October 1, 2015

  • Robo-Call

    The robo-callers are getting bolder!  I just had a robo-call -- identifiable as such by the delay at the other end -- with the following conversation:
    Caller:        Yeah, hi, Grandma Janet
    Me:            Excuse me?
    Caller:        It's your grandson!
    Me:            I don't have a grandson -- good bye!
    This was apparently a new version of a known scam, where the grandson would be somewhere else and in trouble, calling to ask that money be forwarded.  I think I got the better of that one!

Comments (16)

  • Whoa! The scammers have gone high tech if they are using robo-calls! I've started getting calls on my cell phone. We dropped the land line because we got so many solicitation calls - everything from selling siding to making pledges to send disadvantaged youth to the circus. Now we are getting the same on the cells! You just can't win.

    • I'm afraid it's become ubiquitous! There are so many scams that it's sometimes hard to spot them -- but not this time!

  • Good for you! Your "grandson" from India or Nigeria will keep trying, until a fish takes the bait, but it won't be in your pond!

    • Haha -- I think this guy was Hispanic, and he called from an LA phone number! I'm pretty good at spotting robo-calls now, and I'm not very polite with them, sometimes just hanging up, and sometimes cutting them off quickly. Hopefully I'll spot them all!

  • Yeah, that one wouldn't work with me, either.

  • We've had the "grandma" one here off and on for several months. The sheriff's department has asked us to *69 when we hang up and then call them and give them the number that shows up. I just did that again the other day and it was a different number from the last time.

    • It's an old scam, but usually not on a robo-call! I have caller id, but this came through as a "private caller", and the number won't show up.

  • I really watch what calls I answer. If I don't recognize the number I don't answer. I hate the tele-jokers. :)

    • I grew up in a doctor's family, and was trained to answer ALL calls. I don't give out any information how old my home is, what projects I'll be working on, etc.

  • scary stuff ~ :(

    • I basically don't talk with people I don't know or didn't call. This was the first robo-called scam that I've had!

  • That's the first of its kind I think. What a shame that people want to take advantage of others, and THINK that anyone over the age of sixty is brainless. Not that they know how old we are!

    • It was the first for me! My aunt lost a lot of money to this scam, but it was amusing to me that it was tried on me, with no grandchildren! The phone was an LA pnone, and I thought the accent was Hispanic!

  • They called me during lunch one day to say they were from the IRS and had filed an arrest warrant which could be rescinded if I immediately paid the $5,000 or so tax I had underpaid willfully and with intent. I let them talk for a few minutes, then hung up.
    Glad you didn't get taken.

    • Good to hear from you, Dan -- that's another well-known scam -- I don't let them waste my time!

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