New Telephone Scam

by tomaidh | Other | 2208 Views

There’s a new (at least to me) phone scam.

A female voice with a very scary message tells you something like this:

“You’re in deep doo-doo with the IRS. We can help you, but you must call this number immediately”

I didn’t call it.

Beware!

Comments | 10

  • Submitted by KAlden on July 13, 2017 at 7:27 am

    I honestly don't know how

    I honestly don’t know how people continue to fall for these things.
    How much information, how many warnings do people need before they just stop answering calls from unfamiliar numbers or just hang up once the spiel starts. Don’t listen. Don’t engage.
    Just hang up and go on with your day.

    • Submitted by cgrotke on July 13, 2017 at 7:32 am

      Tricky

      I’ve noticed an increase in spoofed numbers, so these look local on called ID, but then the scam begins. All it takes is one or two people on the planet falling for it and it is profitable for the scammer.

      But, in general, yes. If a strange call or email shows up – don’t interact with it. Pretty simple.

      • Submitted by KAlden on July 13, 2017 at 9:18 am

        True- they are tricky with

        True- they are tricky with their phony Vermont telephone numbers.
        I just don’t pick up on any number that doesn’t have a name that I recognize
        attached to it. If it’s a legitimate call they will leave a message. I think some people feel that if they engage and start asking questions they are
        putting something over on the scammers. But, the longer they have you on the phone the better their chances of getting information.

      • Submitted by KAlden on July 13, 2017 at 4:48 pm

        Yet another phone scam

        I actually got an email from the VT Attorney Generals’ office regarding a wide spread phone scam operating now in Vermont with someone who calls from your electrical provider and says your bill is overdue and someone is coming to you house at a particular time to turn off your power. That’s not how they disconnect service – they do it from their offices. Anyway – the advice is to call both your power company and the Attorney General’s office. These are the idiots we should be targeting – not someone holding a sign on Main Street- in my humble opinion.

        • Submitted by tomaidh on July 13, 2017 at 5:00 pm

          Turn off your power!

          I got one of those calls. They didn’t know that my power was included in my rent and paid by my landlord, the BHP.
          BTW, it wasn’t very long ago (before they gave everybody a “smart meter”) that the only way they had to disconnect service was to send somebody to your home and physically remove your meter. Ain’t progress wonderful?

  • Submitted by tomaidh on July 13, 2017 at 9:26 am

    Wording

    They called again, and I listened a little better this time. It’s a very scary message and it’s worded to make you think it’s from the IRS “investigation team”. (IRS doesn’t work this way).

    Part of what they say is “you will be taken into custody by local “cops” as there are four serious allegations against you.”

    I can see how unsophisticated or uninformed people can easily fall for their spiel.

    I have an old-fashioned phone. Remember them? They actually had a bell that rang. No screen. No caller ID!

    • Submitted by KAlden on July 13, 2017 at 1:33 pm

      If you can't screen your

      If you can’t screen your calls then immediately hang up. They want you to listen to them. I don’t know many people that would believe a message that said “local cops” are going to arrest you. Anyone who gets these kinds of calls should report them to the police and to their phone carrier.

      • Submitted by tomaidh on July 13, 2017 at 4:50 pm

        Unsophisticated or uninformed people

        “I don’t know many people that would believe a message that said “local cops” are going to arrest you.”
        There are many unsophisticated or uninformed people.
        Consider yourself lucky that you don’t know many of them.

        • Submitted by mr.mike on July 13, 2017 at 5:03 pm

          Reply like Mr.Mike

          I’ve gotten those calls too. I relish them. Next time I’m going to ask them if I’m in as much trouble as Ed and Elaine Brown.

  • Submitted by tomaidh on July 13, 2017 at 6:41 pm

    Attorney General's Office

    In case you wish to talk to the Attorney General, here are some resources—

    Vermont Attorney General’s Consumer Assistance and Small Business Initiative — http://www.uvm.edu/consumer

    Scam report email address: AGO.CAP@vermont.gov

    Phone Number: (800-649-2424)

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