I got a really weird call yesterday from some place claiming to be the medical center where I was a patient 5 years ago (I go to a new place today). I was a bit suspicious simply because it's been years since I've been a patient there. But there are many plausible legitimate reasons for calling me. However the first thing they did was "verify" me by asking for my date of birth and home address. I was disarmed at first because the lady was clearly American, and sounded bored. But I was still hesitant to give up any information on an incoming call. So I asked for some way for me call them. She gave me a phone number... which was the same one calling me, so I hung up. I looked up the phone number, but it was just a random landline from SC (this was a MA based business). At this point I gave up, and decided if I owed some money they would probably send something in the mail. But it makes me wonder if there's a new class of scammer out there with a bit more sophistication.
I'm a scam prevention expert and I got scammed
281–290 of 562 posts
Re: I'm a scam prevention expert and I got scammed
#282Earlier 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…
Wrong opening hours on Google is a niggle for me. And having been on the other side of the equation, changing the hours Google says a business is open is not always straightforward.
whoa, dude, language
Re: I'm a scam prevention expert and I got scammed
#283Earlier quoted context omitted.
Can you explain what the information leak would be? Also, I think it's not possible for a credit card to end in all zeroes.
There may be inferences you can make from the sum that aren't immediately obvious. If cards can end in four zeros, the sum and the last four digits contain equivalent information, but you would also confirm that three of the digits are zeros if the sum was 1. It's something that, if I were a bank, I would want someone with a background in number theory to weigh in on. If I were a paranoid bank exec, I wouldn't trust…
I understand the perspective of the paranoid bank exec! But if the alternative is that their customers are trained to give out personal information whenever someone calls and says they're from the bank, that's quite possibly worse.
It would be nice if when someone called me from an institution, they gave me a code that I could enter after calling the number on the back of my card. That way I would have confidence I'm talking to the bank and would feel comfortable giving out verification information.
In the past, it has always been a headache to find my way back to the department that called me.
Re: I'm a scam prevention expert and I got scammed
#284There was one time I thought I was being scammed, but it turns out there was an actual issue with my bank account. Sitting at my desk at work, I get a phone call from my bank on by cell phone. "Mr. Anechoic, there appears to be a security issue with your bank account. We can resolve it for you. For security purposes, can you give your checking account number and the last four of you SSN"? This is clearly a scam, righ…
How about this: "Very well. Please repeat to me in writing that if I receive an unverified call claiming to be from Your bank, and asking for my personal details, that I am to give the information and follow all instructions and will not be at fault for damage that might result from this." As they clearly won't do that, at least the moron will lose face, and quickly so.
"We don't issue written statements to customers, please call another department. We have locked your account for the time being."
The kinds of people who do this boring work all day long may not be so receptive to our witty humor.
Re: I'm a scam prevention expert and I got scammed
#285Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think ordering on amazon has become a little like getting your car towed. Towing companies appear to be a large shell game where your $200 tow is handled my one or more middlemen who eventually get some poor independent towtruck driver to tow you for $75 Amazon should do something that would allow partnering with decent brands. Customers would be happy, brands could keep their reputation, amazon could get a reasona…
Tow drivers make a lot of money. They do a lot of subcontracting and mutual aid type arrangements.
Towys in my country are usually connected to some kind of mafia. Never met an altruistic one like like matts offroad recovery in my travels.
Re: I'm a scam prevention expert and I got scammed
#286It gets even weirder when your bank acts like a scammer. A few weeks ago I was trying to help my wife add her USBank credit card to Apple Pay and Apple Pay said I needed to call this number to finish setting up the card. So I call the number and the guy is very friendly and asks me for a bunch of identity verification details, which I provide to him, but then he asks us to send a code back that will be coming over te…
I had a problem with US Bank just trying to open an account with them. They sent me these instructions on how to upload a copy of my ss card through some “secure” Cisco system. The email I get has a different subject line than what the instructions said it would, it has this HTML attachment that doesn’t render right, and it was missing the button they said it would to create some kind of account. I was like wtf and their security department said if I didn’t like it then I had to go into a branch to handle everything.
Went with a local credit union instead
Re: I'm a scam prevention expert and I got scammed
#287What a terrible site to complain about being scammed when you don't even bother to serve over HTTPS!
I know it doesn't matter for reading text, but the look is no bueno.
I really think this detracts from the credibility of a "Security expert".
Re: I'm a scam prevention expert and I got scammed
#288Earlier quoted context omitted.
I bet your Amazon rep just searched for Reolink and clicked on a Google ad that happened to belong to the scammers.
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…
You should have spun up gour own tile business, preferably just dropshipping from the real Jordan’s Tiles!
Re: I'm a scam prevention expert and I got scammed
#289> 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
Oooh, good way to abstract out names from stories! Stolen for my own future use.
Re: I'm a scam prevention expert and I got scammed
#290Nah, phone calls are even worse than SMTP here. Caller ID means nothing. It's like a From header on an email with no DKIM.
It can be set by the caller to anything, if they have access to some trunk from an operator that allows this. It's another trust based thing, with no automated verification.
Trusting caller ID was the initial mistake. Never trust caller ID with your money. It's like trusting sender names in your spam folder mean anything.