I've done that a number of times. I got a call from "Microsoft" claiming I had a virus on my computer. The guy had a terrible accent. I went into my best PO'd Army sergeant tirade using every cuss word I know questioning his parentage, intelligence and sexual identification. I had him spitting and sputtering, totally flustered by what I said to him and then hung up on him.

Ohiobuckeye
 

Good point!

Checking your credit card charges daily is not nearly often enough. It's better to set up an alert online that will send you a text or email every time you make a charge. If someone steals your card number, they can make charges up to the credit limit in a few hours.

We’ve also received these emails. Could never find a phone number to call amazon. What number did you call to get amazon?

I cannot believe this. I just received the same call for the same amount!
I just hung up on them as I didn’t believe them. I hope no one does press number 1.

There is no reason to call Amazon. If you have an Amazon account, they don't charge you directly, they charge the credit card that you have on file. So, you just need to check your credit card account for incorrect charges. Or, log on to your Amazon account and view the orders that they have accepted from you. When you place an order, it shows up immediately in the '"your orders" section. If you really need personal help, the customer service section offers online chat or you can request that they call you.

In the past two weeks I have gotten e-mails supposedly from Amazon regarding things I supposedly bought. These were high-priced items to be sent to a third party I didn't recognize. There was a phone number for me to call if I wanted to cancel the order or if I had any questions. This is obviously a scam as I do not have an account at Amazon. I am afraid to call the number as it may trigger something more sinister, just like prompts to "click here" do. How do we handle these phishing instances?

First step is to google the phone number, just do a search. Your results will probably be ROBO Warning, Scammer or no one owns that number. You know rightaway it's a fraud caller and just block it. Your phone carrier should have a way to block numbers, or you can add a third party blocking service like Robokiller, except it doesn't work on Century Link land lines, which is what I have. In my case I own a phone that can block numbers.

My Panasonic home phone came with 3 handsets and a base with answering machine and can block 250 numbers, it was $89 at Walmart. This is the phone I have, there are other brands and with more or less handsets.

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/..._AC_UY218_.jpg

Amazon.com

I've filled it up three times since I bought it four years ago. That's the only negative is I have to clear out all the numbers once I reach 250, but by then those that were blocked already have moved on after a few months. When you google the number, if you don't get a good result there are two other search engines I use. Basically if they don't leave a message I usually block them anyway.

Google

800 Calls Notes from consumers

https://www.whitepages.com/reverse-phone

Of course phone numbers can be spoofed, I have a '259' exchange and one tactic they use is to spoof another 259, thinking I will answer their call because it's one of my neighbors, NOT! Actually the 259 numbers I never answer, in fact once they even used my own number, that really odd getting a call from yourself. I don't usually bother with blocking those numbers because they change them constantly.

If it's a phishing email, the first I look at is the email address. It's Amazon, it should be from Amazon, not one that ends in ru, nl, de, or something like that, that's a foreign address, that should a quick tip off. If you can't see the email address, right click on the header and you can see it. Whatever you do, DON'T OPEN ANY LINKS OR CLICK ON UNSUBSCRIBE, THAT'S A SURE WAY OF GETTING A VIRUS, OR GO TO ANY LINK.

We must live a boring life all we get are text messages from 88022 asking for donations. No Microsoft, Amazon, Apple calls or tech support calls. Emails are a different story we can never unsubscribe to work.

I got one today from fraudulent SS that said they were in Texas.

Told them after a minute I was a SS enforcement officer and we had just traced their number and suggested they bring warm clothing with them as the prison they were being sent to was rather cold.

I’m sure they were shaking in fear.

:1rotfl::1rotfl: they get more creative each year

Ohiobuckeye
 

If I’m reading this right I do my banking with Chase & they do keep a record for me online with every charge I make & where ( what city) I made the charge. I’ve made charges in TV & 1 hr. later or earlier if a charge is made they will notify me that someone made a charge somewhere where I couldn’t be in an hr. I thought all banks did this.

I can't remember the last time I answered a phone, WHEN I did not know the caller personally.

Most banks will show your charges immediately on their online system, but each bank has their own method to determine if a charge may be fraudulent. However, with most banks, you can log on to your account and set up an "alert" which will automatically send you a message (text or email) whenever you make a charge for more than a set amount. I set my limit at 5 dollars and use email. So, if I spend 12 dollars at Publix, I will get an email message from the bank within a few seconds after I leave Publix. I have the same alerts set up for all of my financial accounts, not just credit cards.

True but for the 10 minutes or so that I wasted their time on they could not try their scam on others and I had some fun.