New Cruise Scam

[wwcruisers]

We've recorded a message saying "if you want money, hang up now, otherwise leave a message"....works like a champ!!!:eek:

 

Love it! :D

Thank goodness for caller ID, right? But, it sounds like the more advanced scammers are even finding ways around that! :mad:

[Gloria Mundi]

Love it! :D

Thank goodness for caller ID, right? But, it sounds like the more advanced scammers are even finding ways around that! :mad:

 

How? If we don't recognize the number or name on Caller ID we don't pick up. I then hang by the phone to see if they leave a message, in case it's something important, but that rarely happens. Unless they manage to masquerade by having my parents' phone number show up instead of theirs, I'm not picking up.

 

I try to be polite to telemarketers; for the most part they're trying to make a living at a crappy job and if there's a scam involved the big bucks go to someone higher up the food chain. I just tell them I don't buy from/donate to any organization that calls me on the phone, then I hang up.

[wwcruisers]

How? If we don't recognize the number or name on Caller ID we don't pick up. I then hang by the phone to see if they leave a message, in case it's something important, but that rarely happens. Unless they manage to masquerade by having my parents' phone number show up instead of theirs, I'm not picking up.

 

I try to be polite to telemarketers; for the most part they're trying to make a living at a crappy job and if there's a scam involved the big bucks go to someone higher up the food chain. I just tell them I don't buy from/donate to any organization that calls me on the phone, then I hang up.

 

I think it's called "spoofing" a number (or something like that). Saw something on the news that the scammers can make a fake ID to show up on your phone. Hasn't happened to me, yet -- and if it does, I can guarantee that this little old southern-born lady will NOT be polite to the offending party! :eek:;)

[trev71]

I get them calls all the time. It so annoying.. last cruise when I booked I was with my TA and was booking a cruise and I got the captain is calling and I won a free cruise..

 

A lot of people fall for them Nigerian Scams a guy at my work sent one of them so called girls 10,000$ :|

[jocap]

We once had the famous: "I'm calling about Windows" scam...where they try to get your details.

OH told them that we'd just had our windows cleaned....;)

But- I always talk over the top, selling something to them and have now had a few saying that we'll be taken off the list, as we sound like a business.

[Tiggertastic]

oh dear, thanks for the heads up

[Taxguy77]

Wow....$5,000,000 bucks?.......they only offered me $3,000,000.......now I'm insulted and am never going to send them that fee......

 

I don't blame you! :eek:

[Taxguy77]

We once had the famous: "I'm calling about Windows" scam...where they try to get your details.

OH told them that we'd just had our windows cleaned....;)

But- I always talk over the top, selling something to them and have now had a few saying that we'll be taken off the list, as we sound like a business.

 

I had not heard about that one until today. A friend of DDs, who is quite computer illiterate, received one, and after telling the "supervisor" that she would have her DH call after work, heard some words she had never heard before. (She has lived in several countries).

[EdmPair]

If I have the time when such scams call, I feed bogus info to keep them on the line at least until I bore. I do it just to make the whole process slower for them and every minute I waste of their time, they are not calling the next number. Other times, I just hang up.

[jewopaho]

All of this being said, just ask yourself this question ...

 

Why would someone call you, totally out of the blue, and offer you a free anything?

 

There's absolutely no question that it's some sort of deceptive sales pitch. Sure, you can have some fun with the telemarketer, be downright nasty, or simply hang up ... but the only way to get your phone number out of the system is to let the caller know that you're on the Do Not Call List ... whether you are or not (you certainly should be, since it only takes a minute to enroll, and it's free). Incidentally, the same applies to cell phones. There are some pretty stiff penalties for violators.

 

I simply ask the caller for the name of his/her company, its phone number, and the supervisor's name, since I want to report this violation of the Do Not Call List. He/she can't hang up fast enough, and my phone number is deleted from its database. Here's the link to the DNC Registry ...

 

https://www.donotcall.gov/

 

If you still insist on talking to these hustlers, I have a prime piece of oceanfront property in Kansas (just off the coast of Nebraska) that I can let you have for a steal (literally)!

Edited November 14, 2013 by jewopaho