal is to get you to reveal personal, bank account information, or to make you do something that will result in unwanted charges on your account. Individuals and businesses are equally affected by these scams although the schemes might be different.
In this article I will outline the 16 most popular phone scams. I am sure there are more, so if you have been a victim of a phone scam, or you know of a phone scam not mentioned here, please share it with me and the readers in the comments.
Send this article to your family members, co-workers, and employees. Give it to your teenage kids and elderly parents (studies show they are the most vulnerable to the scams). As the old saying goes, "Forewarned is Forearmed".
2. Another phone scam involves calls from “Prize Distribution Centers” that claim that you are the winner in sweepstakes or a lottery. Of course, you are not the only “winner” in the lottery and tens of thousands of people received the same call. The goal of the scheme is to entice you to make a relatively small payment (for example, shipping and handling fee, a sales tax) promising that a much bigger prize will be sent your way. Once the payment is sent, you will most likely not hear from the company again, and a promised “Lincoln Navigator” will not find its way to your driveway.
We received a message saying it was "dale" and he had our ballot in front of him and we have one a Ford Explorer. We needed to call him back at 1 800 504-6196. He never mention a name of who he was calling.
We called the number and it was voice mail saying that we had reached the "prize distribution center" and to leave a message and a director would get back to you.
THIS NUMBER WAS ON MY CALLER ID THE SAME TIME AS THERE WAS A MESSAGE ON MY ANSWERING MACHINE FROM ANOTHER NUMBER THAT SAID UNKNOWN NAME AND NUMBER THE UNKNOWN LEFT A MESSAGE SAYING GOOD NEWS AND SOME CRAP ABOUT A NAVIGATOR I HAD ENTERED A SWEEPSTAKES TO WIN AND THE MAN LEFT A NUMBER TO CALL BACK AND SPEAK TO CHRISTY MACAW AT 1-800-536-9567 I DID CALL AND RECEIVED A ANSWERING MACHINE I STILL WAITING ON THE CALL BACK. BIGGGGGGGG SCAMMMMMMMMMMM I'M TELLING YA.
No way did you win the Navigator. I won the Navigator! Ha ha ha. There must be a lot of unemployed Americans sitting at home trying to steal for a living, because I'm up to at least one of these desperate BS calls a day, always from different unlisted numbers, and I'm supposedly on the Do Not Call list (which is another scam, as far as I'm concerned).
Even these jerks, though, aren't as irritating as the ones who call about my "expired car warranty." Last week I pressed 1, just for kicks, and the guy asked for the year, make, and model of my car. I said, "You called me, don't you know?" and HE had the nerve to sound impatient! He said that since I hadn't returned some postcard (huh? what a crock) my information wasn't on file. I told him I was really, really interested in extending my warranty, but I had to go check on the year of the car, so could he please hold? Then I went to take a shower.
Also got a call on my cell from 312-962-0071. Nobody spoke to me and nobody picks up the phone when I call back. This happened to me with 2 other numbers too. I must be on some irratating list... Wonder how to get removed from that list. I am on the do not call list also, but it only works for legal enteties...