I've caught about 3 or 4 scam artists (artists? and I use that term loosely) the past two weeks trying desperately to part me with what few bucks I have. I give a few details of their skullduggery.
First one is a robo call telling me that they are my credit card company ( never identifying which card or where I have it) telling me I can reduce my interest rate. Again never giving an exact interest rate or actual savings. Upon further investigation this outfit or person is somewhere overseas in either Ukraine or Rumania and will gladly sign me up for their program which is nothing more than a new card. They'll give you the fine mouse print and details upon signing up but only after you send them several hundred dollars for the privilege. And it turns out the bank issuing this gold plated card is not even in the U.S. Yeah right pal I'll fall for that just like there's this bridge someone will sell me real cheap.
Scam number two came in the form of an email. An invoice was being sent for a product from Intuit.com that I of course never ordered. Instructions were to print out the invoice and take it to the nearest UPS store for pick up. A virus scan quickly picked up the shenanigans there.
Scam three came awhile back when I got an email from a niece informing me that she was in trouble an needed several hundred dollars right away by wire. Later come to find out someone had hijacked her email account and was trying to extort money. Sorry guy from Russia I'm not that stupid.
The latest scam I'm hearing from the interwebs is a robo call informing the sucker that they have missed jury duty and must now pay a fine or face arrest. They'll be more than happy to settle the matter over the phone with a credit card. First sign to the scam would be the robo call. In Washington state or at least my county you receive a notice in the mail and must call them for verification. Most times they have enough people to make up a jury and don't need your warm body in attendance. Also they don't bother to come after you should you not show up. It may say something to that effect on the notice but in this economy they know people can't always make it. A call to them might include the fact that you'll be having extensive dental work and you'll be under heavy sedation with a follow up of pain killers. Or just tell them you'll be late for your monthly KKK meeting and I'm sure you'll be erased from their data base.
But the greatest scam (con game) of all goes on complete with balloons at the Republican Convention. And they aren't even good at it anymore. Nothing worse than a cheesy con you can spot a mile away. Fool me once shame on you fool me twice shame on me. Too complicated a concept for the last president. Well we were fooled one but not again. Can't go back to doing what got us in the mess in the first place and expect different results. If you buy this snake oil again then I feel sorry for you. I'll get my dog whistle and we can go for a walk. Just don't leave a mess on my front lawn.
3 comments:
I don't follow the Republican Convention that close other than to look at headlines and such, fuck that circus.
After buying a new car a few years ago we were bombarded with telemarketing calls for weeks for three or four things. One was for an $800 (I think) insurance policy to cover 100 percent of powertrain, electronics and mechanical repair costs for three years at something like 5,000 places nationwide.
I hung up the first half-dozen times that call came in. Then, I decided to waste some of their time, since they were so intent on wasting mine. The woman on the other end had the attitude and tactfulness of Chris Christie. She sounded like an Eastern European gypsy, but who knows. Another woman could be heard talking in the background, and a small child occasionally squealed and screamed in the more-distant background. I could tell I was dealing with a first-class, professional operation. The woman read rapidly from a script that basically promised me the moon and stars if anything were to go wrong with my new car.
I asked for the name of the underwriter and was told two different things in the 20 seconds while I was writing it down. The woman asked why I needed the precise name. I told her I wanted to check the Better Business Bureau. She got huffy. She then tried to rush me into signing up, wanting my credit card number and assuring me a time-payment plan was available.
I told the woman I would consider the insurance if she would send me a copy of the contract so I could read it first. The woman got much more huffy. "We don't do that. You get a copy of the contract after you sign up and your payment clears."
Trying to hold back laughter, I said something like, "So, you expect me to give you my credit card number and buy a three-year insurance policy for hundreds of dollars with a company I never heard of, and I don't even get to read the contract before signing up?"
She said that's right, that's how everybody does it and that she had told me all I need to know about the coverage. I asked where she was calling from. She said, angrily, "You don't need to know that!" and hung up.
The good news is that there were no more calls for that very special offer.
I would like to know how these telemarketers became aware of my car purchase. I suspect it was the dealership, but they've been great in every contact I've had with them. I suppose it's possible some employee is selling information out the back door unbeknownst to the management.
Yeah I'm sick of the clowns too.
I got a call like that. I forget what they were selling but when I suggested to the sales lady that I'd like to check out the company you'd have thought I was going to rape her.
Post a Comment