So yes att has it and I turned it in. It sent a message to all the phones so I texted the kids to let them know it was me. Forgot it’s 3 am where they are 
Is this putting iPhone on Loxkdown mode?
Hi! I took the advice to turn this off at Verizon. I was telling my H about it, and his question was, if a person got enough information to get into your account to switch the SIM, couldn’t they also get into it to turn off Number Lock?
I would like to think there’s a barrier to that, but wondering if anyone knows. Thanks.
Certainly a fair question to ask Verizon, or any carrier that offers this protection. If they actually have your account login for Verizon, then yes they could go into the account and turn off Number Lock. If they only have personal information to impersonate you to the carrier to switch the number to a new phone, then number lock should help (in theory). My understanding is with Verizon that you can’t set up your number on a new phone without turning off number lock. Something to be aware of when you upgrade your phone.
But just like everything else, nothing is fool proof, and I’m sure there are ways around the number lock feature.
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On a different note, companies do seem to be taking safeguards against impersonators, stolen passwords, and etc. The two factor authentication for some of my accounts now require an authentication app, which cycles through codes every 60 seconds or so. I can no longer set up two factor authentication with a text to my cell for those accounts.
The other week I had to call my kids 529 company to make an adjustment. I had the account numbers written down, but that wasn’t enough to get past their security questions. They asked specific questions about the account balance on my last statement, the last transaction with amount and who it was sent to, and security questions. Since I only had the account numbers in front of me ( I was at work) I couldn’t make the adjustments I needed during that call. I had to gather the information they required and then called back another day.
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It was called wireless lockdown mode or something like that
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This is, I guess, scam-adjacent and me not being detail oriented.
I needed to call Independence Blue Cross, my health insurer. So I looked at the number on the back of my card (in 8 point font) and dialed 1-800-xxx-xxxx.
I got stuck in a recording of “before we take your call, press one to receive an absolutely free safety device…”. I kept trying to press 0 to get to a rep and then finally realized, the IBX number was 1-844, not 1-800.
I just absentmindedly dialed 800 since that is how most toll-free numbers are. Some scam company knew what it was doing by buying a number so close to IBX. I feel sorry for seniors who think their insurer is offering them some free device.
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AARP has created an incredible search engine to see the types of scams that are in your area - I put in my zip code, and changed the dates from Aug 1 to today as well as the radius to 10 miles and was blown away. 42 known (reported) scams. Very useful tool.
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I got a USPS email yesterday that I really thought was a scam. But the email address checked out and it looked just like others I’ve received. It said that “Your item has been delivered and is available at a PO Box…” ?!? We don’t have a PO box.
So I copied the tracking number (NOT the link) and went to the USPS tracking page. When I pasted the number in, it came up as legitimate. Our post office is so understaffed that they’re not answering the phone anymore, so I guess I’ll have to go in.
DH got an email today, with a link to a Docusign site for a “MLH & DH Company Financial Statement.” Weird email address. So I know it’s a scam, but it’s always unnerving when they use the correct company name.
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We’ve had our credit frozen since 2017, for all three credit agencies. Ain’t nobody opening up something in our name without our knowing. But we’re not looking to buy real estate, open new credit cards, or take out any loans.
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Same. When I just bought my new car, I paid cash. The dealer wanted to run my credit. I refused to allow it. They asked me to unlock my accounts and I told them it could only be done on my home computer as the passwords were not memorizable. Not true, but that was how I got them to FINALLY leave me alone. 2 weeks later I got a letter in the mail from the dealer telling me sorry, but we can’t offer you credit on a car. It turns out they tried to run it regardless! AND I only provided the last 4 of my social. Jerks!
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There are additional places where it can be advisable to freeze your credit reports. These include ChexSystems so people don’t open bank accounts in your name. See https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Credit_freeze
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@JustaMom : They’re desperate to have you finance the car. They make very little money on the sale of a car; they make a lot of money on the financing. They were probably hoping they could show you how little it would cost per month, in order to sway your decision.
Thanks, @mikemac .
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We got 0% financing at our Ford dealership, just last summer. We thought, what the heck, take four years to pay it off with no interest.
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We have had all our accounts and my folks accounts frozen for maybe a decade or longer. It’s rarely been an issue when we have needed to unfreeze temporarily for ANY reason and then it was only an hour or so.
You guys!!! I almost got scammed!
My friend Jenn posted on Facebook that she was trying to sell a car for her friend who just lost his wife. That seemed in character for her, so I believed it. The price was too good to be true (sigh, why didn’t I realize that?!), so I texted my daughter to see if she was interested. I texted “Jenn” a few times. I thought her messages were a little terse, but I just figured she was busy.
Fortunately, my daughter declined. This morning, I wrote my friend to see if she’d been able to sell the car, and this is what she replied:
“My FB account was hacked and I have been stressed to the max since August 9th, but after many stressful attempts late last night I took it back from the hackers. I had 23 friends sending him messages about the car that doesn’t exist, and sadly one of my friends sent him a $500 down payment through the hacker’s Venmo account. Then Tim called me to make sure it was me, rather than calling me BEFORE he lost the $500, most of my friends called or texted me. This has seriously been so incredibly stressful.” Can you believe it?
Geez, I feel stupid. But I’ve never heard of this particular scam! I guess it shows you that you ALWAYS have to talk to the person directly, you can’t trust any kind of electronic communication.
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We just dealt with a FB hack. Someone on my high school group posted tickets for sale to Taylor Swift in my son’s city. While I didn’t know her as she was several classes ahead of me, her previous posts were about teachers we all had, as well as other posts the previously few years.
My son and DIL wanted the tickets, so I messaged the woman. We went back and forth a few times as she wanted to transfer the tickets through Ticket Master. I asked if my son could email her, or if she would email him as he doesn’t use FB, but does have an account. She preferred he message through FB, so he did.
Seems she wanted the money deposited to her cousin’s Zelle as she purchased the tickets. After some investigating, there was no person with this name on the woman’s FB page, and the screen shot of the Ticket Master purchase did not look like the email my son had from his previous purchase. He bailed and reported the hack.
I felt so bad that he could have been caught up in this, but luckily all he lost was about 20 minutes of his time.
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So you were in the same boat as I was, trying to help a kid!
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Phone just rang. Looked at Caller ID—verified number from the town where there is a medical facility I am awaiting a call from, so I answered.
Slightly accented voice: Hello this is ‘the medicare’, have you received your new plastic insurance card?
Click. Goodbye.
Now, I hope I don’t get bombarded from this scammer, now that they have verified that my phone # is a live and valid one.
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