Thursday, July 28, 2011
SCAM!
Scary thing happened to me today. I was called by someone who claimed to be a Federal employee that was investigating identity theft. He preceeded to tell me that one of my best and closest friends used my SSN # to get a loan. THIS PHONE CALL WAS A SCAM. Instead of asking ME for MY info (which most poeple do not fall for anymore) they use Facebook to get your friends names and use YOU to get info on THEM. I was so upset over what I was being told I ignored obvious red flags. I was an emotional wreck. REMEMBER: If a Federal agent is really calling for you, ask for proof of who they are. They will provide you a number that you can call that will confirm. Also, ask them to have local law enforcement contact you. They will. You can even request to speak with them in person. I asked for proof from this man, and he pushed the request aside. He had a VERY strong far east accent which was a red flag for me, however I did not want to judge him based off of that. I guess I will stop being so politically correct. Hindsight is 20/20, so now I can call out at least 15 things I noticed were off kilter, but ignored because of the friend involved. He knew the names of people I love, their addresses, phone numbers, middle names and birthdates. I have been advised that they will call many friends of people with no clear "target" but just keep making crap up until they have enough info on one person to sell on the black market. And since they know you know the people, they will keep calling and asking you. They will even tell you that since they work for the Feds the call is recorded and can be used in court, so you best make sure you do not lie and say you do not know the person(s). Since a middle name was used in my call, I did not recognize it. It was not until he gave me phone numbers and addresses that I made the connection. I am VERY aware of identity theft schemes, and of course I feel like a idiot to be fooled. He had been calling me for days, and I had ignored the calls and the voicemails as a phishing scheme! But today he called while I was shopping and caught me off guard. I did not give anything vital, though they did ask me to confirm the friend SSN#, which of course I didn't. (Like I even know it!) They are good....they are friendly and work hard to make you warm up to them. Not only do they act like YOUR identity has been used and you are liable for the bills, they also claim your friend is guilty of fraud and is going to jail. That makes for a VERY stressful situation. Luckily I went to my friends house and told her everything...and was amazed to hear she had no idea what I was talking about. The numbers I have received calls from are 321-352-6498 and 321-352-3526. I was speaking with "Officer Jones" but they use multiple names. They claim they are the Financial Crime Enforcement Agency, which is REAL agency ran by the Federal Government (albeit not so much an agency as a database). PLEASE, as my friends on Facebook you could be called by these thieves. I post this to protect you. He named 3 of my friends today (who are all friends with each other). Do not worry...if you are one of them I called you! This is just one of the schemes they use. You can check these websites for more info:
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We have had allot of scam calls sense Paul went to Iraq. I have gotten to the point where I do not give them any info over the phone and if they have my address I tell them they have to send us mail and most people who are doing the scam will not send mail because it is a paper trail. I have gotten a few calls and they will not send mail. I get really nasty and have no patience with those people. I just really want to tell them to go get a REAL job and make real money instead of having stolen money. thank you so much for sharing this with us. i am going to post it on my fb as well so people can see what you went through.
ReplyDeletethanks for all the details so we can be on the look out!
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