This happened to me just yesterday. It doesn't equate to your story RamBRO because I didn't lose any money. I'm not really sure what they were after on this call. I suppose their intent might have been to eventually get me to wire money. I really don't know. Whatever it was, it didn't take me long to figure out they weren't on the up and up. Here's what happened:
Got a call on my landline from 847-185-5225 (out of area) yesterday morning. Normally I don't answer calls from "out of area" if it's a number I don't recognize but I was in my kitchen when the call came in and believe it or not, my kitchen wall phone is an antique princess phone installed back in 1994 so it has no caller ID capabilities. Even though I don't normally do it 'cause I can't see who's calling, I took a chance and answered. My first clue that something wasn't on the up and up was hearing that bubble-blip noise you get when it's a scam call from one of those scummy call centers. The call makes that noise when it reaches a human voice. I've heard it hundreds of times so my antennae were up..
After I said "Hello?" twice, a young woman's voice said, "Mom? Don't freak out, ok. This is your daughter and I've been in a car accident." She sounded traumatized and like she'd been crying. My heart jumped into my throat as I went into mommy mode. I'm
thinking, "oh Lord, Kara... no-o-o-o". I asked, "What happened? Are you hurt? Where are you?" "She said she was at the police station downtown because she'd been arrested for a DUI. She said the car was totaled and that the woman she hit was pregnant. Ok, now wait just a doggone minute. Alarm bells are going off now and I KNOW this is not Kara I'm talking to. 1) It's a Wednesday morning. I know that MY daughter is at work ... way out in the suburbs... nowhere near downtown 2) MY daughter would never, ever, never, not EVER drink and drive. No frickin' way. My family has about 7 uncomfortable, inconvenient, and hard years' experience of living with the aftermath from a DUI conviction and let's just say I KNOW what she was saying was screwy. Besides, her voice didn't really sound like Kara.
So I asked, "What is your name?" She said, "MOM! It's your daughter!" Hold the phone. My daughter would never answer me like that. Her lame ass answer told me all I needed to know. She was crying into the phone and trying to talk but she wasn't answering my question. Now I'm yelling 'cause I'm pissed. "WHAT IS YOUR NAME!" She kept saying "Mom... MOM.. I'm your daughter". WRONG!! And at that point, the jig was up 'cause I hung up.
What I did RIGHT on this call was I never mentioned my daughter's name. The caller didn't know what my daughter's name was because she didn't know it when she called and I sure as heck didn't use it on the call. I learned a long time ago to never use the word YES or to offer any information or confirm any information to anyone calIing that I don't know or don't want to talk to. Not being so trusting makes me come across as not very nice sometimes but I'm certain that it's saved my butt, too.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/28/2021 02:05PM by MamaRAMa.