Scam Alerts

[Stretch 74]

Now I doubt any of you smart folks here would fall for these scams, but you never know, so I thought I would share them with everyone.

The first one was a telephone scam that happened to get through the blocking software. The message was supposedly from Spectrum, and they said my monthly bill had been credited with a 50% discount and if I wanted to continue the offer in future months I needed to call the number they gave me. Immediately suspicious about that, I did search on Spectrum for $50 Spectrum discount (I didn't hear it correctly) and there were several results that were calling it a scam. The one I looked at said that if were to call the number they were just fishing for financial info/ID, like accounts or SSA #'s. Even miss hearing the message at $50 instead of the actual 50% they said was an immediate red flag, as you really can't expect any favors from any cable company.

The next scam was a particularly poor one, IMO. It was an email message (copied and pasted below) that for some reason didn't get shuffled off into the "Spam" folder and hit the Inbox. It was listed as being from Davina Mautner, which immediately was suspicious. Generally once an email like this that hits the preview pane gets deleted immediately, but I thought I would check a couple things for fun.

So here is how poor this effort was:

• Sender listed in the Inbox and the signature at the end of the note don't match
• Info in message is gobbledygook
• No actual company name is provided
• Incorrect grammar/spelling is always a tipoff-"ustomer"? lol
• Nampa is in Idaho, not South Dakota
• No "Wheeler Ridge Drive" comes up in South Dakota
• Zip Code 42066 is in Kentucky

**********************************
Greetings to Respected Client leadership ,

Thank you for deciding on our service #EVCXUJXICQWWE . I hope my assistance today was beneficial to you. We value your time and assistance.

ustomer Code : XJHE8D8CJF3O
Order ID : 11503
Transaction Date : 2024, Jan 26


Yours faithfully,

Sue Nimocks
Wheeler Ridge Dr, Nampa, South Dakota 42066
********************************

As the old Sergeant used to say in Hill Street Blues- "Hey, hey, hey, be careful out there!".

 

[chugspig]

Had a mutual friend, who I consider pretty sharp, get scammed the other day. He received a call from his dad’s cell # (spoofed) on his phone. He answered it and it was two guys yelling for about 10 seconds. So he held on listening and someone picked the phone up and said “I have the phone now, don’t try to call anyone”. It hung up, then called back, and the guy said “I have your dad’s phone and I’m gonna rob his phone, wallet, and car unless you Venmo me money.” Then the dude in the back yelled “pay him, he’s going to rob me for everything”. The second dude was far enough back he couldn’t tell forsure that it wasn’t his dad, but because they maintained a scuffle sounding situation he freaked out and sent him money. He called his dad as soon as the phone hung up and his Dad answered and was confused, just hanging out fine at home.

It obviously seems like a scam when you read it, but the way they carried it out so you couldn’t be sure was perfect to freak the son out.

 

[Coug90]

Had a mutual friend, who I consider pretty sharp, get scammed the other day. He received a call from his dad’s cell # (spoofed) on his phone. He answered it and it was two guys yelling for about 10 seconds. So he held on listening and someone picked the phone up and said “I have the phone now, don’t try to call anyone”. It hung up, then called back, and the guy said “I have your dad’s phone and I’m gonna rob his phone, wallet, and car unless you Venmo me money.” Then the dude in the back yelled “pay him, he’s going to rob me for everything”. The second dude was far enough back he couldn’t tell forsure that it wasn’t his dad, but because they maintained a scuffle sounding situation he freaked out and sent him money. He called his dad as soon as the phone hung up and his Dad answered and was confused, just hanging out fine at home.

It obviously seems like a scam when you read it, but the way they carried it out so you couldn’t be sure was perfect to freak the son out.

Holy shit that’s crazy. I’d 100% send the money in that situation. Never heard of one like that before thanks for the heads up.

 

[Suudy]

Had a mutual friend, who I consider pretty sharp, get scammed the other day. He received a call from his dad’s cell # (spoofed) on his phone. He answered it and it was two guys yelling for about 10 seconds. So he held on listening and someone picked the phone up and said “I have the phone now, don’t try to call anyone”. It hung up, then called back, and the guy said “I have your dad’s phone and I’m gonna rob his phone, wallet, and car unless you Venmo me money.” Then the dude in the back yelled “pay him, he’s going to rob me for everything”. The second dude was far enough back he couldn’t tell forsure that it wasn’t his dad, but because they maintained a scuffle sounding situation he freaked out and sent him money. He called his dad as soon as the phone hung up and his Dad answered and was confused, just hanging out fine at home.

It obviously seems like a scam when you read it, but the way they carried it out so you couldn’t be sure was perfect to freak the son out.

Happened to a buddy of mine, but it was both his parent. The idiots doing the calling spammed his parents home number claiming they had were going to clean his parent’s house out. Little did they know he was house sitting for them while they were on vacation. He told the to F off and hung up. They called back and he ignored it. Then they started texting—from a landline!—and he finally had to his parent own number.

We really need to telecom companies to get on the call authentication (https://www.fcc.gov/call-authentication) bandwagon. The FCC hasn’t been super strict on it is is slow to mandate it.

 

[Stretch 74]

Holy shit that’s crazy. I’d 100% send the money in that situation. Never heard of one like that before thanks for the heads up.

It is likely to get worse as we go along. Have heard of cases where the a-holes use AI to take someone's voice (like get a kids voice from a social media post) and use that to hold the parents for ransom. Apparently the AI can make it virtually indistinguishable from the real person. Yikes!

 

[Flatlandcoug]

We signed up for something that has resulted in me getting about 30 spam Medicare phone calls each day. I've started to answer the questions so I get to a human being so I can ask them how it feels to be a piece of sh!t who works for a f'ing horrible company that deserves to die a horrible death with their head in the toilet. They normally hang up before I get done but it's still refreshing to lay into those f#cknuts. I'm very careful to not say "Yes" when I answer questions though.

 

[95coug]

Happened to a buddy of mine, but it was both his parent. The idiots doing the calling spammed his parents home number claiming they had were going to clean his parent’s house out. Little did they know he was house sitting for them while they were on vacation. He told the to F off and hung up. They called back and he ignored it. Then they started texting—from a landline!—and he finally had to his parent own number.

We really need to telecom companies to get on the call authentication (https://www.fcc.gov/call-authentication) bandwagon. The FCC hasn’t been super strict on it is is slow to mandate it.

We’ve had a rash of them at work - mostly the “you have unpaid parking tickets, a warrant has been issued, and you need to pay.”

Cops didn’t figure they’d ever find the scammers, so didn’t put a lot of time into it…until the scammers started using the names of actual cops. That’s got them much more interested.

 

[Loyal Coug1]

We’ve had a rash of them at work - mostly the “you have unpaid parking tickets, a warrant has been issued, and you need to pay.”

Cops didn’t figure they’d ever find the scammers, so didn’t put a lot of time into it…until the scammers started using the names of actual cops. That’s got them much more interested.

I can do better than all this. Back a few years ago at an unnamed college, the bitchy President was out of the country. Somehow her e-mail got hacked, and someone (supposedly her) demanded that the Finance VP and Controller wire $90K to some seeming conference/hotel venue. They would not at first, but "she" kept badgering them and they finally did it. Total scam. Bye bye $90K, They both got put on leave and were eventually fired/retired/whatever. Worked for me, I got a call for an interim gig as Controller for the biggest salary that I had ever had.

Another one later at a subsequent institution. The President's half senile assistant got her e-mail hacked, and it resulted in this e-mail that I received (as Controller), wanting information about our quarterly dues, about $25K, to a Higher Ed organization. Sorry, it's been a few years, the details are fuzzy. Anyway, the e-mail seemed sketchy, I reached out to our organization, and ascertained that it was scam. Dodged that bullet, but to be truthful I damn near fell for it.

 

[95coug]

I can do better than all this. Back a few years ago at an unnamed college, the bitchy President was out of the country. Somehow her e-mail got hacked, and someone (supposedly her) demanded that the Finance VP and Controller wire $90K to some seeming conference/hotel venue. They would not at first, but "she" kept badgering them and they finally did it. Total scam. Bye bye $90K, They both got put on leave and were eventually fired/retired/whatever. Worked for me, I got a call for an interim gig as Controller for the biggest salary that I had ever had.

Another one later at a subsequent institution. The President's half senile assistant got her e-mail hacked, and it resulted in this e-mail that I received (as Controller), wanting information about our quarterly dues, about $25K, to a Higher Ed organization. Sorry, it's been a few years, the details are fuzzy. Anyway, the e-mail seemed sketchy, I reached out to our organization, and ascertained that it was scam. Dodged that bullet, but to be truthful I damn near fell for it.

I remember hearing about the first one. Can’t recall the details, but I remember thinking that was one that might work a lot of places.

 

[Loyal Coug1]

I remember hearing about the first one. Can’t recall the details, but I remember thinking that was one that might work a lot of places.

Yeah, funny that you heard. I never saw anything public about it. Apparently the bottom line was that the Prez was such a bitch that the VP and Controller kowtowed to who wasn't really her.

I've known a couple of flaming bitches in the work world. But that is for another highly relevant Cougar sports thread!

 

[95coug]

Yeah, funny that you heard. I never saw anything public about it. Apparently the bottom line was that the Prez was such a bitch that the VP and Controller kowtowed to who wasn't really her.

I've known a couple of flaming bitches in the work world. But that is for another highly relevant Cougar sports thread!

I don’t know that it went public, but it got around in certain circles

 

[Stretch 74]

I don’t know that it went public, but it got around in certain circles

A good buddy used to work for a large bank in WA State. I remember him talking about how banks didn't want publicity when they found an employee that was stealing/embezzling from them. They would just quietly fire him/her and not prosecute to keep it quiet, so the general public wouldn't know about it. They wanted the public to think that their money was always completely safe in their bank. Perhaps the university does the same thing?

 

[95coug]

A good buddy used to work for a large bank in WA State. I remember him talking about how banks didn't want publicity when they found an employee that was stealing/embezzling from them. They would just quietly fire him/her and not prosecute to keep it quiet, so the general public wouldn't know about it. They wanted the public to think that their money was always completely safe in their bank. Perhaps the university does the same thing?

I think most large organizations do. Especially the ones whose function hinges on some version of public trust.

 

[Loyal Coug1]

I think most large organizations do. Especially the ones whose function hinges on some version of public trust.

No argument there.

 

[Observer11]

A good buddy used to work for a large bank in WA State. I remember him talking about how banks didn't want publicity when they found an employee that was stealing/embezzling from them. They would just quietly fire him/her and not prosecute to keep it quiet, so the general public wouldn't know about it. They wanted the public to think that their money was always completely safe in their bank. Perhaps the university does the same thing?

I am aware of a bank who fell for an email wire request not initiated by the account holder. $250k to China.

Bank covered it and nothing more was said.

Banks can ill afford a reputation of losing people’s deposits. That trust is the core purpose of banks in the first place. They will do whatever necessary to maintain that appearance.

 

[Loyal Coug1]

I am aware of a bank who fell for an email wire request not initiated by the account holder. $250k to China.

Bank covered it and nothing more was said.

Banks can ill afford a reputation of losing people’s deposits. That trust is the core purpose of banks in the first place. They will do whatever necessary to maintain that appearance.

Geezus.