Haven't seen this scam before

[5thDragoons]

I've recently been getting email about an "ACH Payment for you - document attached!" The big tip off is the return address is some obscure email and a different name each time. Like they REALLY want me to open it. Ha! I'm not touching that one! So I block the sender, and it soon returns from a different sender with a different email address - same ACH payment doc I'll never open.

Nigerian princess scams are so last month - time for a new one! SW

[Allen]

Like most of us I have caller ID. A few years ago when I was receiving so many telemarketing and robo calls I got some calls from MY number. I don't see that any more but I thought if someone can enter my own number into my caller ID most anything can be hacked.

Now, when I get emails even from banks I do business with I don't respond to them even though the sender email address looks to be correct (as in FROM that bank). I remember the hacked phone calls and figure THIS might be just one more thing that can be hacked or faked in order to get personal info.

In short, I don't respond to any of it. If I feel my bank needs to contact me I contact THEM instead.

[Johnny P]

The scammers have a console where they can enter any telephone number they want which will show up on your caller ID. I too have received calls from my own land line, and in our small town the last four digits of the phone number don't go up to 5000, and receive calls above the 5000 number. Most use the same area code I am in, and will occasionally use a number in a town near me. I tell them I am ony about 15 minutes away, and will just run by and see what they have to offer. CLICK!

If I am busy I just tell them to F-off and get a real job.

[barretcreek]

Rack a Model 97 when you do that.

Every banker/investment rep/finance type I have ever told I do not do any financial stuff online has agreed with me.

[Johnny P]

Mujibar probably doesn't know what a Model 97 is.

There was a post on U Tube where some guys hacked into the scammers closed circuit TV. It drove the scammers up the wall until they figured out what was going on and turned off their CCTV.

[Mark in Ottawa]

Not a scam but pretty frightening all the same. We have been having problems with our burglar alarm system. I called the provider and a technician told me that he was sending a link to my cell phone and asked me to press the link. When I did that, he was able to see what the camera on my phone was showing. He asked me to point it at the alarm keypad and walked me through the necessary remedial steps. All perfectly legitimate in this case but the idea that an outsider can control your phone's camera is pretty scary. Big Brother is really here. By the way, the technician was located over 1,000 miles from me.

In a similar vein, last year I got an e-mail informing me that some hackers had taken control of the camera on my computer, had taken personal videos of me and wanted a ransom to destroy the videos. This was clearly an international scam since one of the addresses was from France and the other was from some other, now forgotten country. The interesting thing was that the subject line that they used in the email was the password that I used for unimportant websites. Obviously I should have been more suspicious and simply deleted without opening but I was curious. My solution was to change all my passwords and make sure that the camera lens was covered unless it was being used

[dryheat]

When I get scam emails I used to click to report it. I don't even do that anymore, just delete. Here is one I got just this morning. It looks pretty good(I'm not showing the whole post) but first; I am not expecting a package from fex and secondly the more you read the more you realize it's junk.

-Please kindly be informed that your shipment with the below-mentioned tracking number
requires further information for Costums clearance purposes.
Please refer to the attachment for details.-

What is the flaw in this paragraph that is a tip off? Besides the fact that I'm not expecting a shipment from any foreign countries right now. But sometimes I am.

I immediately sent this email to Trash because I knew it was BS without even opening it. I hope re-opening now for this post doesn't encourage them.
Another point; at the bottom you can Unsubscribe if you like. Don't try that, it never works and again now they know you have read it. I have gotten a couple from fex and one from chase that concerned me enough that I visited my branch to double check. They told me I wasn't the only one to visit that day about it.

[Allen]

Big Brother is really here.

Yes he is. Through our computer cameras (as noted), our emails, smart TV's and all phone calls (line and cell). Phone calls are all recorded and stored. In many cases during a criminal investigation previous phone calls can be retrieved for evidence. How long these calls stay stored, I don't know.

My TV's are dumb, not smart, and have no cord connecting them to the internet. My computer is not a laptop and has no camera.

1984 is here and we're paying and helping for the spying.

[Allen]

What is the flaw in this paragraph that is a tip off? Besides the fact that I'm not expecting a shipment from any foreign countries right now.

When you get an email from FedEx, UPS, USPS, Home Depot, etc...... stating they are holding your package and can't deliver till you provide additional info look at their email address.

FedEx should look something like FedEX@fedex.com or so NOT FedEX@sallyloveskittens@gmail.com.

I don't respond to any of them even if I'm expecting a delivery. They always have all the info they need. If, after time, a package isn't delivered I will contact THEM or the sender. So far that hasn't had to happen.

[Allen]

On a side note:

Is the government pushing for paperless money so all transactions can be tracked? Any time, any thing purchased using a CC can be traced.

The Post Office just announced that the cost of a stamp would go up to .66. After robbing the USPS retirement funds for the past 30 years is the government trying to force the USPS out of the letter business and force everyone to use emails, twitter and Facebook? All of which can be tracked and stored.

https://www.linns.com/news/us-stamps-postal-history/congress-raid-usps-coffers-30-years.html

[dryheat]

- they can't spell Customs-

[Johnny P]

I wondered what the Direct TV scam was, and found it on the internet.

"The DirecTV Scam is an advanced, complex scam that has been going around in the United States. Scammers send deceptive SMS texts to AT&T subscribers to advertise a non-existent AT&T deal. Victims who want to get on the good deal give up their account details unknowinly to a fake agent, and makes payment to the agent over the phone via gift cards."

[Dragonsdad]

Mention of gift cards should set off the warning lights.

I kind of miss messing with the Amazon scammers.
The idea was to see how long I could string them along before they'd hang up on me. I'm afraid I blew it when I finally blurted out "That's ******** (self edit) and you're a scammer". 'click'

I haven't heard from them since.
If I'd intended to make them stop calling I'd be proud of myself.
Truth is, I thought they'd never stop and I was starting to have fun with it.

[Allen]

Mention of gift cards should set off the warning lights.

I kind of miss messing with the Amazon scammers.
The idea was to see how long I could string them along before they'd hang up on me. I'm afraid I blew it when I finally blurted out "That's ******** (self edit) and you're a scammer". 'click'

I haven't heard from them since.
If I'd intended to make them stop calling I'd be proud of myself.
Truth is, I thought they'd never stop and I was starting to have fun with it.

I used to have a co-worker that liked to do that. He would edge them on as long as possible, then say "That sounds good to me, let me go get my CC", then never return or he would say (after a lengthy conversation), "you know, I think I've changed my mind".

I always wanted to blast an air horn into the phone as soon as I found they were telemarketers but didn't because it would upset the others in my home. Now days you usually don't get the chance---it's all recorded messages with no human on the other end.

[Dragonsdad]

Co-worker of mine used to start yelling obscenities into the phone.
While understandable, seemed like a good way to get on even more call lists. Turns out, our numbers get sold as part of a package. Even if I just let the answering machine deal with it, that doesn't slow down the autodialers. There is no honor among thieves, only sales. Live / known good, numbers sell for one rate. Untested numbers go for slightly less. If they can couple an address or other information to said number, that's another price rate. I'm sure some numbers get tossed into the pile to pad out the package simply because it can be done.

To really get the caller's attention, convince them you're currently being scammed by somebody else and you thought it was the other outfit calling. I enjoyed thanking them for confirming my purchase and trying to get the caller to sell me two more of whatever it was while they're still in stock, telling the caller that a company rep should be able to do that. Some scammers would just ignore my request and carry on with their script, some hung up at that point.

Always... always, I'd get a call on the same or the very next day. That's why I was surprised when the Amazon scammers stopped calling. Evidently, someone took the trouble to delete my number from whatever list they were using, probably not because I swore at them. More than likely it was because I called him out as a liar.

I may never know for sure.
Like I said, they quit calling.