sneaky new scam
 

received a phone call today from a very believable and articulate American sounding male voice saying that Amazon security is alerting me to a questionable charge against the credit card I use on my Amazon account to the tune of $1,499.50.

And that if this wasn't anything I had authorized I should press 1 now for more information or press 2 to dispute

so I figured I'd play along and pressed 1

sure enough someone with a heavy accent came on the line asking a series of questions all designed to get me to say the word "Yes"

after a few questions I told her that my toast had just popped up and I needed to go butter them.....

be careful, they're out there and they're getting slicker and more devious every day

Amazon will NEVER call you to alert you of anything. They do all of that in writing via your e-mail, or you can log into your account online and check it out in person.

Your CREDIT card company might ping you with a text message, if you have opted in to receive them, to warn you of a potentially fraudulent transaction.

I've heard this "Get me to say yes" scam thing a lot. I've never heard of anyone actually getting scammed with it.

If the caller is a scammer and they just need a yes, they can use any yes they'd like. They don't need you to say the words. This isn't going to a court of law with audio forensic analysis about who actually said the words. They can loop in any ole yes they like.

This does not mean they aren't fishing for other information.

It also doesn't mean you can't answer with a more direct response to "can you hear me" "I can hear you". No need to say yes.

"Are you Hugh G. Rection?" "I am Hugh"

Etc. No need to ever actually say yes.

Next time just go on your card providers website and see recent activity. Problem solved.

I let the answering machine do my call screening never answer an unknown caller

Not new, been around for couple years also the Amazon email scam. They just finely got to you. I wouldn’t answer, call back, or play around once the know got live number the pass it on to rest of scammers. Got rid of land line, tired of getting 10 more scams day. With my cell phone it I don’t recognize the number I don’t answer and block it.

I use to do same thing, but when I took nap the damn land line ringing ever hour alway woke me up. I got rid of land line. Now I snooze like baby :)

I suspect many, many folks receive this, I know I do. And I don't even have an Amazon account - never have. Also get similar notices from banks I don't have accounts with.

I get this every so often but since the Amazon account is in my wifes name know I can play around if I am in the mood to do so.

It's less likely that they want you to say yes than gain access to your Amazon account, change the password and order some gift cards for themselves. This is a new scam and can be very convincing as they will access your account. This happens once you grant them the ability to view your screen, which is done covertly, they will repeat your latest purchases to you.

It can be very convincing. More scams come from using the card information from your Amazon linked credit card.

I get this same kind of thing in text messages regarding my paypal account.

Except, I don't have a paypal account.

When I get it regarding my Amazon account I just block the number. I don't even check anymore because I know it's a scam.

Received the same text message.
DELETE, DELETE, DELETE!!!!

Just do NOT say "yes" to any question.
When I get a live person, I like to string them on. If they call for my spouse, I say that they are deceased and they apologize and quit asking for her by name. If they ask for me, I find out what they want and then if I know they are a scam, I like to ask them what they are wearing and that they have a sexy voice. No kidding, it really flusters them.
But, if it is an automated call, most of them disconnect if you only say "hello" once.
Microsoft support loves to call. Same funny Indian every time.
The IRS calls some times. NOT!.............
Social Security is a favorite scam recently.
Amazon seems to catch some folks, and I wonder why. All you have to do is check your Amazon orders record.
The other day, the VA clinic called me and I almost hung up on them because I have never had a call from them before. They were legit,...........ha,ha.

Just got that same phone message to cell phone in NY yesterday

They left same message on my phone yesterday. I knew it was a scam so I just deleted the voice mail message and blocked the caller.
:ohdear::ohdear:

Count yourself lucky is thats the first and only time you received that call. Those calls and emails on that topic have been circulating for years. I cant believe anyone still gets scammed by it after all this time

Let’s qualify that. Companies like Amazon, PayPal, eBay, your bank will usually send you an email asking you to go to your online account to do something. If you do that yourself, that helps you be safe. I have received phoney emails asking me to click some link, which will then ask for my email and password. I have a couple times sent the email to the security office of the company and been told it’s fake. BE VERY CAREFUL! If you aren’t sure it’s real, take some time and check it out.

Someone started this “yes” theory and it took off like wildfire. No one needs a yes answer to scam you. They can use any voice saying yes n say its you. Hard to distinguish anyones voice with a one word answer

Hugh G. Rection....Lmao :)

I just don’t answer any calls from someone I don’t know. They can leave a voicemail if it’s important.

Scam
 

Never ever click on a link in a text message or email saying there is an error or charge to an account. Always go directly to the appropriate web page and check the info there. Once you click the link you open yourself to attack.

Blocked calls
 

Since I’ve been in The Villages, I’ve had several “scam” calls and have blocked the numbers. Just for the heck of it, I counted the number of calls I blocked. This was two days ago and there were 482 blocked numbers. 3 or 4 since then. There’s a program on my phone that identifies scam calls, so they don’t “ring”, but I get notified they are there. I have to physically “block” them myself. Most are from some company wanting to improve my Medicare, extend the warranty on my car or put solar on my roof for free. They come from all over the country, from California to Maine and Washington to Florida. Some, even say “United States” is the origin.

All they really need is to know that someone on the other side of the phone call has picked up the phone and chosen to engage in conversation.

That qualifies you to be put on a list, which is then sold for a profit to other scammers. The more scammers that know "that phone number is VALID" the more likely one of them is to get through and turn you from a target into a victim.

The BEST thing you can do, if a scammer calls, is to simply hang up and block their number so THAT number can no longer call you back. You're basically playing their game in reverse. The more people who block those numbers, the fewer numbers available to call out, until eventually, the scammers have no numbers left they can use to call out.

Sneaky new scam
 

Received the same call. Hung up and checked my account. Suspected the same. Thanks. You are one of those ‘good eggs’.

I get fake e-mails from Amazon and if you very carefully examine them, there is always incorrect grammer, misspelled words and now I understand that they just transform the 2 different kinds of " a's". I cannot show you as my computer only prints one kind but if you scan several messages you can see the difference. It's so subtle you can miss it very easily.

If you sign up for alert notifications on your credit card you don't have to deal with this stuff. Every charge I get a text asking if that was me.

Also anything way out of the norm of my regular use gets flagged and generates a phone call.

Why would Amazon care if you charged $1500. You ever dealt with fraud security for a major retailer? They don't care.

Only worry about alerts from your financial institutions.

I got that same call last week..... I didn't push any buttons, I just hung up, because if my hubby spent $1500 on Amazon he knows I would kill him.

Ohiobuckeye
 

Whether it’s Amazon or whoever, scammers are figuring out different ways to scam people everyday. Anything thing & I mean anything I get online I more or less just give my online answer the 1 finger salute. If I think I’m being scammed I always, always call the necessary people to take care of it. Don’t be a fool & do what an online comment tell you what to do! Banks always say call them & they’ll take care of it, so far they have EVERY time.

We had a secretary who got scammed by saying the word "yes" to a paper supply service who charged a LOT of money for a lot of paper and played the recording of her saying the word "yes" when challenged.

That may work for surveys but not scammers. They seem to use random number generators so the number is different every time. I've even seen calls that are coming from my own phone number.

I used to answer the calls to waste their time and/or have fun with it but now I just ignore them and don't answer a number I don't recognize.

Scammers count on convincing people to "play along". They have more experience scamming than the average person has not being scammed.

The ONLY way to guarantee you don't get scammed is to not play.

Thank you for mentioning that it can be dangerous for you to say “yes” under any circumstances. Voice print.

New one popped up yesterday.

"The Geek Squad" sends wife a bill for 300 to join their yearly service.

Gives a phone number to cancel this. She calls and the guy wants her to go online using Chrome so he cancel it.

She calls me over and first thing notice that the origin email is not from Best Buy or Geek squad so it is phony.

Thinking he wanted to control her laptop and make her pay to get it released.

I got this scam too. After receiving amazing service from the Best Buy Lady Lake geek squad last year, I was ready to give them the benefit of the doubt. I called Best Buy and they made it clear to me that the email was not from them. So I flagged that email as junk.

AARP Magazine has a large article regarding these boiler room scams. Not sure if this link will be allowed and if you have to be a member to read it, but here it is.

Hacker Uses Skills to Take Down a Phone Scam Operation