I can’t believe it. My friend got scammed.

[jp10558]

ALL this doesn't mean spit because the bad actors are overseas. They are effectively out of reach. "Do not call lists" are like what an uncle described padlocks to me when I was young - "They keep honest people honest." We can locate the scammer call centers in South Asia, but if their government does nothing Then there are state sponsored hackers/bad actors

Tariffs?

Make connection fees (to pass the call on the last mile but charged to the caller) a lot higher again? At least for international calls coming into the country? Disallow VOIP to the public network bridges? Or at least make them as hard to set up as to get a physical cell phone or land line in the US? Most legitimate users will do the legwork the what, maybe 10 times in their life they would need to as just a hassle for moving or changing carriers or adding a phone line to their business or something, but I bet making someone show up somewhere in person, showing ID and paying some activation fee would put a stop to a lot of VOIP based international scam calls.

Then again, that doesn't really solve the problem for the next generation, they'll just move on to zoom or chat apps or e-mail even more than they already have. And IDK how you stop that. Try really really hard to entice other countries to enforce anti scam laws or something? Ruin the Internet more by everyone setting up their own "Great Firewall" like China has done?

OTOH, I also agree that saying because we can't "solve the problem" shouldn't mean we shouldn't at least try and make things better.

 

[jp10558]

She doesn't even file taxes anymore but she's paranoid the IRS will take our house with any notice that comes.
I can see why people fall for these scams. I'm on the phone with the IRS at least once or twice a year so I
don't panic with every notice, not that I like to get correspondence from them because it's never nice but I
don't panic like she does.

While I don't really interact with the IRS much, I also know that for the absolute VAST majority of people, the first contact from the IRS is very nice and generally completely non-threatening. It's usually an explanation of what they think went wrong, and what you might owe, and it's usually a minor amount. You pay it and they stop writing you. It's only when you really ought to already KNOW why they're writing you that there might be an issue - like you "forgot" to pay taxes for a decade and owe 50k in back taxes or something.

At least IME they systems are pretty understanding of basic mistakes and aren't going to take your house cause you deducted something wrong and owe $50 from a year or two ago.

 

[Brett]

Normally I wouldn't defend him, but (though a tangent to this thread) I do agree that one really useful thing that government should be doing (and implies to us it is doing) is making sure the labels on things are accurate. No one can make reasonable choices if they don't even know what they're choosing between. Thinking that an oil is one thing when it's something completely different is an issue. Yes, being vegetable oil vs olive oil is usually not catastrophic, but it hurts honest producers and can certainly be an issue in certain allergy situations. Also, if they "get away" with it in olive oils, who's to say they don't replace it with something actually widely dangerous but somehow cheaper and looks the same?

I'm not worried about olive oil and maple syrup "fraud". The FDA .......... omg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olive_oil_regulation_and_adulteration

 

[ScoopKona]

There is too much overlap between "legitimate" organizations and scammers to have any of these rules really work
Especially the prosecution and incarceration of white-collar crime
But in an ideal world, we could sort out the scammers from the Time Share Sales types
But the time share salesperson is only responsible for what is signed
Not the lies used to get the signature

These "legitimate" organizations are mollycoddled as well. Selling things by calling people and annoying them is 20th-century, anyway. Companies shouldn't be able to mask their caller ID. And any incoming calls from foreign countries should be flagged as such. Sure, it could be a Microsoft support operation in Delhi. But if they're calling me, and I'm not expecting any calls from Microsoft, I'd like to know that in advance -- so I don't have to pick up.

I get 20 calls a day from boiler rooms claiming to be "Google Business Sense." All with US numbers. None of them actually located in the US.

We treat fraud with less concern than we treat parking tickets.

 

[WaikikiFirst]

We treat fraud with less concern than we treat parking tickets

parking tickets generate revenue for the ginormous-gobble-gobble govt

 

[davidvel]

These "legitimate" organizations are mollycoddled as well. Selling things by calling people and annoying them is 20th-century, anyway. Companies shouldn't be able to mask their caller ID. And any incoming calls from foreign countries should be flagged as such. Sure, it could be a Microsoft support operation in Delhi. But if they're calling me, and I'm not expecting any calls from Microsoft, I'd like to know that in advance -- so I don't have to pick up.

I get 20 calls a day from boiler rooms claiming to be "Google Business Sense." All with US numbers. None of them actually located in the US.

We treat fraud with less concern than we treat parking tickets.

Should shouldn't. This is not just something that is possible but not being done. It is like saying people should stop killing each other, or we shouldn't have any more car accidents.

 

[emeryjre]

These "legitimate" organizations are mollycoddled as well. Selling things by calling people and annoying them is 20th-century, anyway. Companies shouldn't be able to mask their caller ID. And any incoming calls from foreign countries should be flagged as such. Sure, it could be a Microsoft support operation in Delhi. But if they're calling me, and I'm not expecting any calls from Microsoft, I'd like to know that in advance -- so I don't have to pick up.

I get 20 calls a day from boiler rooms claiming to be "Google Business Sense." All with US numbers. None of them actually located in the US.

We treat fraud with less concern than we treat parking tickets.

Review what I have said
Take it as deep sarcasm on my part
I agree the difference between scam and non-scam is miniscule
The government is not out to protect the Consumer
In fact any organization designed to help the consumer is or has been dismantled in the not-so-distant past

 

[jp10558]

These "legitimate" organizations are mollycoddled as well. Selling things by calling people and annoying them is 20th-century, anyway. Companies shouldn't be able to mask their caller ID. And any incoming calls from foreign countries should be flagged as such. Sure, it could be a Microsoft support operation in Delhi. But if they're calling me, and I'm not expecting any calls from Microsoft, I'd like to know that in advance -- so I don't have to pick up.

I get 20 calls a day from boiler rooms claiming to be "Google Business Sense." All with US numbers. None of them actually located in the US.

We treat fraud with less concern than we treat parking tickets.

I'm also now getting like at least once a day it seems "calling about your timeshare" voicemails. I'm seriously considering Incogni as advertised in my morning 1440.org news newsletter, but it might be the spam call equivalent of paying an exit company. AI thinks their ultimate plan is about the best you can do for US, international, and price to covered brokers coverage, but ... well. I'm only considering the family plan cause I can split the cost 2-3 ways for the people covered, but not sure it's even going to be worth it for that. Hopefully if I do use it the company lets me scrub more than one phone # - and isn't a huge scam to collect the verified contact info lol.

It's getting so bad I'm tempted to put my phone on do not disturb again, but then I miss fricken doctor's offices. I wish they'd just step up their patient portals more in my area, but I'm lucky they're off of paper. My dentist still isn't. I ignore my work phone which is unfortunate, but again, it's all scam calls or wasted time vendor calls. At this point, if I wanted to talk to a vendor, I'd e-mail them, and if I had to actually talk to them I'd schedule a zoom...

 

[DrQ]

I'm also now getting like at least once a day it seems "calling about your timeshare" voicemails. I'm seriously considering Incogni as advertised in my morning 1440.org news newsletter, but it might be the spam call equivalent of paying an exit company. AI thinks their ultimate plan is about the best you can do for US, international, and price to covered brokers coverage, but ... well. I'm only considering the family plan cause I can split the cost 2-3 ways for the people covered, but not sure it's even going to be worth it for that. Hopefully if I do use it the company lets me scrub more than one phone # - and isn't a huge scam to collect the verified contact info lol.

IDK about Incogni, but my AT&T mobile phone plan includes ActiveArmour which seems to be pretty effective at weeding out spam calls.

My landline is a case of "let them eat voicemail", but I sometimes answer just for pure entertainment.

The calls are comprised of:

• Offshore Medicare Advantage Scam
• Sell your timeshare scam
• Are you interested in selling your house scam
• Rent your RCI "bonus time" scam
• Police benefit charity scam

If you haven't seen it, HBO’s ‘Telemarketers’ is a great series. Now they do not use Telemarketers, they use AI 'bots. If you listen to the call and give nonsense responses, you can detect that it is a 'bot, but is quite sophisticated.

 

[DrQ]

I'm not worried about olive oil and maple syrup "fraud". The FDA .......... omg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olive_oil_regulation_and_adulteration

It may not be regulated, but I get our Olive Oil "locally":

Kitchen Staples - Texas Olive Ranch Olive Oil For Every Kitchen

Our Kitchen Staple Olive Oils are a blend from Arbequina olives, grown by family farms across the world. Our first-cold-pressed olive oil is equal parts affordable and delicious, featured in Mashable.

texasoliveranch.com

 

[ScoopKona]

It may not be regulated, but I get our Olive Oil "locally":

Kitchen Staples - Texas Olive Ranch Olive Oil For Every Kitchen

Our Kitchen Staple Olive Oils are a blend from Arbequina olives, grown by family farms across the world. Our first-cold-pressed olive oil is equal parts affordable and delicious, featured in Mashable.

texasoliveranch.com

This is the only way to make sure.

Farmers aren't going to adulterate their product because repeat business is basically their only business. Takes forever to get a new customer. And seconds to lose them all. Besides, bogus oil funds terrorists and the mafia. Odd that anyone would think this isn't a big deal.

Hopefully this country will come to its senses about scams in general. They're all just heads on the same monster. Don't cut off the heads individually. Cut out the heart and get them all at once. I have a feeling if a bunch of terrorists bottled brown toxic swill and called it "Old Grandfather's Totally Legit Sour Mash Straight Bourbon Whiskey, Bottled in Bond," people might start taking the problem seriously. They're not sophisticated enough to be concerned about "olive" oil, "truffle" oil, "balsamic" vinegar and similar. But poison their hooch and the gloves would surely come off.

 

[Brett]

This is the only way to make sure.

Farmers aren't going to adulterate their product because repeat business is basically their only business. Takes forever to get a new customer. And seconds to lose them all. Besides, bogus oil funds terrorists and the mafia. Odd that anyone would think this isn't a big deal.

Hopefully this country will come to its senses about scams in general. They're all just heads on the same monster. Don't cut off the heads individually. Cut out the heart and get them all at once. I have a feeling if a bunch of terrorists bottled brown toxic swill and called it "Old Grandfather's Totally Legit Sour Mash Straight Bourbon Whiskey, Bottled in Bond," people might start taking the problem seriously. They're not sophisticated enough to be concerned about "olive" oil, "truffle" oil, "balsamic" vinegar and similar. But poison their hooch and the gloves would surely come off.

I'm not the cook in the family but I'll tell the chef to stop buying fake California olive oil and only get real Virginia olive oil

 

[emeryjre]

Hopefully this country will come to its senses about scams in general

deleted

 

[dioxide45]

You are a hopeful individual
I see the country headed the other way
The idea that we will allow measles, polio, other virus born childhood diseases to proliferate again is not a hopeful sign
IMHO

What do scams have to do with childhood diseases? It looks like you are just trying to turn the thread political?

 

[Snazzylass]

Truly sorry for the OP's friend and anyone else's loved ones. My dad was messing around with multiple scammers for years regarding my parents' MX timeshare. I posted here for help and am grateful for the responses. I tried to tell him over and over again and I don't know if he ever let it go. Mind blowing! But then I was running interference for my parents going back years when they would get scammer calls. I let it go. I know he sent them money but he had plenty to lose. He could have thrown it away betting or something.

The only solution is Education and keeping ourselves informed. So kudos to the OP for sharing. I found the YT video a good reminder. This scam was going around awhile ago through texts and major banks and people lost a lot of money.

I got a text a couple of weeks ago about credit card charges. I freaked. Actually, it was a debit card which I thought was tied to a checking account but they were pulling money out of my savings account,

I did not respond to the text which I later learned was legitimate. I scrambled to find a phone number and the people were terrible. Really disappointed in the experience. (I retired recently from a call center with a major bank and have helped many customers with fraud issues. I've worked with the fraud department.)

The goofy kids on the other end of the line asked me about my trip to the Philippines. No, I explained, your bank had a data breach. My card hasn't left my drawer in over a year and I certainly haven't traveled. Doh! The employees I talked to could not recognize a fraud issue.

It is now resolved. I got my money back which was a small amount. I closed the accounts which I was not using but I was tracking monthly. I don't do business with these sloppy sorts of organizations.

 

[claraj]

My card hasn't left my drawer in over a year and I certainly haven't traveled.

I had a credit card that I only used once to pay for Global Entry or TSA Pre check that was compromised not long after. It makes me wonder how the breach could have occurred. Have since closed the card.

 

[ondeadlin]

Guys, as a former federal prosecutor, who now works with a large national corporation that you'd all be familiar with (and which is the subject of near-daily attempts to defraud us in all 50 states), I can assure you that federal law enforcement is working every day to stop fraud. There are federal law enforcement organizations that most people have never heard of, like Housing and Urban Development Special Agents, that almost all they do is fight fraud (mortgage fraud in that particular case). In my current role I assist federal agents conducting fraud investigations almost every day.

But the sad truth is that there are always more people trying to commit fraud than there are law enforcement resources to fight fraud. And this imbalance is likely to get worse before it gets better as law enforcement resources are diverted to the two current biggest priorities - deporting undocumented immigrants and violent crime. I know federal agents who have never been involved in immigration enforcement before, but now that's all they do. The stuff they used to do? Interdicting guns and drugs, fighting things like fraud? There's going to be more of it that goes unprosecuted and uninvestigated. It's simple math. And another part of simple math is that were likely to see fewer resources in general for all federal law enforcement in the future when we get serious about dealing with budget deficits.

All of which is to say ... to some extent you have to take care of yourselves. There are a lot of different ways you can do that, some of which have been discussed here, but most of them come down to being skeptical and questioning of anyone who asks you for money.

As for food oil fraud ... yeah ... um ... I think it's safe to say that's not going to be a federal priority under any administration any time soon, whether one agrees with that or not.

 

[Janann]

I did not respond to the text which I later learned was legitimate.

I also work in financial services, and I didn't reply to a phone call from American Express a few years ago. I didn't respond because there were no texts, e-mails, or messages on my account sign-in about potential fraud. When I did talk to someone at American Express, my initial comments assumed the person was a scammer. It turned out that a card had been stolen from the mail, and was indeed being used. It all got straightened out, but American Express did a terrible job of notifying me only by phone about the situation.

I feel like at this point that I need at least two different types of notifications or messages (phone / text / email / account message) before I'll respond to anyone about potential fraud. A phone call proves nothing.

 

[lynne]

Truly sorry for the OP's friend and anyone else's loved ones. My dad was messing around with multiple scammers for years regarding my parents' MX timeshare. I posted here for help and am grateful for the responses. I tried to tell him over and over again and I don't know if he ever let it go. Mind blowing! But then I was running interference for my parents going back years when they would get scammer calls. I let it go. I know he sent them money but he had plenty to lose. He could have thrown it away betting or something.

The only solution is Education and keeping ourselves informed. So kudos to the OP for sharing. I found the YT video a good reminder. This scam was going around awhile ago through texts and major banks and people lost a lot of money.

I got a text a couple of weeks ago about credit card charges. I freaked. Actually, it was a debit card which I thought was tied to a checking account but they were pulling money out of my savings account,

I did not respond to the text which I later learned was legitimate. I scrambled to find a phone number and the people were terrible. Really disappointed in the experience. (I retired recently from a call center with a major bank and have helped many customers with fraud issues. I've worked with the fraud department.)

The goofy kids on the other end of the line asked me about my trip to the Philippines. No, I explained, your bank had a data breach. My card hasn't left my drawer in over a year and I certainly haven't traveled. Doh! The employees I talked to could not recognize a fraud issue.

It is now resolved. I got my money back which was a small amount. I closed the accounts which I was not using but I was tracking monthly. I don't do business with these sloppy sorts of organizations.

 

[Snazzylass]

I also work in financial services, and I didn't reply to a phone call from American Express a few years ago. I didn't respond because there were no texts, e-mails, or messages on my account sign-in about potential fraud. When I did talk to someone at American Express, my initial comments assumed the person was a scammer. It turned out that a card had been stolen from the mail, and was indeed being used. It all got straightened out, but American Express did a terrible job of notifying me only by phone about the situation.

I feel like at this point that I need at least two different types of notifications or messages (phone / text / email / account message) before I'll respond to anyone about potential fraud. A phone call proves nothing.

huh? I guess I should have said I did not REPLY to the text. I acted immediately.

 

[Snazzylass]

Guys, as a former federal prosecutor, who now works with a large national corporation that you'd all be familiar with (and which is the subject of near-daily attempts to defraud us in all 50 states), I can assure you that federal law enforcement is working every day to stop fraud. There are federal law enforcement organizations that most people have never heard of, like Housing and Urban Development Special Agents, that almost all they do is fight fraud (mortgage fraud in that particular case). In my current role I assist federal agents conducting fraud investigations almost every day.

But the sad truth is that there are always more people trying to commit fraud than there are law enforcement resources to fight fraud. And this imbalance is likely to get worse before it gets better as law enforcement resources are diverted to the two current biggest priorities - deporting undocumented immigrants and violent crime. I know federal agents who have never been involved in immigration enforcement before, but now that's all they do. The stuff they used to do? Interdicting guns and drugs, fighting things like fraud? There's going to be more of it that goes unprosecuted and uninvestigated. It's simple math. And another part of simple math is that were likely to see fewer resources in general for all federal law enforcement in the future when we get serious about dealing with budget deficits.

All of which is to say ... to some extent you have to take care of yourselves. There are a lot of different ways you can do that, some of which have been discussed here, but most of them come down to being skeptical and questioning of anyone who asks you for money.

As for food oil fraud ... yeah ... um ... I think it's safe to say that's not going to be a federal priority under any administration any time soon, whether one agrees with that or not.

Good points! "being skeptical and questioning of anyone who asks you for money" I'm that way even with charitable institutions. LOL!

And, yeah, anyone with a RE license knows all about HUD special agents

 

[Brett]

I also work in financial services, and I didn't reply to a phone call from American Express a few years ago. I didn't respond because there were no texts, e-mails, or messages on my account sign-in about potential fraud. When I did talk to someone at American Express, my initial comments assumed the person was a scammer. It turned out that a card had been stolen from the mail, and was indeed being used. It all got straightened out, but American Express did a terrible job of notifying me only by phone about the situation.

I feel like at this point that I need at least two different types of notifications or messages (phone / text / email / account message) before I'll respond to anyone about potential fraud. A phone call proves nothing.

yes, two factor authentication for financial transactions (and other things)

 

[Tia]

Anyone can be taken in, be alert. My other half proudly will tell you he doesn't get online that much. He recently fell for some fake scammers luckily I came home, pain in my a** cleaning that up.

 

[geist1223]

Whenever I get a Text, Email, etc from a Credit Card Company, Bank, etc I go inperson to their nearest location. Maybe 1 out of 20 is legitimate.

 

[rapmarks]

Does a week go by when you don’t get a notification from some business you use that they had a data breach?