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Raising two kids, I was always concerned not to answer the phone in case one of the kids were sick, in trouble, etc. Of course, I recognize their numbers, but it might be someone else calling on their behalf. A few times it turned out to be the case, another parent, neighbor, etc calling. Lets face it, two normal kids will generate a mandated number of crises in their growing years. Some more than that
Why have a phone if you don't answer it? You can always HU if its a prank, someone trying to sell you crap, etc. Of course, I realize, many elderly don't know the difference. Well, life's a gamble
That's a good point about emergencies and kids. I don't have kids so I just don't answer numbers that I don't know and haven't in a long time. Mostly, it would be someone trying to tell me I need a new credit card or someone trying to sell me something. I'm 58 BTW so I don't know if these scammers calling are singling out seniors or the public in general.
We get several calls a month telling us something we ordered is ready to ship. All we have to do is press one or some other direction. I am 71 and I have to think to remember if I have something coming. I no longer do that. I hang up and if I have ordered something I call the place. I have totally stopped answering any question on the telephone. It isn't safe to do so. And never say anything like "yes" that someone can record and use to make it look like you were doing business. These people are crooks.
I just got a call telling me I have not taken advantage of my free medical bracelet. I am sure they probably need my private information in order to ship it. I don't think I have ever said this before on the telephone but the voice was so high pitched and fake it irritated me and I told her where to go. It certainly was not to heaven. I wonder what list this got me on.
Its mot just the elderly, unless you consider me, At 54, to be "elderly" ( well I DO have AARP! ).
I got a call from my "son", who was in trouble in Puerto Rico, just before the hurricane demolished the island, telling me he list his ticket, was in a panic to get off the island before the hurricane, could I send money ASAP???
I said " this is a scam, don't waste my time, and don't call here again".
He quickly insisted he was my son. I said point blank..." one thing wrong with your scam....i DON'T HAVE ANY children!!". The phone quickly went "click" in my ear!!!!
I have called ID and don't answer numbers I don't recognize. If it's a local call I don't know, I answer cautiously. Its usually a sales pitch. But one time I got a local number that was for a resort. They insisted I could get a $2000 package deal for just $800. Really. I asked if tgey were calling direct from the resort, was the caller is number correct to call back on if we got disconnected, they said yes. ( it was supposed to ne in Florida), they saud yes.There are NO RESORTS in my area! AND im NOT in Florida!
Lol
Now to protect my father and FIL from scams, is another story....hope they are not gullible ad I an not gullible.
Things that make you go hmmmm.
For a moment I thought you were being cosmopolitan, and citing a "mot juste."
I just wanted to warn that I've noticed lately that all the junk calls are apparently local. They are spoofing local numbers. My sister had to change her number, someone was using hers and she was getting irritated call-backs.
When my mom was alive I told her if anyone called asking for money to tell them her daughter took care of her finances and that they would have to call me to get any money. I was ready to tear them a new one if they did call. The elderly are seduced by sob tails and those charities that constantly call are just as bad as the cons even if they are legitimate. I used to get calls claiming I owed money and the sheriff was going to arrest me if I didn't pay up. Right. Since moving I no longer have a home phone. My Dad, like his mom, got to a point where he was buying useless stuff off the tv ads. He had Parkinson's and developed the dementia that came with it. Perhaps with more people using cell phones instead of home phones these scams targeting the elderly won't occur.
When my mom was alive I told her if anyone called asking for money to tell them her daughter took care of her finances and that they would have to call me to get any money. I was ready to tear them a new one if they did call. The elderly are seduced by sob tails and those charities that constantly call are just as bad as the cons even if they are legitimate. I used to get calls claiming I owed money and the sheriff was going to arrest me if I didn't pay up. Right. Since moving I no longer have a home phone. My Dad, like his mom, got to a point where he was buying useless stuff off the tv ads. He had Parkinson's and developed the dementia that came with it. Perhaps with more people using cell phones instead of home phones these scams targeting the elderly won't occur.
They call on cell phones too. I don't have a home phone but get the calls on my cell. There are no limits. I refinanced my home a couple of years ago and one company is still trying to call me regarding this. They use different numbers from all over the country trying to get me to answer. One number they use looks almost identical to my phone number so it almost looks like i'm calling myself. I answered once and told them I don't need their business and to stop calling but it just continues.
Recently there seems to have been a huge increase in the number of scams, spam emails and robo calls. Technology seems to have made it easier for these cons. It also goes to prove that our government is all but useless when it comes to these sorts of crimes, or hacking, or anything technical. While I think about it, the government seems all but useless with everything it attempts.
They call on cell phones too. I don't have a home phone but get the calls on my cell. There are no limits. I refinanced my home a couple of years ago and one company is still trying to call me regarding this. They use different numbers from all over the country trying to get me to answer. One number they use looks almost identical to my phone number so it almost looks like i'm calling myself. I answered once and told them I don't need their business and to stop calling but it just continues.
Yeah but since my cell phone is rarely used and the battery is often dead I don't worry about it. I also don't answer if it is a number I don't recognize. It can go to voice. I also don't use my voice for the recording or my name. The standard greeting with phone number is all you get. My point, however, is that since they can't search for the number they won't know you are elderly or your name. With home phones all they have to do is a reverse search and find out how old you are and the potential to get scammed. There are probably scammers whose job it is to create lists of those to scam from phone books and reverse searches and sell them to other scammers. The problem lies, however, if you port your number from a home to a cell. As to the finance company report them to your state protection agency
Recently there seems to have been a huge increase in the number of scams, spam emails and robo calls. Technology seems to have made it easier for these cons. It also goes to prove that our government is all but useless when it comes to these sorts of crimes, or hacking, or anything technical. While I think about it, the government seems all but useless with everything it attempts.
Amen, brother. No land-lines here, and no one calls anyone here. Those that enjoy texting, do that. We get our communication via email. In a family emergency, someone can Skype. It's weird and so peaceful with no ringing phones.
And avoiding all these scams. Back in Utah, we got dozens of robo-calls a day. Don't miss it! Yeah, gov't is useless for this, as pretty much all else!
I've posted before about an elderly friend of mine (72) who was scammed out of a lot of money by the computer virus trick. Once you let those people have access to your computer, it is an on-going scam where they plant malware on your device and then keep calling you to fix it.
Our IT expert at work took one of the calls and with a trashed computer, we sat and watched how they did it (obviously he's an expert at how to track these things -- I couldn't keep up).
Moral of the story -- if you know someone who's gotten scammed by these people, trash the computer -- they are virtually impossible to clean up and it will be continue to be an ongoing drain of money
No need to trash the computer. Take it to Geek Squad or a similar computer services company. If they can't clean the garbage off, they can always format the disk and reload the operating system from scratch, You might lose data, but no need to lose the equipment.
I'm surprised that someone only 64 would be "clueless" about computers. I'm 65 and still working in a job as a manager but also administrator for a database management and billing system. We were the generation that started with the mainframe, but then first used the personal computer, and have used everything since. My first computer was CP/M with only 64k ram and two 8" floppy drives before the IBM PC or Microsoft existed. Now I have an ipad and iphone, and use a Surface with windows 10 at work.
As for that particular scam, I find it fun to play with them. Last time they called, I said I didn't have a Windows computer, so he told me it was a problem on my Apple. I told him I didn't have Apple either, I only had an IBM 4341 mainframe with 3270 terminal running VM/370. There was a few seconds of silence and he hung up.
The time before that about a year ago they called after we were in bed, close to midnight. I said "I'm glad you called, just a second" and then turned away from the phone a bit and said as if to someone else in the room "did they track the IP address yet?" and he hung up.
I am also of the generation whose worklife started with the 3270 terminal running VM/370, and I am a bit older than you. But many people never used computers in their daily work lives. And there are many much younger people today who use computers and have absolutely no idea how any of it works. Remember the word automagically? That is how most people use computers.
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You can always HU if its a prank, someone trying to sell you crap, etc. Of course, I realize, many elderly don't know the difference. Well, life's a gamble
