A Telephone Scam
@ElusiveButterfly (45940)
United States
April 29, 2007 4:15pm CST
My daughter-in-law has been getting calls from a guy who said he would give her a free cell phone with picture capabilities if she would give up her personal information, including her social security number. She told him several times that she wouldn't give up that information. He kept calling back. On Friday, I was visiting her and she received yet another call from this spammer. I told her to give me the phone if he called back. He did, 10 minutes after she hung up the phone and had told him that she wasn't interested. When the phone rang, the caller ID said it was an 800 number. She handed me the phone. I pretended to be my DIL. I told the person several times that I was not interested in a cell phone. He continued to ask for more personal information from me. I then told him that I had told him several times that I wasn't interested and if the calls continued I would call the Better Business Bereau and report him for harrassment. He hung up.
Be aware of any calls that ask you for your personal information. Nothing is for free.
19 people like this
43 responses
@villageanne (8553)
• United States
29 Apr 07
Wow! He sure was aggressive! That is scary. Hope she is taking precautions to be safe. If he has her phone number, he probably has her address too. I would have called the phone company and reported him. It is against the law and the phone company is supposed to do the follow up on calls like this. Scary.
@ElusiveButterfly (45940)
• United States
29 Apr 07
I am calling her now to see if she still has the phone number on her caller ID.
3 people like this
@ElusiveButterfly (45940)
• United States
29 Apr 07
That is good to know. If she has deleted the numbers I will have her call the phone company to let them know of the calls.
3 people like this
@villageanne (8553)
• United States
29 Apr 07
You wont need the phone number. The phone company knows every call that you receive and make. They will have the call if you know the day and the time.
3 people like this
@cajunmomma (624)
• United States
29 Apr 07
Has she reported this to the telephone company? If not, then she should. She needs to let her phone company know that this person keeps calling and asking for personal information and is basically harassing her. Plus, if she has her number on the call block list, then they can get in big trouble for even calling her.
3 people like this
@ElusiveButterfly (45940)
• United States
29 Apr 07
I should see if she still has the number on her phone. It would be a good idea to alert the BBB about it.
2 people like this
@gifana (4833)
• Portugal
29 Apr 07
thanks for the advice elusive but it really doesn't do me any good here in Portugal as I haven't heard anything like this happening here. I will be on the lookout you can bet. In the meantime I will send it to family and friends in the US just in case they haven't heard about it. +
2 people like this
@ElusiveButterfly (45940)
• United States
30 Apr 07
I was so surprised when she told me that she had told the person on numerous occasions that she doesn't give out personal information, specifically her social security number and that she wasn't interested. It must have been her lack of tone in her voice and the fact that she never threatened to call the BBB. She still hasn't received another call from them. I did good.
1 person likes this
@SageMother (2277)
• United States
29 Apr 07
Why in the world would you entertain this fellow pat that first attempt to get information. Why not just call the FBL or the FTC and report the 800 number and be done with him? LOL
3 people like this
@eaforeman6 (8979)
• United States
29 Apr 07
I totaly think this post is very important. You can never know for sure who these people are or what they really want. Its just not a good idea to trust them. Who knows what all these people might be involved in or up to. Great post and very good advice.
@BlueOrchid (187)
• United States
30 Apr 07
I would call the police. This is not normal business behavior, even for an agressive telemarketer.
1 person likes this
@rusty2rusty (6751)
• Defiance, Ohio
30 Apr 07
I am sorry this has happen to you. I am glad your DIL was smart enough to say she wasn't interested. Your right nothing is for free. Even if someone was to give you something. They do not need your social security number.
1 person likes this
@jennybianca (12912)
• Australia
30 Apr 07
These idiots won't give up. We regularly get warnings about con people ringing up families & individuals & trying to scam them. In particular the elderly are at risk with these fake phone callers offering everything, for a very little price,....
Just as well you were at your DIL, as you seem to be more forthright intelling this person where to go. Which is what I would do.
@crazynurse (7482)
• United States
30 Apr 07
That is so very frightning. I wonder how many people would have innocently given out their personal information. These types of people should be put UNDER the jail!
1 person likes this
@brianfb (33)
• Philippines
30 Apr 07
I agree in what you had done.This telephone scam is just a way to get personal information that is to be used in illegal activities,those people usually are involved in something shady and they need other people's identity to help them in their crime.These people need to be taught a lesson,and they have to be punished to the extent of law if they try to use a confidential personal info for their own gains.
@KarenO52 (2950)
• United States
1 May 07
That's scary that the guy kept calling back, asking for her social security number (which I've heard you should never give out for something like that). I don't ever give anyone any information when they call like that. They could be trying to pull an identity theft sort of scam.
1 person likes this
@ElusiveButterfly (45940)
• United States
1 May 07
Yea, she kept telling the guy that she doesn't ever give out that information and if the phone was indeed free, just to send it to her. I was so glad that the idiot called while I was at her house. I took care of the jerk. He hasn't called back since.
1 person likes this
@margieanneart (26423)
• United States
4 May 07
That is so scary. I would have turned it over to the police and better business bereau. Thanks for warning us about this type of behavior. You have a very wise daughter, must be like mom.
@lonewolfnan (4366)
• Canada
2 May 07
Scammers are successful only because of peoples looking to get something for nothing.Greed is the prime ingrediant for this stew.We have to be VERY careful of identity theft.Spreading information about how thses scams are presented is a great way of foiling the scammers.
@hockeygal4ever (10021)
• United States
9 May 07
You should report this to the local phone company also. They can trace the calls and hopefully figure out who is making them, especially over and over again. It can actually be a federal case if they are tried.
@samtaylorskykierajen (7977)
• Canada
2 May 07
Hopefully he got the message and won't call back as this can get rather annoying . There are so many scams out there now that even if you think it is the real deal it is better to have it checked out before you give any personal information whatsoever .
For awhile we were getting calls from a company that was trying to tell us we had won a free trip . I kept answering the phone and then hanging it back up again , sure that it was a scam , then one day it showed up on the news about this scam about a company calling and sayng that you had won a trip . The longer they could keep you on the phone they were able to trace some of your personal information . Not sure how they were able to do this but it was said that if anyone got a call like this to report it to your local authorities right away . I was getting these calls daily but once it was reported , I was never called back again .
If it sounds too good to be true then chances are it is !!
@elisa812 (3026)
• United States
5 May 07
Wow, that is awful! I hope he finally stops bother your daughter-in-law. I automatically don't trust anyone who would ask for my social security number. Why would they need to know that just to send her a free gift? That seems really strange. I just hang up on people like that. :P
@shani_raval (95)
• United Arab Emirates
30 Apr 07
hey thats strange... ppl do be careful of such things.. they may ruin you and enjoy themselvers...
