Quote:
Originally Posted by Quixote
I once had a more unique experience. I was calling Amazon with a routine question and Googled their phone number, which I called. They answered, asked me to verify my account, which I did for two reasons: (1) I called THEM, that is, THEY did NOT call me; and (2) thus, I identified myself by my account number (about which I was calling). Anyway, the story gets much longer—and that will be a different thread that I'll start about the completely different responses by two banks with local branches, both of which we've had decades of relationships with. One supported me; the other blamed me, for exactly the same thing! Stay tuned....
This is one aspect of scamming that I would NEVER have thought of—a fake website with a fake phone number that not only looks like the real thing but comes up on the first page near the top of my Google search window! If these criminals are paying for advertising to get it to come up so close to the top, what they're doing must REALLY be profitable. Yes, given the technology and the expertise, they can do far more than we can even imagine. Thank you OBB and matandch for the best summary of suggestions I've seen on dealing with this growing and truly annoying issue.
The only suggestion that won't work for us is the one about hanging up on foreign accents. In my family I'm practically the DP; the rest of them are scattered all over the world--each with a unique accent!
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The only people with foreign accents I ever would accept, is from a phone number I already recognize. My doctor is from India, my periodontist I believe is from Pakistan, I have a couple of Mexican friends and a friend from Israel and one who lives in Malaysia, my parents' closest friends are Jamaican, and my old boss is Puerto Rican.
They all have heavy accents, but they all show up with their names on my caller ID.