Funny Phone Call Scam Attempt

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I got a call from a computerized voice today claiming to be the IRS. I almost hung up but decided to wait on the line to have a little fun. After the computerized part ended, a voice came on the line. In a foreign sounding voice (likely Indian), the operator said that they were with the IRS and they needed my bank account information to audit my taxes.

I calmly asked who they thought they were talking with. They paused and did not answer so I introduced myself as Agent Johnson of the Federal Trade Commission and asked their name. They hung up.

Watch out for the Scams.
 
They called me a couple weeks ago. So I called them back. About 40 times before they blocked my number. The last time I called, they asked me to stop calling them. I told them that every time they called me, I’d tie up their phone lines. Then I called their VOIP provider (MagicJack) who terminated all of their accounts...

Chris
 
They called me a couple weeks ago. So I called them back. About 40 times before they blocked my number. The last time I called, they asked me to stop calling them. I told them that every time they called me, I’d tie up their phone lines. Then I called their VOIP provider (MagicJack) who terminated all of their accounts...

Chris

We really need to strike back at these jerks. They are taking advantage of people.
 
They called my lender and they could tell he was on to them . He kept having fun with the bozos. The scammer told him to go to the top of this bldg and explained how to jump off!
 
Been getting the" regarding your credit card account" we want to reduce your APR to 6%. After getting this crap 2x a week for several months I decided to go live with a rep.
Started with the pitch...I stopped him cold & asked..."what name is on this account" he hung up....lol
 
Sometimes I think Al Gore was on to something when he proposed a "bit tax" to pay for the infrastructure of the internet. At least it would drive up the costs of these phone scams and maybe make this kind of crime less profitable.
 
I think that is the key. Ask which computer, what is the name on the account, which home?

One of them called to tell me my computer was a risk for a virus and needed info to fix it. I usually as which computer are they referring to? I have fun with it. "I do not have it connected to the internet so how could it have a virus? " They usually love to answer that question.
 
Sometimes I think Al Gore was on to something when he proposed a "bit tax" to pay for the infrastructure of the internet. At least it would drive up the costs of these phone scams and maybe make this kind of crime less profitable.
The problem is that many of these call scams route calls through compromised office phone systems and unsecured VOIP infrastructure, so the BIT tax just ends up costing more for the people who's system got hijacked (in addition the the actual cost of the calls...)
 
The problem is that many of these call scams route calls through compromised office phone systems and unsecured VOIP infrastructure, so the BIT tax just ends up costing more for the people who's system got hijacked (in addition the the actual cost of the calls...)

True, but ti will not take long for companies to invest in better more secure methods of communication.
 
True, but ti will not take long for companies to invest in better more secure methods of communication.

You’d think wouldn’t you... or that phone system makers would make them more secure by default or that people would choose good passwords or at least change the factory default passwords...

But more often than not, they don’t.

Follow @swiftOnSecurity on twitter if you want a sample of the every day mind numbing, soul crushing stupidity demonstrated by companies every day when it comes to security.... even the simple stuff...

There’s a reason I had to get out of the IT security world - dealing with it every day started to profoundly affect my well being...
 
As my Dad has said and coined in my mind, "You can't fix stupid, son." I have tried and failed to fix it. Heck, I have replicated more than one occasion.
 
As my Dad has said and coined in my mind, "You can't fix stupid, son." I have tried and failed to fix it. Heck, I have replicated more than one occasion.

You have no idea how pertinent that statement is for me after work today... My version is a little different: "There is just NO helping the inherently stupid..."

My other evergreen favourite: "Never argue with an idiot son.. They will just drag you down to their level and beat you with experience..."

To leave it on a positive note:


"Here's your sign..."
 
I got a call from a computerized voice today claiming to be the IRS. I almost hung up but decided to wait on the line to have a little fun. After the computerized part ended, a voice came on the line. In a foreign sounding voice (likely Indian), the operator said that they were with the IRS and they needed my bank account information to audit my taxes.

I calmly asked who they thought they were talking with. They paused and did not answer so I introduced myself as Agent Johnson of the Federal Trade Commission and asked their name. They hung up.

Watch out for the Scams.
Yeah, I've received that one. Just hung up without letting it finish. I've read a few stories online about people taking the time to just mess with them like you did, but in very extended ways to waste as much of their time as possible - for instance by playing stupid (but not TOO stupid), giving them phony data, then giving them some obviously ridiculous excuse to end the call just to let these scumbags know they've been played.

There's also one about your Microsoft Windows license being terminated or something like that.
 
My favorite quote:
“Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe.”
Albert Einstein
 
Follow @swiftOnSecurity on twitter if you want a sample of the every day mind numbing, soul crushing stupidity demonstrated by companies every day when it comes to security.... even the simple stuff...
And yet, they are allowed to maintain massive databases on everyone, 340 million Americans in this case:

Time for Another MASSIVE Data Breach – Nearly All Adult Americans’ Personal Data Exposed by a Data Mining Firm
28 Jun 2018

https://wccftech.com/340-million-americans-data-breach/

Many more examples of incredibly stupid security violations detailed in a well-know security blog:

https://krebsonsecurity.com/

Just two examples of incredible stupidity from a huge organization:

02 OCT 17
USPS ‘Informed Delivery’ Is Stalker’s Dream

https://krebsonsecurity.com/2017/10/usps-informed-delivery-is-stalkers-dream/

26 FEB 18
USPS Finally Starts Notifying You by Mail If Someone is Scanning Your Snail Mail Online

https://krebsonsecurity.com/2018/02...f-someone-is-scanning-your-snail-mail-online/
 
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I was bored one day when a tech support scammer called me saying they were from Microsoft and needed to fix my Windows machine. I'm in IT, I know Windows forward and backward, so I kept them on the line for about an hour playing dumb and describing all the screens they wanted me to open. From memory, as I wasn't near a computer and don't own any Windows machines. :)

Then I told them I'm an admin, and don't own any Windows machines. Got called many names in a foreign language I didn't understand and wasted their time, keeping them from scamming someone else.

A while back I saw a video someone made while attacking one of the IRS scammers. Those rely on inbound calls, they want you to call in. So this guy wrote a autodialer and bought some VOIP time. Tied up all their phone lines with a long message about how they are scammers. You could hear people swearing in the background, the person answering the phone swearing, it was great. They would move numbers, and he would find them and do it again.
 
If they call me and I have the time I string them along to waste their time. I usually get cursed at, but if I feel the call going south I curse them out first. I love the credit card interest rate deduction as I can keep that one going for a while by asking how they can reduce my interest rate if they don't know who I am or my account number.

Had one guy call about a computer issue once and just cut the guy off by saying I knew it was a scam and wouldn't fall for it, but knew people who would. He laughed and asked for their names.
 
Started showing up a couple months ago after a forced update. Samsung Galaxy Note 8.
 
My landline has started to identify some of the useless calls as SPAM? where my cell still lets callers like UNKNOWN and UNITED STATES pass through.

If I'm in the mood and have the time, I'll mess with the callers on the landline. My favorite is getting the "Microsoft" folks to swear at me; usually I lead them on for a while and when they tell me to hit the Windows + R keys on my keyboard, I ask them where that is on an Apple computer - they may speak English with a heavy accent but they know all the secondary words.
 
We really need to strike back at these jerks. They are taking advantage of people.

The most infuriating thing about these scammers is that they mostly pick on elderly people....

Ain't that the truth. My 81 year old Mother was taught to always be civil and polite. She talks to these scammers, rather than just hanging up on them. Scares the hell out of me.
 
Once when "Omar from Microsoft Tech Support" called me to "walk me through some critical software updates needed to protect me from malware" I told him that my PC was fine but could he please send me a software update for my Zune music player. He laughed and said "Good one! Best today!" and hung up.

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Just now got a new type of call. In what sounded like a recording,
Hi, this is Lisa calling from internet and television cable provider, how are you today?
At that point I hung up.
Or was the word order "television and internet cable provider"?
Anyway, the wording was immediate give away that something was suspect.
One, it wasn't, Your television and internet cable provider.
Two, no company name given.
 
I just got a call from Elizabeth from the Rewards Center. Man, I can't stand that !@@#$. I am not a big supporter of the nanny state, but someone needs to do something about this.
 
I just got a call from Elizabeth from the Rewards Center. Man, I can't stand that !@@#$. I am not a big supporter of the nanny state, but someone needs to do something about this.
Pretty sure Elizabeth works for Scam Likely...
 
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