Topic: Scam calling - page 2. (Read 427 times)

Never put your main phone number on an online site. I don't know how offer on your country, In here my country, everyone can have many phone number (max 3 number) that can be used for dummy. I mean use a dummy number if that very important thing to write it down, If so have called you don't need to bring it up.

Spot on. They might even try to sniff out one's info if he's/ she's not careful enough.


Lol, Kitboga. That grandma and the driving simulator gets me everytime

OP reminded me of those scambaiters in Youtube like Kit and Jim Browning.

One of the common tactics that scammers also do is the refund scam, not sure if this happened inside crypto, where they will claim that they are from popular companies like Amazon, Microsoft or even Geek Squad and you currently bought or subscribe to some random stuffs from their company and you have the option to refund or cancel them by calling their fake toll-free number and they will claim that they "accidentally" sent your bank account with too much money and you need to give them back that extra money through gift cards or sent through package but the former is commonly used. However the bank account was just edited through HTML to make it look like they sent too much money, and yes that scam will require them to have remote access to your desktop.

So yeah the lesson there is if someone calls or voicemails you and claims that they are from Microsoft, just go and hang up the call as large companies don't do that. Mostly seniors are the common target for these due to how some are uninformed of the dangers of letting someone getting remote access to your PC.

That’s what I do. If I’m not expecting a call from a probably unknown number, I chose to ignore all calls that are unidentified, and then proceed to search for the caller’s number to see what comes-up. More often than not, the phone call comes from a reported number belonging to a scammer or spammer, and it’s simply not worth my time engaging in a conversation.

Attending to them and engaging in a conversation even if you’ve got a clear idea of what they are trying to do can also, as per my experience, lead to the pain in the ass situation, where by a curtesy "fuckoff you so and so" on the call's receiver's behalf can lead to a long term season of calls just to piss you off.

That was a good lesson but still, the best course of action is to simply hang up the call if you're unsure.

Or install a caller ID app like TrueCaller which will highlight any potentially spammy/ scammy call before you swipe to answer. A lifesaver.

Thank you for sharing your experience and reminding us not to be fooled.

There are so many scams that I don’t answer calls from strangers now. The scammer will get some of my private information and defraud me of my trust. I almost got caught last time.

When it comes to scam and scammers, increased awareness is what we do and your alertness is all that could save you from the bates on the hook of these peasants. Scam calling, should I take the call... yeah, I did take the call!

I got a calk calk an anonymous individual with the cell phone chip number xxxxxxxxxxx a few weeks back pleading and requesting that I should help send him the OTP (one time password) that was just sent to my phone. I was shocked at this request but then, I had to give him the benefit of the doubt and as such, a allowed him to explain himself so I proceeded to ask him some questions as a means of verifying what was at play. So I asked why would I do that? He responded that, he was in the process of a registration on an online portal and mistakenly did input my contact in place of his due to some likely similarity to mine and it was just a digit difference to have made the error happen and that I should please help him out. Funny enough, he sounded genuinely, seriously trying yo get my compassion up and in that instant explore it but, I was glued to my suspicion and gave non. How about it, let's do a quick analysis on the story so far and pick put some silent details.

Phase One Analysis
1. It always starts from an unknown pretending to share something in common with you.
2. Scammers always play the vulnerable in order to draw your compassion and explore your vulnerability.
3. Stressing them out by pushing on, watching out for claims and listening to silent details is a key to detecting this trick.

Let's get back to our story and see how it went. Story continues...

I further enquired and even made some harmless suggestions if he could just restart the whole process of verification and this time, input his correct details not to mention his cell phone chip number. He replied that, it was the last phase of a series of steps and that what was done amidst some uploaded documents can't be undone as it would create some discrepancies and error in the application. He continued to beacon on me with his endless pleas for help and that he was running out of time coupled with the fact that, I know how an OTP works, having a time frame for code expiration. This scammer was doing all he could to make me compassionate and anxious but I knew there was something fishy about this guy and his continued pleas. One thing that added me to stay strong is with the fact that, an exposed identity is a loosed end. It might not be used to harm you immediately but at the opportune time, you would still suffer its stints. I then thought to myself on some claims he has made and beginner to cross examine them. He claimed that our cell phone chip numbers were similar and slightly different by a digit so, I simply asked that he calls me with that number (Mind you, some smart scammers might just alternate ther cell phone chip numbers by a digit before putting out this trick but then, they've got to have something on you first for a target and that's what makes this trick a bit more difficult for them. Though, in this particular incidence, I knew there was no way in hell I was going to give up the OTP). Upon making this request, he claimed that he had no airtime on the cell phone chip number, I requested that he do me a WhatsApp voice or video chat with the supposed contact, he responded that, it wasn't a WhatsApp registered contact. At this point, indeciede that, i was done playing his games, besides, the time frame for the OTP has expired though, should I have taken his bate, he would have simply done a resend code but sadly, I didn't. Instead, I went on for some confrontation and accused him of being a scammer, he disinclined. I pressed on to that, ibwas going to take things up and rral serious with his cell phone chip number with the authorities, that he was out of luck and that I was a highly placed individual and he has stepped on the wrong toes. He simply muttered a curse and ended the call.

Phase Two analysis
1. Refuses to restart registration and other suggestions. Mind you, fresh registrations can always be undone. The exception is the change of details previously verified on the system otherwise, its just a step back and input the correct thing. I suppose his aim was to attempt a swap of my details. Thank goodness for OTP.
2. Examination of claims
* Similar cell phone chip number unproven to be true
* A fresh registration that can't be undone, how true is this!
* Lack of airtime, contact of value not registered on WhatsApp or have any means to its usage.


Lessons/deductions
1. Play the stressing the scammer out game, thats if your core is hard enough not to succum.
2. Be routeless and neve let your emotions get in the way.
3. Most scammers explore only the vulnerability you expose.
4. Be friends with suspicion and let curiosity lead the way.
5. Loosed ends are a potential target.
6. Your safety is solely dependent on you.

Scammers never sleep on tactics. They are always there developing more and more, trying to add new schemes to q fading one. Why should you relax and not see an issue with that. Never live your values unprotected. A loosed end is a weakness, live non.