Heavily accented man was trying to get me to change my electric company, which I played along with for awhile, then he wants a credit card number to pay for the monthly electric supply charges. That's all I need to do to cut my electric bill by 50% he says. Sounds nice, but it's a complete scam! He didn't even know the electric company that services this area. I told him that it was Con Edison to test him, which only serves NYC not any town in NJ... He had no clue because he's calling from India and isn't really selling electric service options. And he didn't care because he only was after my credit card number, name, address, DoB, and SSN. I started by giving him a made up address, name, DoB, and social to see how far he would go. When he asked for the CC number I called him out, told him that he wasted his time with me, and I hung up. And I got enough from him to write this post. He never called back. And when you call the number back by turning off your own caller ID, you get a fast-busy signal. Beware of these calls from local NJ exchanges where you don't know the number... They must be getting a lot of vulnerable older seniors because I'm getting several calls per week from local NJ exchanges. BEWARE and stay VIGILANT!!!
Heavily accented man was trying to get me to change my electric company, which I played along with for awhile, then he wants a credit card number to pay for the monthly electric supply charges. That's all I need to do to cut my electric bill by 50% he says. Sounds nice, but it's a complete scam! He didn't even know the electric company that services this area. I told him that it was Con Edison to test him, which only serves NYC not any town in NJ... He had no clue because he's calling from India and isn't really selling electric service options. And he didn't care because he only was after my credit card number, name, address, DoB, and SSN. I started by giving him a made up address, name, DoB, and social to see how far he would go. When he asked for the CC number I called him out, told him that he wasted his time with me, and I hung up. And I got enough from him to write this post. He never called back. And when you call the number back by turning off your own caller ID, you get a fast-busy signal. Beware of these calls from local NJ exchanges where you don't know the number... They must be getting a lot of vulnerable older seniors because I'm getting several calls per week from local NJ exchanges. BEWARE and stay VIGILANT!!!
Got call from this number at 11:48 a.m. I answered it because i didn't have my glasses on & couldn't see CID. This was what sounded like a recording of a female voice. I could hardly hear what it was talking about, the voice was so low. So i hung up & blocked it. CID showed Metuchen NJ & phone number.
Called on land line phone today. I did not answer and no message was left or call was rejected as unrecognized, unidentified, unsolicited and in violation of DNC, so assumed a SCAM.
WE are our own and only first line of defense with CID; and NO ONE SHOULD ANSWER UNIDENTIFIED, UNRECOGNIZED, OR UNSOLICITED NUMBERS, even if they appear to be local or toll-free numbers...they most likely are spoofed and originate out of the USA .. (Also, letting it ring wastes more of their time and money since they will be paying for a service that doesn't work.)
The second line of defense is to promptly hang up. If you do answer. DO NOT RESPOND in any way...not by voice or selection; you may be consenting to something without your intent or knowlege. (Remember they are crooks.) DO NOT CALL BACK. Revenge is neither amusing nor sweet. In fact, it might be theirs. They know who you are and can find and do more. They just might be having a really bad day and you're it! Their IQ is limited but their ability to do harm is not.
Third, register all your numbers on the DO NOT CALL. (They never expire). Report any unwanted contact to FTC, DNC. Then, just by dialing, faxing or texting your number unsolicited, they are in violation. DNC cannot stop the calls, but it does weed out the scum. A legitimate caller will leave a message and contact information, putting you in control. if you don't have call identification, get it.
If on a cell phone, do not respond in any way to texts or pop-ups regardless of their message or apparent authenticity. Take a screen shot and delete immediately. Report to www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov
A little more...SHRED!!! Receipts and documents have a lot of information.
SCAMMING AND PHISHING CAN ONLY SUCCEED IF THERE IS A MARKET AND YOU ARE IT! Be smart, alert, suspicious, and aware. Educate yourself, share and report.
Be certain to use a secure WiFi. Keep an updated and active virus scanner on all devices with Internet access (including email.) When using a credit card, don't let it out of your sight. Make sure the card scanner is firmly attached before inserting your card...skimmers (devices that copy and steal your credit card number) are covers placed over the real scanner.