THe Fake IRS Scammers

[WIMUSKY]

I've never gone along with it, so I don't know what happens. Have no idea what happens if a person "friends" them... Never will....

 

[brian4321]

I've never gone along with it, so I don't know what happens. Have no idea what happens if a person "friends" them... Never will....

I had read about it before it actually happened to me, so I knew what to expect. Otherwise I never add people I don't know.

 

[WIMUSKY]

I had read about it before it actually happened to me, so I knew what to expect. Otherwise I never add people I don't know.

Heck, I never answer the phone if I don't recognize the number. If it's legit, they can leave a message....

 

[gm280]

We found a way to stop about 99 percent of such things now. We canceled our land line and went totally smart phones. I may get one call a month that is someone I don't know and I just don't answer it. The quietness of no more phone calls is simply amazing now.

 

[GA_Boater]

We found a way to stop about 99 percent of such things now. We canceled our land line and went totally smart phones. I may get one call a month that is someone I don't know and I just don't answer it. The quietness of no more phone calls is simply amazing now.

As long as a phone has a phone number (all do, even smart phones), you will get scam, siding, windows, home security, etc. calls. They aren't calling a person, the calls are numbers auto-dialed by a computer. That's why it takes so long after you pick to hear a prerecorded message or live person. The computer flags that a fish is on the line.

 

[WIMUSKY]

Just got another FB request.....

We can't get off our landline. Cell service isn't the greatest at our house....

 

[ezmobee]

Had a friend from work almost fall for the 'ol Craigslist scam on a truck. Claimed he was a serviceman deployed and the truck would be shipped to them or some such nonsense. It had all the classic signs but get this.......my friend had responded to a NEWSPAPER ad! So they're actually paying for classified ads to scam people. Crazy.

 

[Harritwo]

Got a call tonight from windows, I told them i was glad they had called. I had a message on my computer telling me that i had a virus and asked them if it was because i was downloading some "Adult Entertainment" from the India accounts. Did that have anything to do and could they fix it for me? they immediately hung up on me. Got a call last night from the Law Enforcement Charity, I told them I would be glad to donate if they could tell me which cop would they bribe for me so i could bring my drugs in without hassle. They hung up after 20 minutes of telling me that wasnt what it was for. ( We donate every year to our charities which include the Navy Relief and the Breast Cancer) i just dont like the ones that call and pressure you into something without having time to check things out.

 

[gm280]

Bottom line is, if scams weren't so productive, there would be no scammers. But with such a broad cross-section of people with varying degrees of education and common sense, we will continue having new and more clever scams. It is how sick the world really is. However, I like to look at the positive things in the world. JMHO

 

[bruceb58]

Need this guy. If you look down the article, he will be doing it to the IRS scammers.

http://www.businessinsider.com/telec...cammers-2017-2

 

[HT32BSX115]

We found a way to stop about 99 percent of such things now. We canceled our land line and went totally smart phones. I may get one call a month that is someone I don't know and I just don't answer it. The quietness of no more phone calls is simply amazing now.

That does help but if you have to give your number out you have to give one of your cell phones numbers.

I got rid of my traditional "landline" last summer and subscribed to Magic Jack. I did keep my old landline number ($20 one time charge) so I can keep giving merchants a phone number (with a 2-ring answering machine on it)

Then I put a message on it that has the "SIT" tone followed by a short "pause" and then a short message saying to "please leave a message at the beep"!!

The SIT tone is explained at the following site

http://yourhomenow.com/sit.html

Essentially, having your answering machine play the SIT (Special Information Tone) at the beginning of your recorded message causes *some* "BOTS" to identify the line as "Disconnected" and hang up. Supposedly it doesn't call you again.

It doesn't work on all of the bots but I reduced my "BOT" calls by more than 1/2!!

Humans that call my number don't seem to even notice the tones and still leave a message. Just don't make the "pause" between the SIT and your message too long!

I wanted to keep my original number since I have had it for nearly 20 years. The landline company was charging me nearly $40/month for a basic line with NO long distance, NO caller ID, and NO voice mail,

Magic Jack is a super deal, uses your internet connection, and (if you buy 6 years [first year $35 + $99 for 5 years] it's about $2 per month! If you want to have 911 service connected to it it's $0.70 extra per month

Magic Jack also has free US/CAN long distance, caller ID and voice mail that will send voice messages directly to your email as MP3 audio files. There's also an APP for smart phones that will make it so you can answer the line on any cell phone from anywhere if you're waiting for a particular call.

I now give that number to all the merchants, warranty signups etc and I don't worry that they might give it to a telemarketer. I probably have 5 or 6 voice messages on the answering machine per week now. Before, I was getting multiple bot calls per day.

Cheers,

Rick

 

[bruceb58]

I have Ooma and going to try that SIT tone. Ooma is basically free except you have to pay local tax and fees which runs me $4/month. I almost never answer my home phone(Ooma) and only use it for outgoing calls. I have it and the modem/router on a UPS so it can work during emergencies.

 

[HT32BSX115]

I have Ooma and going to try that SIT tone. Ooma is basically free except you have to pay local tax and fees which runs me $4/month. I almost never answer my home phone(Ooma) and only use it for outgoing calls. I have it and the modem/router on a UPS so it can work during emergencies.

Magic Jack GO works about the same. $35 for the first year and $99 for 5 more making it about $1.90 per month. ($0.70 more if you want 911)

The device they send you looks like a thumb drive and you connect it to a USB power source (like your phone charger) and any router. I am amazed at how good these VOIP services work.

People I know, know to call me on my cell phone. Anyone else gets my "Home" number to leave a message on my answering machine (or I can use the included Magic Jack voice mail) I don't have the modem, router or Magic Jack on a UPS but I have thought about it..............


Let also add that I am planning to put together an Asterisk phone answering system that will require the caller to press a few numbers to leave a message. http://www.asterisk.org/ [free for non-commercial users]

That way, I get the rest of the robots that don't seem to recognize the SIT.

Any caller then would have to actually press "1234" etc, to leave a message. Only Humans will be able to do that.

Robots don't follow directions so the system would simply hang up on them!