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Watch Out for Bogus Phone and Online Surveys
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Scams & Fraud
Watch Out for Bogus Phone and Online Surveys
<font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif" size="1"><div>Learn what are the lastest list of scams and how you can prevent your identity from being stolen. Protect yourself from scams, whether they be phone scams, online scams or in-person. </div></font>
There are three new types of survey subterfuge out there, both over the phone and online. (See our article, " A Survey Con Can Cost You Big .") In one, a caller offers to install free software on your
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Cat:827966ee-6d39-4ef7-98a5-0157a43092f8Forum:b90a5c24-5453-42fa-b1f5-851b8a98e4aaDiscussion:4310e045-57a0-4083-87dc-5c03024abb49
Forums » Money » Scams & Fraud » Watch Out for Bogus Phone and Online Surveys
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Re: Watch Out for Bogus Phone and Online Surveys
posted at December 18, 2011 12:48 AM EST
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Posts: 1
First: December 18, 2011 Last: December 18, 2011 |
Yes this is true, there are soo many scammers and hackers out there, I usually ignore them or hang up. But my system was hacked and I had to change my password also, it was a lot of time consumed doing this, but it was worth it because the hackers were sending out such horrible information under my name. I just wish something more could be done about this. Computers are nice but you can loose everything by stroking one wrong key. Be careful everyone |
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Re: Watch Out for Bogus Phone and Online Surveys
posted at December 18, 2011 1:19 PM EST
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Posts: 2
First: July 12, 2011 Last: December 18, 2011 |
I am getting emails and phone calls saying I can get garnts to return to school. Have done what they say to stop these calls (unsubscribe). Am only wasting my phone minutes. They are costing me money. |
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Re: Watch Out for Bogus Phone and Online Surveys
posted at December 18, 2011 6:54 PM EST
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Posts: 2
First: December 18, 2011 Last: December 21, 2011 |
Keep your phone private by answering only calls from folks you know. Delete, rather than answer numbers you do not recognize or include in your circle of friends. Made that mistake; picked up a number I did not know and have been spammed since which of course convinced me to drop my pay as you go cell and opt for a new carrier and new number. Trust no one and confirm your recorded caller actually called you via eMail before you respond. |
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Re: Watch Out for Bogus Phone and Online Surveys
posted at December 19, 2011 12:01 PM EST
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Posts: 1
First: December 19, 2011 Last: December 19, 2011 |
Also, beware of quizes on the right side of a Facebook page like 'You think you know about the Beatles? Win an iPad". I fell for that one. Answered five easy questions, well, easy for someone as old as me, and WON! Won a pack of trouble. First they ask for a cell phone number-that's where I should have been leary. Immediatly I started getting text messages, five or six within the span of three minutes. "Three 'opportunitys' a month to bid on stuff only $9.99" with instuctions to text back STOP to cancel. Well I don't text and the messages were coming in too fast to answer them all anyway! The next morning, this happened at 11:00 PM, I called T-Mobile [by the way their computer voice is a real pain, kept telling me to turn my phone off and on and the problem would go away] and found that $19.98 had been added to my bill. T-Mobile took the charge off in the form of a credit. I had all text messages from anybody blocked from my phone right then and there. A couple of weeks later I got another text, despite the 'blocking', same sort of message but 'from' a different sender supposedly. I did not text back, outgoing texts are 'blocked' too. Called the next morning [told computer voice that 'yes' I'd tried the off/on trick] and sure enough $9.99 had been added to my bill. T-Mobile removed it, haven't seen that bill yet though. As the calls come in late at night when my phone is usually on charger and not in my pocket I wouldn't know until the next morning usually I figure they just program your number into a computer and it tries to get you every so often. |
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Re: Watch Out for Bogus Phone and Online Surveys
posted at December 19, 2011 2:13 PM EST
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Posts: 1
First: December 19, 2011 Last: December 19, 2011 |
In Response to Re: Watch Out for Bogus Phone and Online Surveys: The latest one I've had is a phone call saying they can lower my credit card interest rate. They don't know what credit cards I have and they don't know that I don't carry a balance. I have asked them to remove my name from their call list to no avail. I am also on the government no-call list for all the good that does. Posted by webb22851 I hear from these people on an average of 1x per week or every other week. With some calls, there is an option to remove yourself from their calling list but it hasn't worked. So I'll wait to speak to a representative. Once they are on the phone, I ask them the name of the company they are calling from. Then I ask for their phone #. (these 2 items you need in order to turn them over to the "Do Not Call" agency so they can persue penalties and action to investigate further). Every time I ask for a phone #, they hang up on me. The last 2 times I've just come right out at first opportunity and told them I'm on the "Do Not Call" list. One person immediately hung up and the last person was the straw that broke the camel's back. She said "If you were on a DNC list, we wouldn't be calling you." I told her that every week they call me, I tell them and they don't remove me, they just keep calling. She said, " well, then you aren't on it." I said, "Do you hear what I'm telling you? I don't WANT you to call here anymore - even if I wasn't on a DNC list!!" She came back at me "Do YOU hear what I'm telling you..." With that I hung up on her. Holy beetle juice! They have called once since then so I do not expect it to stop anytime soon. I did contact the local telephone company. Use to be that you could report phone calls like these and the phone company would do the prosecuting. That's all changed. I don't think they want to spend the money and the personnel to monitor a phone # for abusive calls. Good luck! |
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Re: Watch Out for Bank (BOGUS) requests for information
posted at December 19, 2011 3:13 PM EST
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Posts: 1
First: December 19, 2011 Last: December 19, 2011 |
Received E-mail yesterday (These frauds pick week-ends especially for their approaches) - A request supposedly from JPMorgan-Chase arrived saying that there was some discrepancy in my account numbers and to fill in requested info in order for them to straighten out the matter. They were phonies. BEWARE. I phoned Chase, then sent them the copy of the e-mail received. Hopefully they can track them down before they cheat people.
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Re: Watch Out for Bogus Phone and Online Surveys
posted at December 19, 2011 3:31 PM EST
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Posts: 4
First: August 1, 2011 Last: December 19, 2011 |
This is not illeagal, but it sure turns off the scammers who want information like address and phone, and they say they will call you back for some reason. I give them this information: Resident 935 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, D.C. 20535-0001 (202) 324-3000 Now for those of you who don't recognize this information, it is the address and phone number of the FBI, who I am sure would love to speak with any of the scammers out there. And for those scammers attempting to sell some sort of security, use this address to have them mail information to: OIG 100 F Street, NE Washington, DC 20549 (202) 942-8088 This is the address of the Securities Exchange Commission, Office of Inspector General; they like to know about people selling securities without a license. I have also looked up, and have a list of the local branches of the above agencies, which tends to throw the criminals off a bit. And to give a little help to one agency we all love, the IRS never uses the internet or email to make a contact with an individual for any reason. Just a little help on trying to keep the scammers at bay. |
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Re: Watch Out for Bogus Phone and Online Surveys
posted at December 19, 2011 5:57 PM EST
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Posts: 4
First: August 1, 2011 Last: December 19, 2011 |
Okay, I think my first post about this got lost; so I shall try again. I have had a number of calls and emails regarging many of the same deals, save money, reduce credit, you won, all of those and more. So when the scammer wants just my address and phone number, this is waht I give them, and it seems to end my problem with them: Agent 935 Pennsylvania Ave, NW Washington, DC 20535 This is the address for the headquarters of the FBI, if you are unfamiliar with their mailing address. If the scammer is attempting to sell some sort of securities, or other financial instrument, this is a good address: OIG 100 F Street, NE Washington, DC 20549 (202) 942-8088 It belongs to the Office Inspector General, Securities and Exchange Commission. I also have a list of the local branch offices of these, and the Secret Service (they do funny money and wire fraud investigation; the local address stumps the scammers, so just adds to my fun. Remember, these guys have lists they compile and they circulate the lists to their friends (scammers), so once you get on one list you end up on everyone elses. One last note, our good friends over at the IRS do not make official contact via email, the internet, or call you with any type of question, they contact you first via first class mail, and have you call them or use snail-mail, or whatever is in their letter to you. There was a scam a couple of years ago where you received an email from a scammer 'IRS', wanted to veryify where to send the refund check, asking for bank account info, name address, etc, just use link in email; did not connect to real IRS, and your info was used to clean out bank accounts, and your SS# was sold over internet scammers. So, yes, be very weary of anyone asking for most any type of info. I even have one credit card with a very low limit that I use for internet purchases, and not tied to bank account; if someone gets the number, they won't get much. |
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Re: Watch Out for Phishing attempts and Email scams
posted at December 19, 2011 6:15 PM EST
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Posts: 2
First: December 19, 2011 Last: February 4, 2012 |
I read an article about the prevalence of online scams and would like to offer this advice about dealing with them. I recieve several phishing and other attempts by Email every week. So I have entered the fraud enforcement site of the Bank of America and the Chase Bank. into my address book. (They are: abuse@bankofamerica.com & abuse@chase.com ). I am very careful to not open or click on any links...I just hit "forward" and add a note asking them to look at the scam and forward the scam message to them. They always reply, thanking me and telling me that they will take care of it. Scams can be forwarded to most financial institutions and brokerages for investigation, too...if you take the time to find their fraud addresses. I seldom get a scam from the same source, again..after reporting them. |
Forums » Money » Scams & Fraud » Watch Out for Bogus Phone and Online Surveys
