[OP]
Contributor
i Got a call saying my paypal was charged for $399.99 and was given a number to call if I hadn't made that charge. I hadn't but I didn't call the number they gave me. I looked up Paypal and called them directly and there was no charge for that amount. I also called my credit card company, and they didn't have a charge for that amount either. I guess it was a scam but I'm wondering how it would have worked if I did call them back?
Dennis
Contributor
They probably would have needed your account number to credit back the $399.99, or needed your social security number to access your account. Paypal is an online company at heart. Paypal would probably send you an email or text before they called you. Paypal might very well ask you to log into your account to see your message.
Contributor
I constantly get calls in the morning supposedly from my credit card company. They leave a message that there is a $300.00 charge from Amazon and a $1200.00 charge from another company. It's been going on for months.... same message every time.
Contributor
We had a similar call yesterday only it was from Amazon. $1279.99 charge on my credit card listed in my Amazon account. Checked online both my Amazon account and credit card account and found nothing. Googled the phone number that the recording said to call and it was some medical insurance company.
"Don't worry. They couldn't possibly hit us from that dist...."
Contributor
My tactic, until recently, was to answer the phone and say hello. Many of the scam callers have a system that has a pause before their system connects. I would wait for the person on the other end to say hello and hang up.
Lately it was discovered most telemarketers who call my number will disconnect after the third ring without leaving a message. My thought is they do not want to leave a message.
Since they have no honor and call sometimes before 6:00am we have turned all but one ringer on our phones off. The remaining one is turned low enough that it doesn't usually wake us.
These mutton heads make telephones almost useless.
jtk
"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
- Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)
Contributor
Unless we are up late like last night, I get up at 0600 while my wife likes to sleep in until 1100 or later thus, after I get up, I take the home phone off the hook until 1100. It rings busy until I put it back on the hook.
Ken
So much to learn, so little time.....
Member
Unfortunately, I do get calls every few months from my credit card company asking if I or Mrs. made a charge at such and such. Somehow an old credit card number for us is floating around and stupid people attempt to use the number. The last was a 22 yr old trying to buy $140 worth of baby stuff at the mall. The police station is across the street and she was picked up while i was on the phone with the credit card company and the store. The officer called and asked if I wanted to press charges. Sure. Happened four more times. The number has been expired since 2014.
This. Always. Do not reply to suspicious emails, calls, texts, etc. If you want to know what's going on extract yourself from the thread, call, text thing you are on and use a side channel to check with the actual company. Well done!Originally Posted by dennis thompson
"A hen is only an egg's way of making another egg".
– Samuel Butler
Contributor
Had the same issue over an Amazon charge. He wanted me to log on to amazon .com and then go to another link. I asked him to send me an email on it and he hung up...
Funny, I don't remember being absent minded...
Member
I get so many scam calls at my office it is difficult to get any real work done. My favorite is the "power utility is going to disconnect the power for non payment". This is most likely to be followed up by a request to buy a gift debit card for whatever amount they want. I put them on speaker and mess with them to waste their time while I keep working. After I waste enough time I explain that I live off the grid and only have solar power but I don't want them to turn off the sun. Click!
Member
I have had similar calls usually for a credit card purchase. Ignore them as paypal will never phone you. its a scam and by calling them it confirms to them that areal person is at that number.
Contributor
My wife attended a talk given by a man who is in the business of computer/phone security. One point he made loud and clear is that everytime you answer a scam call, someone is keeping track that you have a legitimate phone, and the time that you answered. Future scammers use that info to target you at times you are likely to answer. So, while you might try to be clever and mess with the scammers, you are also giving information about your availability and willingness to answer unkown numbers, encourging more calls.
On a side note, he said card readers at gas pumps are way more common than people think. Any time a card reader seems even slightly larger than the others at other pumps they are most likely nefarious card reading devices. They ususally put them at the pumps farthest from view of the clerks in the store and they only take a few minutes to install.
Moderator
I don’t get calls like that (maybe because I never answer the phone) but I do get emails like that about big charges. They all go to spam. I regularly monitor my accounts and have never seen an unauthorized charge.
Member
I got a call saying that I bought some Apple stuff and wanted to know if this was the case I just said yes that is right and they got upset and hung up
Contributor
There has been a warning going around that you should never say "yes" to these scammers because they can use a recording of that and make it appear that you agreed to whatever they want you to agree to. They may have hung up because they got what they needed.... you saying "yes"
Last edited by Barry McFadden; 02-26-2022 at 9:58 AM.
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