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Never Say ‘Yes’ to Strangers and Other Scam Hacks
“Hello, this is Leila. Can you hear me alright?” the bright and cheery voice on the other end of the phone started the conversation.
“I can,” I replied.
There was a click on the other end.
“Hello? Are you still there?” I asked. Nothing.
Had she been expecting a different voice? Or had she been hoping I would say, “Yes.” I have heard about cons where someone calls one up and gets one to say, “Yes,” and then the perpetrator will ship something out and say they had recorded authorization to do so, and present a recording with a different question and one’s “Yes” to the scam question. I have no idea if it is true. On the other hand, I am very careful what I say on phones so that something like that can’t happen.
Have you heard about other scams, telephone or otherwise? Is there an easy way to avoid the scam?
Published in Culture
I have two levels of scam protection set up, I never* answer numbers I don’t recognize, and my answering machine says “text me your identity if you want me to return your call.”
It is out of control.
*Sometimes when I am expecting a call that I know will come from an unknown number, I get a spam call and I tell them what they can do with themselves.
A friend responds to questionable calls by asking them the square root of nine.
I once had an uncle pick up the phone (in the 1990s) by blowing into the receiver. I answered by also blowing into the receiver. At which point he laughed and asked who it was. He said that anybody with the good sense to respond the same way was probably a real person.
The jury is still out.
My business landline is an old-fashioned phone with no caller ID. I’ve been too cheap to buy a new phone that does. The service is there, just the equipment is incapable. On the home landline, it’s new enough to show incoming numbers, but we seldom bother with it since most of the calls are spam. We have an answering machine, and if someone really wants something, they can leave a message.
I really like that. I may start using a variation of that to answer the phone.
Pays to have smart friends.
I’ve heard of it too. I’m not convinced it is true, but verifying a negative is hard, so I don’t answer anything in an affirmative that general.
Some of the automated systems are getting more sophisticated. You can usually identify them by asking non sequitur questions.
I’m good at that.
In the old days there used to be a toner scam. They’d call and say they wanted you to demo their aftermarket toner, then ship you a box of toner, which your receiving department would receive, with your name on it, and then they’d send an invoice for the toner to accounts payable. It was enough to be worth their while, but not enough that you’d waste time arguing about it. Generally…
We still use a landline and it has caller id but we get too many legit calls from numbers we don’t recognize. So I just pick up the phone and hit the “block” button. I think it is true about saying yes – I get too many that greet me with a question that requires yes. I usually answer “who’s calling?'”, then block them.
Fairly often, when I get a call on my cell phone Verizon flashes a message “Possible Scam.” I have no idea how they filter incoming calls.
I figure anyone calling my cell phone is a scam. I only use it for emergencies. A couple of people from church use it to text me, but I prefer e-mails.
My office number forwards to my cell, but the caller ID just shows “office calling” so I never know if it is a legit client or other business call, or just a scam/spam call. Often I let it go to voicemail.
But when I do choose to answer, I say “Hello, this is Fritz.”
Then, if the caller tries to evoke a “Yes” by asking “Can you hear me OK?” or “Is that you, Fritz?”, I simply repeat “Hello, this is Fritz.” And wait silently for the telltale “click.”
Had one today, in fact.
They’re getting some newer technology in place now, I think it works for cell phones but not for land lines, that can somehow tell if a number you’re supposedly being called from is actually correct, or if they’re “spoofing” someone else’s number. Sometimes those callers will pretend to be calling from a number with the same area code and “prefix” as yours, so that you might assume it’s coming from someone nearby. But if you didn’t answer, and just try calling that number back later, you’ll get “That number is not in service” or someone will answer their home phone and have no idea what you’re talking about.
I’m always suspicious of my old area code. I haven’t been there in eight years. Most anyone back there would already be in my contact list, or would send an email.
If a politician could convince me they could fix the phone calls, messaging, and email scams, I’m not sure I’d care what the rest of their platform was or which party or species they identified with, I may become one of those Single-Issue voters.
Well, of course, they could fix all of that by putting you in jail…
You must be older than I thought…
I use my cell for text only and for fewer than 5 people that I can’t contact any other way. They all know that I will never answer a cell ring, even if I should accidentally hear it. Therefore I know that anyone calling my cell is a scam call since no one has the number. I prefer e-mail also but my daughter and hairdresser don’t even use e-mail anymore
Amen, brother.
When I was born, the world was young and Christ was a corporal.
What I really use my cell phone as is an alarm clock. Four times per day, it sings a little song at cat-feeding time.
I’ve kept my landline. I swore I’d get rid of it after Mr. She died (his pacemaker/defib needed a landline connection so it could call home and report in regularly). But cell phone service is spotty out here, even within my house, so I keep the dial tone and not much else active on the landline so I can call 911 on it if I need to. (Even that bit of service costs me $30 a month. At one point, my phone phone company charges were the highest in the country.)
I never pick up the landline, and it’s the number I give to all the people I don’t want to hear from, when I’m required to give out a phone number. The message on it says “I don’t answer this phone; call my other number if you want to talk to me (I don’t give out the other number, which is my cell, in the message, and I’m careful about who I give the number to otherwise. I’m also really diligent about keeping my contact list on my phone up to date.)
I don’t answer phone calls on my cell if I don’t recognize the number. I figure if it’s that important, they can leave a message. If they don’t want to leave a message, then it can’t be that important. I stopped feeling obliged to rush and answer the phone when I retired, after almost 30 years of being on call and available 7x24x365.
On the rare occasions when I get snookered, I used the same technique I did at work. I tell them that if they want to sell me something they can send me information in the mail, and I if I’m interested, I’ll read it, and if I’m still interested, I’ll phone them. Then I politely say goodbye and hang up.
I could go there if they just committed to get rid of those people trying to sell me extended warranties for cars I haven’t owned for ten years.
Have you checked into low-cost “lifeline” phone service? Some smaller areas may not offer it at all, and they usually won’t suggest it to you, you may have to ask them about it specifically – even pointedly – to get the cheap rate.
And there’s currently a program for reduced internet rates, saving me $50/month and I got a “free” tablet the first month too.
Everyone really should have at least basic land line service at home, it works for 911 calls without needing any “triangulation” etc, it works during power outages (hint: don’t get a home phone setup with ONLY cordless handsets, they don’t work during a power outage either: my setup has a wired/corded “base” unit that always works, plus allows for cordless handsets too) and even after cell towers may fail, you don’t have to worry about keeping it charged or leaving it in the car or another room or whatever… Land line for 911 etc is especially important for people with children.
Thanks. I have not. I’ve always been under the impression that was a discounted rate for low-income subscribers, and that the difference is rebated back to the phone companies from that universal service fund or whatever it’s called. While I wouldn’t describe myself as particularly flush with money, I doubt I’d be eligible. I can check and see if Verizon has something else in this area. Couldn’t hurt.
I have a satellite Internet connection. As they say, “it leaves everything to be desired,” doing just a fair job of simple browsing and email, a barely acceptable job at real-time audio calls (poor quality, latency, echo issues), and abysmal job of displaying even low-res YouTube or similar videos, and is absolutely hopeless at anything else. There’s no DSL, FIOS, Cable, or anything else out here. And insufficient line-of-sight for many other technologies.
That’s why I have the setup that I do.
There are some eligibility things, but just being old enough might be sufficient. I’ve been able to get it longer because of my medical/disability situation.
The lifeline thing is also how lots of people got “obama phones.” And you can only do one or the other, either a “free” basic cell phone (limited talk minutes per month), or reduced-rate home phone service.
I had Exede/Viasat my last few years in Phoenix, because I didn’t have customer service problems with them like I did with Cox Cable. It may not be good enough for Netflix, at least not unless you get a more expensive “plan,” but it was fine for me. And no “hard data limits” either, it didn’t just shut off when you got to a certain point. It just went to basic speed, which was still enough for my needs. I think Hughesnet and other companies are doing the same now.
I don’t think there’s any reason Hughesnet etc couldn’t offer the reduced internet rate too, it’s just something they would have to set up, however that’s done. Maybe they didn’t feel a need to early on, but that might change over time. Could be worth checking with them occasionally.
Wouldn’t having a recording of you saying “yes” be pretty useless unless they already got your credit card number or something, somehow?
It’s my business line. As mentioned by another above, one type of scam is to hope that nobody checks for POs or the like when a bill is sent. Some people have made a lot of money with large corporations that way. “Was it received? Then pay the bill.”
And it’s a pretty darn good camera for the stuff I sell on NextDoor.
And certain Germans were Jewish?
Y’all need some ObamaPhones. It just comes from his stash.
I prefer e-mails, too. I hate texting, and when possible save my replies for when I’m at my computer and can use Verizon’s web version of its SMS system. I also hate Facebook messenger, but for other reasons. (I don’t allow it on my phone.) But there are people I care about who use those things, so it’s not possible to avoid them altogether.
I also prefer e-mail listservs as the best social media platform, but there aren’t very many left. (And none of those I’m on use the listserv software now.)