In these dark, gloomy, snowy winter days, the telephone is often a lifesaver, or at least a sanity saver. Anticipating a call from a friend or family member can be a big disappointment, however.
For the past several weeks, the phone beside my computer rings nearly daily, around 8 a.m., and a chirpy voice (or barely understandable accented voice) starts reeling off alarming news: the warranty on my car is due to expire. I’m not a bit surprised since the car is nearly 15 years old.
Sometimes I simply hang up the phone, but several times I’ve waited until the end of this recorded message and followed instructions to be “removed from the call list.” Nothing has worked so far. One day I waited until I was prompted to “push 1 to speak to a representative” and sure enough, a representative asked me the make and model of my vehicle. When I told her, she hung up on me. Nevertheless, the calls continue.
The other phone scam that I get most frequently is the offer for a free vacation to some hot, sandy, 80-degree middle American country. Not that it doesn’t sound enticing as I view the snow mountains outside the window, but Yankee skepticism saves me again, and the caller becomes history.
Scams are serious business and obviously a booming business, regardless of the poor economy. And they will become more frequent, because of the economy. Everyone is looking for the pot at the end of the rainbow, it seems.
Fraudulent telemarketers try to take advantage of older people on the theory that they may be more trusting and polite toward strangers. Older women living alone are special targets of these scam artists.
Since investigative journalists made a television program about the Nigerians and exposed some scams for what they are, con artists have turned to a new plan and a new country.
A January 2008 press release from Maine Office of the Attorney General, reports on a new scam. It involves someone looking to move money from Iraq to a U.S. bank. Callers offer you a portion of the money if they can transfer the funds to your bank account. They hen asks for your checking account number or that you send some money to start the transfer. Don’t send money, this is a scam. It is just the latest variation of the so-called Nigerian Scam.
Never give out your personal identifying information over the phone if you do not initiate the contact. If you are unsure, contact the attorney general’s office before you give out the information, (800) 436-2131. If an offer is good now, it will be good later. Do not let the scam artist pressure you. Remember, if you tell someone your bank account number, it’s possible for that person to then drain your account.
If you are like a lot of my peers, you rely on e-mail to receive and send messages to friends and family. This money-saving invention has a downside, however, for it opens up your “virtual” mailbox to all kinds of scam artists. Be very wary. Don’t open an e-mail unless you recognize the sender’s address and if you’re skeptical, check www.snopes.com to find out the latest scams and so-called urban legends (kidnapped children, warnings about consumer goods, sweepstakes winners and the familiar Nigerian/Iraq scam).
Tap into that good, old-fashioned Yankee skepticism. It might save you from being scammed.
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