My mother gave up S’s name, too. The guy called and said “This is your favorite grandson,” and she replied “Consolationson?” She only has one grandson, although she has several great grandsons. He also said he had a bit of a cold. As soon as possible, they switch off the call to another person, so the target doesn’t have time to really wonder about the voice. Crafty, very crafty.
My elderly aunt got the call about her grandson desperately needing money for some reason or another. When her “grandson” asked her to promise that she wouldn’t tell his mom and dad that he had gotten into trouble she said, “I can’t promise that.” They hung up. I think she had no idea it was a scam but she happened to say the right thing.
When I get some of these ridiculous calls on my landline (they are 99% of the calls we get on the landline) if my actor son is around, I let him get on the phone and use one of his dialects to string the person along. :))
I’ve also been known to respond, “Does your mother know that you scam people for a living?” That generally doesn’t sit well…
I try to get rid of them so they wont call back. I told the solar panel person that our house is entirely under the trees.
We tell the PV & solar folks we already have both (which we do). I tend not to engage and let calls go to voice mail; most won’t leave any message. I keep begging my folks NOT to answer unless it’s one of the people they KNOW on the phone, but they answer anyway. One of my relatives also loves to order junk off catalogs and whatever offers come his way. My FIL did that as well. He even got a PO Box, so my SisIL couldn’t toss his precious junk catalogs when he was living in her house.
I told a solar panel person that I live in my car.
I generally don’t answer the phone if I don’t recognize the number. I hang up if i inadvertantly answer (like I was expecting a call from a doctor the other day and didnt know their number so answered and it was some silly nonsense). My husband must be related to the chap above who wrote the book. He finds it very entertaining to keep them on the phone forever and wind them up. His response to the “windows” computer scammers varies but has involved confusing responses about needing new siding and how much per window for installation. They are usually trying to get rid of him in the end. Or he answers the phone crying and saying nobody loves him.
We (well he) have had the IRS call. My son got it as well within the same couple of weeks (he lives 1200 miles away). They were telling him he’d get arrested and his car was going to be repo’d - he told them to just come and try it.
My Dad got taken in by the Nigeria scam years ago - must have been by mail as he has been gone 15 years and never had a computer. We were shocked he got taken in. He was a highly intelligent man. I think it was partly because we lived in Nigeria for several years so it seemed plausible perhaps. Plus he was elderly and vulnerable. I can’t imagine being the sort of person who finds it OK to scam elderly people.
We got our first solar call earlier this evening! No longer solar virgins (can I say that on CC?)
I told him we rent. Actually we tell everyone we rent. The people who come to the door trying to sell us Windows, siding, roofing, whatever. We rent!
My grandma gets calls about her computer all the time, she just tells them that she doesn’t have one and they quickly hang up. Of course she does own a computer, but she’s too savvy to fall for those scammers. I don’t know what she’d do if she got the kidnapping call though, I think that would probably freak out many people.
My mom works in a retirement community at the front desk so scammers call all the time asking to be connected to whoever their target is. A lot of people there have been sucked into a scam unfortunately, but my mom tries her best to block any suspicious sounding callers (some of them are much more subtle than others!).
@snowbunny Bless your mom and her working the front desk. When my dad was in assisted living, the front desk people clued me in to how many stamps the man was buying. He had become involved in the get rich quick stuff that targets the elderly. Luckily he had a huge speech impediment (no phone calls) and he had no credit cards. I had him on a bit of budget and eventually had to take away his check book. Which robbed him of some sense of financial control. Arrrr. That situation drove me nuts. I used to take the scam mail and send back whatever I could stuff in those return envelopes. Their mailings ripped up. Paper trash scraps. Notes that would say “Does your mother know you cheat other people?” and things like that. The heavier I could make it, the better.
Anyway. Thank her for me.
What’s sad to me is how many victims of scams will defend their scammers to the death. I’m sure there are many victims of the Nigerian prince scam who still believe, years later, that the money is on the way. Or, when the scammers get caught, the victims often think everything would have been just fine if the feds hadn’t stepped in and wrecked everything.
Did anyone hear the This American Life episode a few months ago on this theme? It was about a huge lonely hearts scam ring. Even after it was exposed, certain victims still professed undying love for their scammers and still treasured the letters that lured them into sending thousands of dollars to the scam. It is episode #571, The Heart Wants What It Wants. Totally worth a listen.
There’s another This American Life from 2008 about a group of internet vigilantes who scam scammers. They had a particularly successful scam that became legend.
http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/363/transcript
I also like to engage the credit card debt callers by engaging in philosophical conversation about the concept of debt and why would anyone buy anything they couldn’t pay for at the end of the month. It seems a strange concept to me and I have asked several of those callers to explain to me in detail about debt to help “educate me”.
I came across this story today and thought of this thread. Thank goodness this cashier took action!
“Cashier Notices Panicky Woman Is Making A Strange Purchase, Then Realizes She’s Being Scammed”
http://www.littlethings.com/granny-scam/?utm_source=godv&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=news
This should go in the “people are nice” thread!
I was perusing the gift card stand at Walgreens today and noticed a big sign placed on top of the stand stating that the IRS never calls people and does not require payment by gift card, essentially warning prospective purchasers about that particular “IRS scam”.
It is so sad that people prey on kind elders–really so wrong on all levels. What a very kind cashier! I’m glad everything worked out OK for the customer and the place she lives in. So glad the cashier was alert and cared enough to help prevent this awful crime.
My H also keeps the computer scammers on the phone pretending to be giving them access. Right before he hangs up, he usually asks the person how the weather is that day in Bombay.
My oldest son’s former boss, whose first language isn’t English, was taken in by the overdue electric bill scam. My son was off that day and she didn’t tell him until later. He still feels badly that he wasn’t there to take the call.
H and I were once out at dinner with friends and I got an email that my friend was stuck in London and needed money to get home so could all of his friends please wire $20. He’s a big Harry Potter fan so I showed him the text and we had some laughs over his transapparating abilities. I deleted it without responding.
My MIL got a call saying grandson was in jail. She said which one (she has 4), so she passed that hurdle. Then, they said, your favorite one and she said “OH, no, oldest boy!” and they said yes, oldest boy’s name. She recovered and said she needed to speak to him. Some guy got on the phone and MIL said, you don’t sound like him. The guy was good - he started to cry and said, that’s because the police have beaten me, grandmother. Finally, MIL knew it was a scam because none of my kids call her grandmother. She said they should call her back in 5 minutes because she had to call someone to take her to the bank. Then, she called H and demanded to know where oldest boy was. As it happened, H and OB were on a fishing trip together so MIL spoke to my son. The scammers did not call back.
The scary thing about all of these stories is how often the scam is only fortuitously prevented.
I also thought of something. Years ago, my MIL was addicted to sending donations to the televangelists and other charities by mail. I started sending the envelopes back marked “She died.” It took a few months but she finally stopped getting those mailings. She will be 92 on her next birthday.
My oldest son works for USPS. I am going to ask him if there is any type of protocol if they notice on their routes for instance that elderly people seem to be getting a lot of solicitation mail or, worse yet, sending out a lot of mail to those places. It was actually my MIL’s mailman who said something to me about all the junk mail she got and sent. We were living there at the time but she would get the mail while H and I were at work so we didn’t see it.
I asked the last computer guy how to get urine out of a key board. And lots of blood out of the carpet.
My mentally disabled sister got the IRS call. She had no money to give them and was convinced she was going to jail. It was horrible. She did not believe my Mom, myself or the police that ahe was not in trouble. It took several months to calm her down and then they called again
Do these people care at all about the pain they cause? I know they don’t