Just LOVE These Cryptic Phone Calls
By pyewacket
@pyewacket (43903)
United States
August 18, 2008 9:24pm CST
I have my message machine on 24/7..I don't have caller ID so my machine acts like an ID feature. Most times I get those annoying hang ups..You know. Phone rings...message goes on then...click. Whoever it was hangs up. One of the reasons I don't leap up the moment the phone rings as I always figure it'll be a hang up and 90 percent of the time it is.
Well today, while I was out someone called. I play back the message when I came home and it was like, huh? The woman said her name was Kim representing People Home Care Healthcare and that they had sent me a reference form to fill out but it was sent back to them as wrong address and wanted my correct address. She then gives the name of the person who wants the reference and I never heard of this person before....no one I know. WORSE...she gave the phone number to call back as 433-2600....uh...no area code????? I've been doing searches like crazy...I look up the name of People Home Care Healthcare...haven't found it..there are names similar but the one I found was in the UK...
Then I try a search with the phone number figuring maybe somehow trace it that way...gee, only a hundred numbers came up all with different area codes. I even typed in 800 then the phone number given to me...no deal...nada.
So like what gives with this....is it some kind Did of scam thing again? Oh and as an update. Some months ago I related how I WAS scammed by a phone call claiming it was FedEx and that I had a package and needed to send a Western Union money transfer..the phone number started with a 876 phone number which I later found out turned out NOT to be FedEx but some scam thing and originating in Jamaica...I called the legit FedEx phone number and nothing was on record for me of any package...I called my phone company to tell them about this scam...it was noted. BUT...a few months later, sure enough that scam phone number turned up on my bill at the tune of being charged near $100!!! Right away I emailed my phone company and gave them a link to an article that I managed to write for AC about this very thing being a scam...a day later got an email back stating that my phone company recognized the fraud and the near $100 phone charges were dropped...didn't have to pay.
Anyway...so what do you think of this other phone cryptic weird phone call? Think there was something fishy about this? Have you ever had a weird phone call and it later turned out to be some kind of scam? If you had fraudulent charges made, did you get credited?
Then I try a search with the phone number figuring maybe somehow trace it that way...gee, only a hundred numbers came up all with different area codes. I even typed in 800 then the phone number given to me...no deal...nada.
So like what gives with this....is it some kind Did of scam thing again? Oh and as an update. Some months ago I related how I WAS scammed by a phone call claiming it was FedEx and that I had a package and needed to send a Western Union money transfer..the phone number started with a 876 phone number which I later found out turned out NOT to be FedEx but some scam thing and originating in Jamaica...I called the legit FedEx phone number and nothing was on record for me of any package...I called my phone company to tell them about this scam...it was noted. BUT...a few months later, sure enough that scam phone number turned up on my bill at the tune of being charged near $100!!! Right away I emailed my phone company and gave them a link to an article that I managed to write for AC about this very thing being a scam...a day later got an email back stating that my phone company recognized the fraud and the near $100 phone charges were dropped...didn't have to pay.
Anyway...so what do you think of this other phone cryptic weird phone call? Think there was something fishy about this? Have you ever had a weird phone call and it later turned out to be some kind of scam? If you had fraudulent charges made, did you get credited?10 people like this
18 responses
@LadyMarissa (12148)
• United States
19 Aug 08
YES IT IS A SCAM!!! Any reputable company would give out the necessary information for you to respond. FORGET this one & FORGET them FAST 
3 people like this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
21 Aug 08
Amazing the kind of scams there are...what do people do?...sit around and think up new ones for people to fall for?
1 person likes this
@LadyMarissa (12148)
• United States
22 Aug 08
YES....it is there job & they make good money doing it. I always wanted an online job I could do from home. Only problem, the only ones I could find made it where I had to rip somebody off to earn my living. My conscience just wouldn't let me do it!!! If it's something you didn't order, just don't talk to them. If they are asking for personal information, don't talk to them. If they threaten you if you don't do it, don't talk to them. Even if they threaten to send cops out to take you to jail. They just want to steal your identity!!!
1 person likes this
@artemis432 (7474)
• Abernathy, Texas
19 Aug 08
Sounds fishy to me. You were very smart last time to do some checking - too bad about the phone bill (did you get that cleared off the bill?) I think you should do the same this time - sounds like you've started but if nothing comes up - ignore it.
Can you ask your phone company? And maybe ask them to block calls from this number. We have a VOIP phone from Comcast (we got a deal on cable tv, cable internet and phone) and it shows the numbers so I can look the full number up like you did (but without the area code) - I've found a lot of scammers that way. But I like caller ID's which block calls from numbers that block their numbers so you have no idea whose calling.
Good luck and keep us posted.
2 people like this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
19 Aug 08
Yes I got that phone charges taken care of by that scammer and didn't have to pay a cent. I would love to report this other "scam" thing but without an area code, since the woman "Kim" didn't give one how can it be traced? I plan to watch my phone bill though if I get any strange charges..can't imagine I would though as it wasn't like I called the person back.
1 person likes this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
19 Aug 08
Oh another thing...about caller ID or blocking, etc. My phone doesn't have one of the LCD displays to show phone numbers....just a basic phone..LOL, so I don't see how having caller ID would help in my case
1 person likes this
@artemis432 (7474)
• Abernathy, Texas
20 Aug 08
I use our answering machine to screen calls too. Because I can see the number (if I can recognize it - we don't have caller id) only if I pick up the phone. And sometimes I just don't want to anser the phone right then...busy, playing etc.
1 person likes this
@Lakota12 (42600)
• United States
19 Aug 08
unless you have contacted these people in the past I would say something like this would be a scam.
dont know what they would profit by but I think I woulod have the phone company check into it and see if they can figure it out and not wait for a bill to come in!
2 people like this
@Lakota12 (42600)
• United States
23 Aug 08
with out an area code you would think it came from your town hmmmmmmmm . But then again I get starnge phone nos up in my caller ID .
one of them started with a 5 then a space and when into something elses didnt even looklike a phone no.! then there are the ones that are all 9s or 0s
1 person likes this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
21 Aug 08
Without an area code how can even the phone company be able to track what place was calling me but nope never even heard of this so-called company before.
@irisheyes (4370)
• United States
19 Aug 08
We've been getting a lot of hang up phone calls lately but it doesn't bother me a bit. Everything goes to voicemail, even the cell phone calls and I almost never bother to answer any of it and neither does anyone else here. We are all the worst when it comes to returning phone calls. I'm also bad about answering email but I'm working to improve myself in that area. I kinda like email and it comes in handy (If only there were not so mch spam) but I've always disliked the telephone. Even as a teenager, I never liked to hang on the phone for more than a few minutes. I get antsy and start pacing if a phone call lasts too long. I doubt that anyone could keep me on a telephone long enough to run a scam. LOL
2 people like this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
22 Aug 08
OMG..happy to meet a fellow non-phone fan...even as a teenager I too never was too keen to talk on the phone long. I hate it when I do have to make calls to some customer service center though and they keep you on hold forever...I'm always tempted to hang up on them
@howard96h (11640)
• New York, New York
19 Aug 08
I get so many crank calls many of them scammers trying to get information, when a call comes in if I don't recognize the number then it goes to my machine and they always hang up. My machine does not announce my name so if they don't leave a message asking for me by name then I will not call them back. I also report all telemarketers since my number is listed on the "Do Not Call List" they are not suppose to call.
2 people like this
@howard96h (11640)
• New York, New York
19 Aug 08
Does your machine announce your name? That is dumb on their part not leaving an area code.
2 people like this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
19 Aug 08
Nope...My message machine says...Bonjour, comment allez-vous. Hi there, I cannot come to the phone right now. Please leave your name, phone number and a very brief message and I'll get back to you as soon as possible. Merci beaucoup. Au revoir.
The French throws off a lot of people I think...before I added the french to my message I'd be getting a lot of wrong number messages in Spanish. 
Was actually thinking of doing part of my message in German once...Do know a little.
Aren't I wicked
Was actually thinking of doing part of my message in German once...Do know a little.
Aren't I wicked2 people like this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
19 Aug 08
The weird thing about this call was that this "Kim" did mention me by name...which really still doesn't mean anything..but what kind of jerk doesn't give the area code for a phone number?
2 people like this
@faith210 (11224)
• Philippines
19 Aug 08
Hi pyewacket! Goodness, some people really try to find ways to scam other people. I think that we should always be on guard with these frauds. I hope that we won't fall anymore of their scam and I am really praying for that. This happened a long time ago, there are charges in our telephone bill before of calls that we never made. We complained it to our phone company and they have dropped the charges. It turned out that many of our neighbors have the same problem and the charges were also dropped. I was just glad that the phone company were very cordial in dealing with the problem.
Take care always..God Bless!
2 people like this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
21 Aug 08
Well it definitely must have been some kind of scam phone call. If it was really important they would have called me back and so far they haven't. I'm glad that those charges on your phone bill were dropped. It's like geez, one has to keep a eye open for everything nowadays.
2 people like this
@faith210 (11224)
• Philippines
22 Aug 08
Hi pye! Yes, that is true that we have to be looking closely on everything nowadays. We might fall into a trap or something like that without knowing all about it until we are really into knee deep. Disappointing aspect of life somehow. But there are still some people who are credible and can really be trusted and I hope their tribes increase.
lovelots..faith210
1 person likes this
@lingli_78 (12822)
• Australia
19 Aug 08
i never actually been scammed by a phone before... thanks God for that... i've got phonecall from telemarketers or marketing before... but that's about it... i'm glad that you manage to identify those scam phonecalls and not fall for it... good on you... we really have to be extra careful nowadays with those scams going on... take care and have a nice day...
2 people like this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
19 Aug 08
Yes it's really amazing the scams people can think up...people must sit back and think all day on what new scam to create...LOL
@highflyingxangel (9225)
• United States
19 Aug 08
It sounds really fishy to me. I'd be a bit worried about it really considering you can't really find anything about the company the woman claims to be with, you don't recognize the name of the person that wanted the referral and what not. I'd just disregard the phone call and pretend you never got it and just move on. If we get any strange phone calls at our house we just ignore them. If it's really important they'll call me back.
2 people like this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
22 Aug 08
It's been three days now since I got that call and they haven't called me back again...but yeah, the whole thing does sound real fishy to me
@teapotmommommerced (10359)
• United States
25 Aug 08
I have been sending back those scam emails telling the scammer that I am forwarding this email to the FBI. Did you know where is an FBI email fraud place to report fraudlant emails?
For the phone call I do not know what the heck you should do about it. I would leave it alone and make sure it does not show up on your bill next month.
1 person likes this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
26 Aug 08
I think you can go to the official FBI website
http://www.fbi.gov/
Here's the page for cyber investigations
http://www.fbi.gov/cyberinvest/cyberhome.htm
They have one link there..."Report Internet Crime" which I think you can file an official report
http://www.ic3.gov/default.aspx
1 person likes this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
26 Aug 08
Oh by the way..don't send emails back to these jerks...if you answer them then they know they have a "live" address and you'll only get more of them
1 person likes this
@teapotmommommerced (10359)
• United States
2 Sep 08
Thanks for the advice pye. I will remember that. I still am not going to send them any money.
@CatsandDogs (13963)
• United States
19 Aug 08
Oh gosh pye, you reminded me of something that happened about 17 years ago. Hubby and I just got married and were stationed in Texas and I got this phone call that I had won something and they needed my credit card number bla bla bla and I wouldn't give it to them and they kept on and on about my winning something and I wouldn't hear of it. This person kept me on the phone for about 15 - 20 minutes, I was young at the time, and I just knew it was a crock of bologna and finally I had to just hang up on the guy. He calls me back and still tried to get me to give him my credit card number and I refused and just hung up. He didn't call back after that. A few months later, we happened to be at my parents place and the same thing happened to my mom and she bought into it and I was at the table with her and kept telling her NO MOM NO!! Don't do it!! but she wouldn't listen, we could tell that she wanted to believe and then she wanted to believe us but she leaned more his way than ours and gave him her credit card number! UGH!! She didn't win squat but a few riduclous things but it cost her $500.!! I tried to stop her but she got a deal that was too good to be true in the REAL sense. Needless to say, she never ever did it again.
2 people like this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
19 Aug 08
Gee so there was even an identity theft kind of thing now...you hear of that more nowadays than say 17 years ago. I never give out credit card info or my social security number. I actually came across another scam thing sometime ago...It was collection agency and rather than call them or write I thought I'd email them...well right away a page comes up and says please type in your social security number...like Huh? Why would they need that just to email them? Needless to say I DIDN'T, and closed the page. Turns out this one particular collection agency is listed as a scam one.. they even pester people for old debts that were paid for
1 person likes this
@snowy22315 (169889)
• United States
19 Aug 08
I never had anything like that happen to me fortunately. I dont get that many calls and if it is anumber I dont recognize I usually dont answer the phone. If someone calls with like a solicatation or something and I have inadvertenly answered the phone I will remind the person that i am on the do not call list. That will usually stop them from continuing with the pitch.
2 people like this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
19 Aug 08
I hardly ever answer the phone which is why I have the message machine to screen calls. I get a lot of solicitation messages...for auto insurance (don't have a car), credit card payment problems (paid off my cc in full), and on and on.
1 person likes this
@gemini_rose (16264)
•
19 Aug 08
It certainly does sound a bit odd pyewacket, if you cannot find anything out about it then it could definately be a scam. The way I see it, is if it is important then they will phone back another time. You do get a lot of people tryin to rip you off!
I think we have been lucky so far in that we just get it in email form, my hubby actually had one from either UPS or fedex the other day going on about a parcel that they had tried to deliver. He was going to go on the link but I said well whats the parcel you have ordered, he said nothing I have not ordered anything. I said well there you go then what you going on it for.
2 people like this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
21 Aug 08
That's weird..I've never known FedEx or UPS to email anyone...like how would they get the email address in the first place? I've never known any of these companies calling either...usually if there is a package they leave one of those "tags" that an attempt to deliver a package was made
1 person likes this
@Bluepatch (2476)
• Trinidad And Tobago
19 Aug 08
I think a lot of people are too absentminded when they make phone calls and realise they're off track after they've dialled the number.
A truly harrassment call just doesn't ring off and a crook doesn't do that much either.
Its a weird world with millions of phone users.
That's why this happens.
2 people like this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
21 Aug 08
It's strange that the person didn't leave the full phone number though...I just thought it was "protocol" to include an area code when giving out a phone number
@tamarafireheart (15384)
•
19 Aug 08
Hi pye,
I used to have several phone calls telling me I won something or other so I always say to well if I won sent to me but its you have to collect it but I will have to ring certain number but I never do because its just a scam, I also get letters as well and that goes straight in the bin.
Bright Blessings.
Tamara
2 people like this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
19 Aug 08
After I got that first initial 876 number phone call I got flooded with them...didn't answer as by then I knew it was a scam thing
1 person likes this
@GardenGerty (157545)
• United States
24 Aug 08
Wow, it does sound really fishy. I do not jump for my phone either. Even though I do have caller ID. I would not worry about this phone call. It could even be an accident, a wrong routing by the phone company, or a mis dial by the person who made the call, unless of course they called you by name, then I would be worried. I have a thing going on that a certain number calls me repeatedly. Hubby has talked to them at least one time, they were trying to sell something, he asked to be removed from the list. The thing is, when we look up the number, the cross reference says it is not an active number. Usually the phone rings three times, then they hang up. I get to where I "answer" the phone, but do not say anything, just let it run til they hang up.
1 person likes this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
24 Aug 08
That is the weird thing..this woman "Kim" did call me by name....it still must have been a scam though as I've never received another phone call back. Oh, don't get me going about all those phone messages I get from telemarketers though..like the message will be, "We have pulled up you profile and we can tell you how to reduce your mortgage rates." Uh, well really? They have my profile? Then they would know I don't even have a home..but live in an apt.
1 person likes this
@BarBaraPrz (45476)
• St. Catharines, Ontario
19 Aug 08
I think it's your Ma messing with your mind from the great beyond... 
Seriously though, 99% of those hang-up calls could be from telemarketers. Generally, they are told to not leave messages on answering machines. As for the message from People Home Care Healthcare (sounds like a bad translation from Chinese, doesn't it?) it could have just been a wrong number. When I had an answering machine with a pre-recorded, generic message, I would sometimes get messages from someone else's broker, giving stock tips.
Seriously though, 99% of those hang-up calls could be from telemarketers. Generally, they are told to not leave messages on answering machines. As for the message from People Home Care Healthcare (sounds like a bad translation from Chinese, doesn't it?) it could have just been a wrong number. When I had an answering machine with a pre-recorded, generic message, I would sometimes get messages from someone else's broker, giving stock tips.
1 person likes this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
21 Aug 08
I'm always getting hang ups...I was also told another "scam" are those telemarketers that DO leave messages and say Press 1 for a representative or Press 9 to be taken off our active list..so the deal there you press one of the numbers and wham you're hit with a hit phone charge. As far as it being a wrong number though..the woman "Kim" said she was looking for... and said my name. 
1 person likes this
@sumofalltears (3988)
• United States
20 Aug 08
The phone company here is very good about fraudulent charges. One of my daughters friends ran up my phone bill with 900 calls and they were good about getting those taken care of and offering me a block option so it could not happen again. I did have to call the individual companies that owned the 900 numbers and have it cleared, but the regular phone company dropped them immediately off my bill.
1 person likes this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
22 Aug 08
Another scam seems to be that it will be a toll free 800 number, but they try to get you on hold for a long time and it switches to a 900 number....that's how one gets sucked a high phone charge.
@ashar123 (2357)
• India
19 Aug 08
Its real strange and amazing that a scammer first called your Jamaica and you are in United Kingdom and when you didn't send him money through Western Union, how the hell he added the amount of US$100 in your bill. Thats real strange and how that can happen when you didn't call Jamaica for US$100. I guess someone in the phone company was on the side of scammer and I am really thankful to you for conveying this, as scammers have this way too to earn and fill their pockets.
1 person likes this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
21 Aug 08
No I'm here in America. I wrote a whole article about this scam experience. It seems what they do is call people up...the 876 area code appears to be a toll free number, which I thought it was but it's not..It wasn't until I did a search on my computer that I found out 876 is a Jamaica area code. They try to keep you on the phone as long as possible to rack up the charges...that's how I wound up with a $100 charge
1 person likes this
