Beware of this Scam - Don't Call That 800 Number.

Beware of this Scam

By now, we are all fairly confident that the prince across the ocean really isn’t our long lost relative with millions of dollars. And, once a scam is completely figured out, the scammers go away, right? Not on your life. A new scam pops up faster than clover in my backyard the day after I weed & feed.

This is a warning for my friends who still like to pick up a landline and get to the bottom of things with a good ole’ fashioned phone call. We remember the days of customer service and people solving problems while on the phone.

Unfortunately, today, most customer support departments are AI. Our banks even have bots to try and help us with problems. Oh, come on, they don’t want to help with problems, they simply don’t want to talk to us. AI is the next generation phone tree.

Press 2 to be annoyed even more. While we once screamed “Talk to an Agent” at the phone, now we type frantically, “I want to chat with a person.” Don’t worry. The man behind the curtain will never answer.

Ok, back to the scam …

That once welcome beep of a new email just chimed.

You have received a confirmation email from Geek Squad, McAfee, Norton, basically any company you are not doing business. The email is usually an invoice that says something like “Thank you for renewing your service. If this is a mistake, please call 800-We-Are-Going-To-Take-Your-Money.”

The natural reaction which is exactly what the scammers are counting on is to call that number and reverse the charges. I mean, finally, someone to talk to about a problem. As you day dream, this company knows customers support.

Let’s stop here.

1. It is a scam
2. Never call that number
3. Reread #1

Although the email says you have been charged $468.42, guess what? There is no charge at your bank.

Don’t call the number. Because here is what they are going to do.

1. Apologize. “We are sorry this happened.” or maybe “We are sorry to see you go."
2. Then, and does this make any sense at all, The customer support person needs access to your computer and eventually your bank account to give you the refund.
3. Once on your computer, they fake a mistake and accidentally refund you a really large amount. First and foremost, the faked amount is similar to what you have in your bank account.
4. Finally, they cry wolf about how they are going to be fired and you need to help them.

… pause right there.

You love to help and the scammer plays on that emotion.

5. Scammer asks you to immediately go to the bank and withdraw money to send back to them.

… pause again

First of all, the money is not in the account.

If they can accidentally put money into our account while on the phone and computer. Seems odd that you need to go to the bank.

6. Well, you made it to Level 6. Shame on you. But you are headed to the bank and the scammer has asked you “don’t tell the banker what you are doing” because the scammer is embarrassed and could lose his job.

7. Here you sit at the bank withdrawing a large sum of money.

8. At this point, the scammer has several ways to get their money.

A. Mail it. … who in their right mind mails money.
B. Go to a Bitcoin terminal … you have never used one before, now is not the time to start.

9. Once the package is sent or you deposit the money, it is gone.

—— What should you do:

1. Ignore the email. Check your bank account. There will be no transaction.

or

2. Ignore the email and go physically to the branch to check on the transaction.

and

3. Never ever ever call the scammer's 800 number.

No AI was used in this ramble.

The Troll Graphic is one of our new CityPage logos. It will be used as we try to reduce scams and trolls.

George