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Have You Received a Scam Phone Call?
Scammers are not just busy on the internet, they are burning up the phone lines
in attempts to scam people. There are a number of common scams, such as:
and some new and as yet, uncommon scams. Just to prove that you can't trust
phone calls you receive, see the examples reports of phone scams we've received.
Detailed reports of other phone calls can be found on this page.
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Betty White, 876-832-1313, "US Customs Claims" Lottery Scam, received from a
visitor, April 6, 2008
My scam was a telephone caller. Who identified herself
as being from the better business bureau and working with the U S Customs for a
delivery and documents. The call back number was 876-832-1313 and the name
was Betty White. Upon calling this number, it was answered as U S Customs
claims. She told me that I had won 1.5 million dollars. It would be delivered
by courier, and I needed to pay them 500 + dollars. At this time I said I was
not interested.
The ladies reply was F you
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Government Jobs, Issuing FHA refund checks, received from a visitor, April 2, 2008:
Other numbers used by these scammers are: 603-214-3605, 512-404-1292,
971-285-3130.
Received a call from someone purporting to be the "The
Government" and wanted me to help "The Government" issue FHA refund checks, of
which, they promised, I would receive a percentage and would have my paycheck
sent to me directly from the US Treasury. After a little probing, they said
they operated under the name GMI Enterprises, based out of Portland, Oregon (I
live in Boise, Idaho). I spoke to a person name Angie (she would not give me
her last name) and said her operator number was 113. The phone number used to
reach them (which I have confirmed) is 971-285-3130. They do charge a fee to
enroll in their program, and they claimed that I had requested to be contacted
via something I signed up for online (which I have not done).
HUD is warning of two scams:
- a work-at-home offer to become a “Refund Tracer" to process government
insurance FHA refund notices. HUD does not employ 3rd party processers. HUD
says: "Beware of unauthorized advertisements claiming that you can work for HUD
or any Federal agency from home. Only jobs posted at USAJOBS are official
federal career positions."
- The other scam is a phone call, email or post card saying you must confirm
details to receive your refund. HUD is warning consumers to be careful about any
literature or solicitations stating that a change in HUD’s, FHA’s or the
government’s policy will prevent you from receiving your FHA refund and that you
should call their office immediately.
If you are unsure whether your loan was FHA, you can call HUD toll-free at
1-800-697-6967 and provide your name and property address, or you may contact
HUD at sf_premiums@hud.gov. You can
click here to
search the HUD database.
-
MCI long distance scam, received from a visitor, March 29, 2008:
I received a phone call from someone claiming to be
from MCI long distance and stating that there were some 3rd party calls that
had been charged to my home phone. The first time I called the number that
they had left I got a recording asking me to leave my name, address, and
phone number so that they could forward a bill to me. I just hung up. I
called back later on and immediately got a person who asked me for my
personal information and when I asked why she needed it she stated once
again that there had been some 3rd party calls charged to my home phone.
She stated that they needed my name, home phone number, and address in order
to forward a bill to me for the charges. I then stated to her that I did
not have MCI long distance service and she said "Thank You" and hung up on
me. I later got to thinking about it and looked MCI up on the internet and
found out that they no longer exist. They were bought out by Verizon in
2003. The number that they left for me was 1-877-471-1453.
-
Sun National Bank scam, received from a visitor, February 25, 2008:
Sun National bank in florida text messaged my
cell phone saying "your national bill service is expired. for renewal
call us toll free at 805 27501591"
I have never had a sun national bill service or an account or anything
related to sun national. I called the phone number to find out what this
was all about andthe first thing they asked for was a credit card
number... pass this on.
-
FBI Warning
The FBI has warned residents of Tennessee, Florida, Alabama and
Mississippi about a new scam targeting customers of Regions Bank.
According to a notice issued on November 23, 2007 (see
this page for the complete story) residents of Tennessee, Florida,
Alabama and Mississippi have received automated telephone calls asking them
to visit a fraudulent Web site and verify customer information, such as
their user name and password.
Regions said customers who receive such a call or who provided
information on the Web site should contact the bank at 800-REGIONS or by
sending an e-mail to fraud@regions.com
.
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March 18, 2008, from phone 866-434-0080
"I am
looking to see if any one else has been in the same situation as me. I
didn't really see it on your list of things. This wasn't an e-mail
thing(that I know of anyway). I was balancing my bank statement for my check
book and I noticed a debit on there of $66.50. before the amount was
8664340080Medserv., with repeated numbers after it. I did not authorize this
transaction and I currently filled out forms to reverse the charge and stop
payment from them doing that to me again. I tried to call that number and
when I finally reached someone they tried to tell me I ordered some medical
subscription/supplies. I told them I did not and he said that maybe my
spouse did. I told them I have no spouse. He said that maybe someone in my
family did. I said there is no way anyone did. #1 - I don't need any
Medical subscription/supplies. #2 I would have never given out my checking
account information. When I asked him where they got it of course they
wouldn't tell me and when I proceeded to chew them out he hung up on me.
This is really scary when people can get a hold of your personal checking
account info(let alone credit cards) and charge whatever on it! If no one
else has had this happen then I feel I need to make people aware of this.
Please help me find out more and let me know."
Yes, it looks like a scam. Contact your bank
and the FBI -
see
this page for another example.
What to do about it
See these pages for guidance as applicable to your specific situation:
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