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View Full Version : A New Scam???



Norman Hitt
05-06-2006, 5:00 AM
For about 3 weeks there have been five to eight calls per week for the LOML from (I think, two different ladies), but she was never here at the time of the calls. :( They always wanted to know when was a good time to catch her home and I told them it varied but to try in the evening, or call her at work, which they refused each time and said they would call later. I asked if they would leave a number or a message, but they declined. :confused: I finally got tired of this nonsense, (when I was in the middle of a glue up):mad: and told one of them to call her on her cell phone which she said she couldn't do. I then told her to either give me a message as to the subject of their call and a phone number where they could be reached or to never call again. After some slight stammering, she said, well, uh, it is in relation to an MBNA credit account she has, and I repeated, GIVE ME A # she can call, so she hesitated for a few seconds until I said I was going to hang up and she gave me an 800 number. I passed this on to my wife and she called the number, but the number was an 800 number to some steel company in Alabama, and she said the ladies in the office there were as confused as she was when she said she was returning their call. They asked everyone in their office, and said no one there had called her and couldn't imagine why someone would have given me their number, (Unless We wanted to buy a load of steel):rolleyes: and they all had a good laugh. (I know I gave the LOML the correct number, because I read it back to the lady after I wrote it down).

The LOML then called MBNA and they checked and said they could find no record of any calls for her and that both her accounts were current and there would be no reason for them to call, and then quizzed the LOML as to whether I might have given that lady ANY personal information about her. I laughed when the LOML told her, hey, I may want to kill him some times, but it's not because he's STUPID!! :rolleyes: (I wuz plumb Proud of her):D

I guess there's always some new scam someone's come up with, but MBNA sure wanted the callers number, but unfortunately, we don't have caller ID, but I guess I'll have to switch one of the other features out for caller ID with this new twist on things.

Has anyone else had a similar occurence?

Brian Hale
05-06-2006, 5:19 AM
Next time try *69 after you hang up. It'll give you the number (in most cases)

Brian :)

Rich Konopka
05-06-2006, 6:07 AM
Was it really a complete stranger on the phone?

How did they know your Mrs. had an MBNA account ?

Tom Stover
05-06-2006, 8:26 AM
Caller I.D. is a good thing. When I get a call I look at caller I.D. and if it says "unavailable" or "blocked" I won't answer it. If its a legetimate call they will usually leave a message, but if its a telemarketer or scam they won't.

Stu Ablett in Tokyo Japan
05-06-2006, 8:34 AM
That is a strange one.

I get calls at home, and it really bugs me, so I hand the phone to my kid who like to talk, and usually the person on the other end gets bored and hangs up :D

Oh, BTW, caller ID is not hard to spoof, in that it will give you a different number than the one that is being used to call......... or so I'm told by my friends who set up cell networks here in Japan.... ;)

Andy Haney
05-06-2006, 8:42 AM
FWIW, the "no call list" alternative seems to have stopped all (well, most of) this stuff for me.

Andy

Norman Hitt
05-07-2006, 3:44 AM
Next time try *69 after you hang up. It'll give you the number (in most cases)

Brian :)

Hey Brian, I had forgotten all about that, thanks for the reminder.


Rich Konopka Quote: Was it really a complete stranger on the phone?

Yep, a complete stranger/strangers/

How did they know your Mrs. had an MBNA account ? I have no idea how they knew thatunless they were just guessing, or maybe I caught her off guard and she just made that up, like she did the false pho number.

Stu Ablett in Tokyo Japan That is a strange one.

I get calls at home, and it really bugs me, so I hand the phone to my kid who like to talk, and usually the person on the other end gets bored and hangs up.
That ought to teach em.:D

Andy Haney FWIW, the "no call list" alternative seems to have stopped all (well, most of) this stuff for me.

Andy, we've been on that list since they first started it, and it seemed to work somewhat for a while, but it hasn't been effective for several months now.

Jim Becker
05-07-2006, 10:20 AM
The Do Not Call listing does not apply to businesses that you have a relationship with. That said, this sounds like a phishing scheme. You did the right thing in reporting it. If they call again, *69 is the way to go and then report that...

Andy Fox
05-08-2006, 1:01 PM
If the potential crook isn't calling from prison, then they most likely have figured out how to block their caller id (*67) info.

*57 will save a call trace which law enforcement can access. Haven't had to do it, so not sure how things work from there.