I have been getting a lot of “you have won a cruise” calls on my cellphone. I’m often expecting calls from various unfamiliar numbers, so I end up answering these fake calls.
I’ve gotten the “IRS” call many times. While I’m sure it’s a recording (I’ve never answered, but they do leave messages), the last time it sounded like a robot. They couldn’t even record a normal voice!
I’ve also received the “Windows” call. My almost 90 year old mother did too. Thank goodness, her “go to” answer when she’s not sure of what’s going on is “talk to my daughter”. But fortunately, she didn’t give them my number. I told her in the future she should just hang up, that no one except me and my brother would know anything about any problems with her computer.
It’s sad to think that people fall for these things, but they must or else they wouldn’t continue to do them.
My parents don’t have caller ID either and only use the cell phone when traveling so they answer every time.
The scammers are targeting college students as well. Spoofing the university finance office phone number and telling them if they do not wire money immediately (usually directed to go to Walmart) they will be dropped from their classes. They sometimes get a second person on the line impersonating a police officer to threaten arrest for financial aid fraud etc.
I’m getting the “you have won free trip to Bahamas” on my cell phone. I always hang up but I am curious what the exact scam is. Does anyone know what the catch is if you actually follow through with the conversation?
Free trip offers can be a little different. Rather than some rogue offshore criminals, they can be sometimes be a different sort of ruse from a timeshare company. There really is a trip, but it’s not so “free” … and once you get to the destination you are hussled to buy into a timeshare. See: http://scam-detector.com/travel-scams/free-cruise
It’s still a scam,but a lot more sophisticated and harder to prosecute because the victims are in fact getting something of value, just not what they expected.
If it is really Marriott or Westin who are sending you the info, the deals are good. We used these offers to stay in HI for a fraction of what it would normally cost. The mandatory 90-min sales pitch is not an issue for us, because we have no problems with saying “no.”
That said, I would never accept such an offer via the phone. Only by mail and then contacting them through the verified website or phone number.
My mother told me that she has had two calls from IRS scammers. I was a little surprised that she even answered the call because she normally doesn’t if she doesn’t recognize the number. She went to the police station to report it ( a little feisty for her 
)
They told her to just ignore the number and not to answer unknown numbers.
Our home phone is turned off because of all of the annoying calls. If I don’t recognize the number , I just don’t answer. If it’s a legit call, they will leave a vm.
There are too many scams going around. I hear the latest one is on facebook where you like and share an offer for a chance to win something like a $500 gift card or free plane tickets. If you see anything that says like and share for a chance to win something there is a good chance it is a scam.
Just thought to mention it though it isn’t an IRS phone call scam.
Wow, robocalls! I am impressed. Almost as good as scam/spam email, which costs zero and you can send out thousands, so even with a very low hit ratio you can make lots of money. I heard about the IRS scam, but I didn’t realize they were using robocalls. You self select the suckers! (those who call back) and you don’t waste hours on the phone trying to convince a mark who ends up hanging up on you.