I almost got scammed today.

Checked my email and found a message from PayPal to alert me that someone had requested almost $900. Near the bottom of the message was written, "Don't recognize this request?" and a link to "Report this request". Since I knew there was another email from them, I didn't click the link to report right away.

The 2nd email, received 7 minutes later, with the subject "This money request has been cancelled" looked legitimate and part of it read, "Fraud Alert: To report this, Call PayPal (828)212-4151 has canceled a money request."

So I called that number. The accent on the other end of the line sounded overseas, but it's typical for call centers to be located outside the US. I explained to them about the emails and he said there had been several attempts against my account today and he would walk me through cancelling them. He wanted me to type in a website (which I did) but I was starting to feel angst about the process. After all, I'd called a number I got from an email. What if I was being lured into a scam. When I told the rep I was having doubts about the legitimacy of these steps, he started getting defensive. When I mentioned that if I was talking to PayPal they would understand my anxiety, and certainly not get their ire up over it. His defensiveness continued. So I hung up.

I went to PayPal and got their phone number there. She told me the email was a scam and the phone number I called is not theirs. There was nothing I had to do to clear anything. Geez.

One has to be constantly alert. I have a rule now that if phone numbers or web site links come in emails, I tread carefully. Seems to have saved the day.

I follow the rule you outlined, never clicking on a link or calling a number in an email. A few years ago we got an alert from our credit card issuer about a suspicious charge. I called the number on the back of the actual credit card and it turned out the alert was legit. Our card number had been stolen.

BTW, did you ever go to the website they wanted you to? If you did, you might want to run a malware scan just to be sure they didn’t leave any footprints on your computer…

Thanks for sharing your story. Great reminder to stay alert.

We get funny email alerts and voicemails about expensive items we didn’t order, so they’re obvious scams and we don’t respond.

Occasionally I’ll click on a Google link and persistent flashy windows pop up telling me my computer is infected, of course with a number to call. I just do a Force Quit on those, then run Malwarebytes.

I haven’t signed up for online banking even though it’s convenient. It works through your phone, so seems risky if your phone is stolen or compromised.

One bank practically forced me to install their phone app.
I don't use it and and doing well without it.
Got the Paypal scam. I called the number. The voice was that of an Arkansas Baptist queen. Haha
The scams are improving. They are getting better at seeming legitimate.

I fell for one of these emails recently. It was a "thank you for your order" email and the amount was for nearly $700, to be charged to my bank account. I was too nervous that someone might have actually placed the order, so I called the number it gave to report that I didn't make the order.

Initially I did speak to someone who asked for the order number, then put me on hold. I started to worry that during the hold time something nefarious was going on so I hung up. I called my bank to ask them about what I should do. They put an alert on my account and instructed me to change my user name and password, which I was probably long overdue to change anyway.

I also ran an anti-virus scan on my tablet and phone, but they didn't come up with anything.

I do have an alert system on my bank account to let me know when a large amount is withdrawn.

So far, doesn't look like anything bad happened. The same day Mr Pique also started getting this kind of email and he just ignored it. Because he's smarter about computer security than I am.

I've gotten a few emails recently that have been addressed to Mr wtg and me both. His first name is abbreviated in kind of a weird way on one of our credit cards and my name on that card is my full first name, middle initial, and surname. These emails are using those exact names in the salutation; that made me very nervous. It's the same credit card whose number was stolen a few years ago, so I figure they got a fair bit of info about us.

I have multiple email accounts, so for that credit card, I changed the contact email address to something else. It will make it just that much harder for them to pretend to be me, since the email address I now use for that credit card is different from the one that was previously associated with that card. And I have every email and text alert imaginable set up on all the accounts to alert me when some transaction hits.

I’ve started ignoring everything. If they’re asking me, they are already suspicious and will block the charge if I do nothing. So why get involved?

quote:

Originally posted by Cindysphinx:
I’ve started ignoring everything. If they’re asking me, they are already suspicious and will block the charge if I do nothing. So why get involved?

I do the same thing.

In fact I’ve pretty much stopped reading emails altogether. No matter how many I block there are hundreds more of them and they rarely contain anything of value. My banks and CC companies send texts.

Wow, that's a lot of spam emails, Steve. I don't get more than a few dozen a year.

Few things:

Credit card companies don't automatically block suspicious charges. In our case, we missed the first text reaching out asking if we had made an online purchase; the CC company had flagged it as suspicious. The second text at 2 am woke us up, but that message was just for an online charge we didn't make. It was not asking us to confirm that it was legit. So as far as the CC company was concerned it was business as usual. We called and let them know we hadn't made either one and got the ball rolling on disputing the charges and getting a new card.

Texts can be be bogus just as much as emails. The "never click on a link or call the phone number" rule applies to texts, too.

We've also put a freeze on our info at the credit reporting agencies. No point in making it easy for the scammers to get credit in our names. Those identity theft scenarios are a nightmare to deal with.

They’re not spam, they’re just useless.

Your statement is ready. There’s been a change to your credit score. We’ve made the deduction to pay the gas/electric/water bill. Big sale. Review your purchase. Review your experience. You have a message in your inbox. On and on.

It’s exhausting.

Oh, those. I've been taking a lot of steps to prevent sharing of info from sites I visit, so I may not be barraged as often as many people are. Yea, they can be annoying but they're so easy to unsubscribe from. And I do sign up for some of the "bill has been paid" messages because slip-ups do happen.

That said, I bought something recently from a website for the first time and was inundated with multiple emails a day from them. Never seen anything like it. I mean, how much of an emergency can a cologne purchase be? I unsubscribed and they stopped instantly.

Now try to get Gardener's Supply to stop sending you catalogs...an exercise in futility...

During downtime on this trip I’ve been making lists of the things that I am going to do to improve my life when I get home.

One of those things will be to unsubscribe from as many email lists as possible.

I've been noticing a big upswing in spam phone calls and, even more irritatingly, in sales emails, "newsletters," yada yada to my work email, which I strictly limit to work-related correspondence.

Block/mark as spam is my new morning activity.

quote:

Originally posted by Nina:
I've been noticing a big upswing in spam phone calls and, even more irritatingly, in sales emails, "newsletters," yada yada to my work email, which I strictly limit to work-related correspondence.

Block/mark as spam is my new morning activity.

Spam phone calls got so bad here that I unplugged my internet phone for two weeks. I plugged it back in last week and so far it's been quiet. [Fingers crossed] Fortunately, I can afford to go without it when necessary (and my cell phone is always off when I'm home, so it's been peaceful).