Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

I'm a scam prevention expert and I got scammed

lupinia.net

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

161–170 of 562 posts

Re: I'm a scam prevention expert and I got scammed

#161

Post by nilsbunger »

klik99 wrote: post #21

There's one easy rule that could have avoided all of this - never give out any info on incoming calls. If I get a call or text about fraudulent transactions, I'll keep them on hold while I log into the bank website. If I get a call about a late payment, I'll thank them for the info and ask them to stay on while I pay online. If I get an inbound call with a more complex request, I'll ask them for their employee info a…

Banks and health care providers have aggressively trained customers to be ok with giving sensitive info in a received call. It's a real disservice to the community, but kind of a tragedy of the commons.

I also do a callback (verifying the number they give me via a google search) but it seems like almost no one else does. On one of these calls from a bank, I asked the agent whether anyone else asked to do a callback, and they said no one ever did this.

Re: I'm a scam prevention expert and I got scammed

#162

Post by dheera »

rolobio wrote: post #6

I nearly got taken by a scammer because Amazon transferred me to one. I purchased a set of Reolink cameras on Amazon, (they've been great) one of them failed a couple months in. I contacted Amazon customer support (via my Amazon login and in their interface) and they wanted to troubleshoot with their technical team. Eventually the (very helpful) Amazon technician suggested contacting Reolink for support and started a…

> The Amazon technician was helpful and shipped me a replacement.

Considering they have a backdoor, why did you want a replacement instead of a refund?

Re: I'm a scam prevention expert and I got scammed

#163

Post by dheera »

itslennysfault wrote: post #129
rolobio wrote: post #6

I nearly got taken by a scammer because Amazon transferred me to one. I purchased a set of Reolink cameras on Amazon, (they've been great) one of them failed a couple months in. I contacted Amazon customer support (via my Amazon login and in their interface) and they wanted to troubleshoot with their technical team. Eventually the (very helpful) Amazon technician suggested contacting Reolink for support and started a…

Reason #99,999 that I don't use Amazon anymore. Just buy stuff in-person, pay the shipping, wait the week, or whatever. You'll be fine I promise.

Stuff in person costs 2X the price though. Especially bike parts.

It's often cheaper to buy from Amazon but never go through troubleshooting support. Always return or replace.

If that doesn't work, give a 1 star review, wait for the seller to come chasing you with a gift card in return for 5 stars. Change it to 5 stars, spend the gift card, and then change it back to 1 star.

Re: I'm a scam prevention expert and I got scammed

#164

Post by 1ris »

Loughla wrote: post #15
buscoquadnary wrote: post #8

Security theater. I had a situation where I had to buy something online from a company in Europe (owl4thunderbird) I placed the charge and then right after I got a text telling me to call a # for a possible fraud alert. That's a big red flag there. So I try and find the phone # of the fraud dept of Citi because anyone can send a text message. Turns out can't find it anywhere in the official Citi site. So I finally gi…

>It is security theater of the worst degree by incompetents and MBAs and I am getting sick of it. It's security theater giving people exactly what they want. People want to feel secure, but they don't want any amount of actual difficulty in getting what they want from Company A. Like it or lump it, but regular people really don't want actual security. They want the ease and convenience of no passwords at all, and wan…

>They want the ease and convenience of no passwords at all,

That's not what I see. I see people looking for inconvenience. Expiring passwords. Password requirements, so you have to write your passwords down. (You will change it soon, anyway) "Security" questions. Lock-Screens, session limits. 2FA-SMS. That horrible and unsecure Microsoft 2FA that was on the frontpage yesterday. IP-Geo-location-voodo so you can't log in from a different ISP/cellular/your parents place on this supposedly world wide internet. It's not like these things happen on their own.

Computer illiterate people thing that these inconveniences bring them security.

Re: I'm a scam prevention expert and I got scammed

#165

Post by Spivakov »

Here is an interesting story in which a scammer almost got me but failed because he knew me "too well":

One morning in college I was awakened by a call after staying up all night working on some project. The caller claimed to be from my home country's embassy and was investigating a fraud case I was involved in. He started by confirming my personal information such as DOB and passport number and he had them all correctly. He asked me to physically visit consular office, which I told him was impossible because I was in some program.

At this point I sort of give in, but he asked if I was preparing for piano/music rehearsal - a huge red flag that awakened me from foggy mind. During adolescence I attempted to becoming a pianist and dedicated lots of time to training and competitions, but this is a past that was never mentioned on resume or to friends. There couldn't be legitimate way to relate that experience to me.

I said yes and asked why he knew it. He began talking about my musical experience and what awards I won, without knowing that all these bits sounded to me like a pretentious show of being knowledgeable about my life.

One lesson from this and Op's story is that the scammer can attempt an attack at any moment, including downtime of brain activity.

Re: I'm a scam prevention expert and I got scammed

#166

Post by rolobio »

dheera wrote: post #162
rolobio wrote: post #6

I nearly got taken by a scammer because Amazon transferred me to one. I purchased a set of Reolink cameras on Amazon, (they've been great) one of them failed a couple months in. I contacted Amazon customer support (via my Amazon login and in their interface) and they wanted to troubleshoot with their technical team. Eventually the (very helpful) Amazon technician suggested contacting Reolink for support and started a…

> The Amazon technician was helpful and shipped me a replacement. Considering they have a backdoor, why did you want a replacement instead of a refund?

Had they actually had a backdoor, I would have unplugged it from the internet. Clearly the scammer did not have a backdoor.

Re: I'm a scam prevention expert and I got scammed

#167

Post by bsder »

carabiner wrote: post #108
rolobio wrote: post #6

I nearly got taken by a scammer because Amazon transferred me to one. I purchased a set of Reolink cameras on Amazon, (they've been great) one of them failed a couple months in. I contacted Amazon customer support (via my Amazon login and in their interface) and they wanted to troubleshoot with their technical team. Eventually the (very helpful) Amazon technician suggested contacting Reolink for support and started a…

Amazon today is a street side flea market. You really don't know what you'll get. I've started ordering more stuff from traditional retailers. Their online operations these days are really good, and at most a few dollars more than Amazon. Clothes from macys.com, home goods from homedepot.com and target.com, and so on. You're not flooded with choices with these stores that are mostly garbage, instead you get only 1-3…

> Amazon today is a street side flea market. You really don't know what you'll get.

There are two time when I will use Amazon nowadays:

1) If there is an official store there

Anker is a good example of this. It seems like Amazon doesn't commingle inventory if there is an official store.

2) If I want something faster than Alibaba/Aliexpress

Quite often I can find the exact Chinesium equivalent on Amazon and I get the benefit of returnability if what is advertised is completely out of whack.

This has to be costing Amazon money, but, it's their funeral.

Re: I'm a scam prevention expert and I got scammed

#168

Post by [deleted] »

ejb999 wrote: post #36
dqv wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well this initiated a rant, not directly related to ads, but Google in general. This is an internet literacy issue I’ve noticed more and more. People will refer to Google listings as an authoritative source even if the data comes from some third party. “Is this Jordan’s Tiles?” “No. This is Patrick. You have the wrong number.” “It says on their website this is the number!” “Their website is wrong, this isn’t Jordan’s…

I've had that happen to me as well - person finds a wrong number online someplace, calls me, and then is mad at me that I am not who they are looking for...go figure.

[deleted]

Re: I'm a scam prevention expert and I got scammed

#170

Post by Isthatablackgsd »

Domenic_S wrote: post #67
gnicholas wrote: post #10

> He verified my name, he had the last four digits of my debit card number, and everything generally seemed to follow the normal script of a transaction verification call There's a red flag right there — I've never found a bank willing to provide any verification of who they are when calling me. They call me and ask me to give them a code or card number without providing me with any proof of their identity. I've trie…

This happens with my doctor's scheduling people all the time. "Hi I'm calling for $YOU, will you please verify the last 4 of your social and full DOB?" uhhhh... no I will not, random person

DOB made sense because 10,000 people in the world have the same birth date. DOB (without PII) didn't narrow enough to identity the person. Regarding that last 4 SSN, yea I would never give that out.

My doctor office required me to provide my DOB before I can schedule an appointment or questioning over the phone. My pharmacist required my DOB before I can get my meds from them. If I don't provide my DOB, they will turn me away and assumed that I'm a scammer.

Post reply on HN