*Warning* scam phone calls claiming to be from Amazon

JamoLew

Some of these scam calls are getting quite sophisticated now.

There is one currently doing the rounds (in the US) where the scammers use Goggle and social media to target people in the 75+ bracket and claim to be a lawyer representing a named grandchild arrested for x,y or z and pressuring a transfer of money for bail otherwise the relative will be locked up

Another very good reason to keep your personal details protected online

tempus_fugit

JamoLew said:

Some of these scam calls are getting quite sophisticated now.

There is one currently doing the rounds (in the US) where the scammers use Goggle and social media to target people in the 75+ bracket and claim to be a lawyer representing a named grandchild arrested for x,y or z and pressuring a transfer of money for bail otherwise the relative will be locked up

Another very good reason to keep your personal details protected online

Doesn't sound very "sophisticated" to me, it sounds very obviously a scam.

JamoLew

Having someone phone you up - ask you by name and have details of a grandchild (name,age,location) etc is a damn sight more sophisticated that a dial robot that just dials 1000's an hour and that relies on a tiny % hit ratio

Any salesman will tell you that getting their foot in the door is the biggest hurdle they face -- someone on the phone with personal details and a dialogue of some made up emergency is MUCH more likely to get the foot in the door

These scammers know they won't hook everyone and don't expect to

I'm glad that you can see that it's obviously a scam and hope you never get caught by one, but many many people do get caught up in these

pogofish

MothballsWallet said:

Maybe it's time to send in the SAS to find these call centres and drag everyone there to The Hague, and then repeat that with the Indian police and government officials allowing it to happen.

A simpler way still would be to get the government to stop the UK telecoms companies from enabling these scams by selling large blocks of overseas call time to the scammers for an absolute pittance - If they were paying the same rates as the rest of us for calling over that distance, the the scams would very rapidly become uneconomic!

tempus_fugit

JamoLew said:

Having someone phone you up - ask you by name and have details of a grandchild (name,age,location) etc is a damn sight more sophisticated that a dial robot that just dials 1000's an hour and that relies on a tiny % hit ratio

Any salesman will tell you that getting their foot in the door is the biggest hurdle they face -- someone on the phone with personal details and a dialogue of some made up emergency is MUCH more likely to get the foot in the door

These scammers know they won't hook everyone and don't expect to

I'm glad that you can see that it's obviously a scam and hope you never get caught by one, but many many people do get caught up in these

No, it's not "sophisticated". These people get these "personal details" from stuff that people post publicly on social media etc. It's been know for a long time that them knowing these details does not legitimise them at all, so they shouldn't be getting their "foot in the door" at all. There are indeed "sophisticated" scams out there, but this example is not one of them.

JamoLew

Each to their own, but for a victim who falls for the old "we are phoning about you Amazon Account/Accident you had etc etc" which is what this thread is about - then this iteration is most definitely more sophisticated.

Feel free to give examples of your opinion of what is a sophisticated scam ?

I wasn't implying that the scam is sophisticated, just that it is more sophisticated than the blind phone call with no personal info/details at all

silverwhistle

JamoLew said:

There is one currently doing the rounds (in the US) where the scammers use Goggle and social media to target people in the 75+ bracket and claim to be a lawyer representing a named grandchild arrested for x,y or z and pressuring a transfer of money for bail otherwise the relative will be locked up

"Jolly good, they bl**dy deserve it.." :-)

My general principal is that if there is a pause or the voice is recorded I put the phone down, or if I don't recognise the number don't answer. The other day I didn't answer a security call from an electrical wholesaler I'd bought from, but luckily I checked online and discovered it was legitimate.. But as a general rule it works. 

dinglebert

givememoney said:

Uptown_Boy said:

givememoney said:

We block the calls but still get more, is there a way to stop getting them?

Get a handset(s) with Truecall technology (e.g. BT have their own version called Call Guardian). This means numbers not in the VIP list / Contacts list are presented with a requirement to "announce" the call, whereby you can decide whether or not to take it (or it bounces to voicemail if you don't respond at all). In the majority of cases the scammers simply hang up and go on to their next "victim" on their list.

Thank you will look into this

On my third variation of these.  Stopped cold calls dead the moment we switched them on.

AlexMac

This thread is amusing enough to resurrect (well, before you say, I should get out more... I can't; Boris banned it) so here goes.

My wife reminds me that (as regrds the calls from UK-based humans at least) I should be gentle, as the callers (often nicely spoken young women) must be really desperate for a job to take on ringing rude starngers on a zero hours contract; probably on their own home phones or mobiles... So I've stopped playing games... 

But before I did, I used to wind up the" accident that weren't your fault" callers.   I admitted to one young chap from India that I had been involved in an accident, that I had lost a limb, and that I was now desperate for representation.  So convincingly that I got escalated through two tiers of managemnt.  When #3 rang back I got bored and to end it, I said "wonderful; I'm so grateful  Thanks to your intervention my leg has grown back!  Where do I send the cheque?"   He seemed genuinely nonplussed.  Maybe irony wasn't included in his scripted training?

illiad

remember to never believe unknown people who phone or email..

A good investment would be a 'call barring phone' - Panasonic does a very nice DECT phone (if you buy the 'multi-pack' you can use it as an intercom! )  You can set it so that it will only ring for people on the phonebook, otherwise it goes to voicemail.. Of course, you need CLI so it can work.. then if you want you can 'bar' a number so that they will only get an engaged tone!