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Old 08-28-2008, 12:03 PM
 
27,214 posts, read 46,761,394 times
Reputation: 15667

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2 days ago i received a phone call from a person with an accent of a person from India. He claimed that I had participated in a survey (3 months ago, according to him) and I was chosen and won a $ 1,200.- alarm system with monitors, etc...

He wanted to know if i was the owner of the house ......at that point I told him I have an excellent alarm system + 2 pitbulls, monitors and loud alarm, silent alarm and hooked up to a company, and I had a gun......not everything is true what I told him but I got the feeling that this kind of phone calls is the first step for a burglery to happen to my house.....

Than he asked me if I had friends who I could refer him to so he could give my price to....I stated that all my friends were smart enough to have alarm systems and guns to protect them self and I couldn't help him.


I just wanted to let you know about this and I have no proof what the real reason is for this persons call, but IMO it wasn't something good.
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Old 08-28-2008, 12:37 PM
 
1,770 posts, read 8,251,143 times
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Instead of actually speaking to him, why didn't you just hang up the damn phone?
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Old 08-28-2008, 12:47 PM
 
Location: Tampa, FL
27,798 posts, read 32,455,798 times
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thanks for the heads up
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Old 08-28-2008, 12:49 PM
 
8,377 posts, read 30,912,353 times
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I would have said "sorry, I'm already a fellow burglar".
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Old 08-28-2008, 02:30 PM
 
27,214 posts, read 46,761,394 times
Reputation: 15667
Quote:
Originally Posted by PBCboy View Post
Instead of actually speaking to him, why didn't you just hang up the damn phone?
I thought about hanging up but than in a split second I thought that it might be better to tell him that I already have a alarm system.....we had a burgler in our house when I was 12 years old and the whole family was asleep and we had phone calls just before it happened...just calls and when we picked up the phone they hang up....I don't know if the know my address aswell, that is why I made this desicion.

Normally when they ask for money or something else, I just hang up and/or tell them that I'm on the do not call list which I also told this guy, but he told me he wasn't selling anything.
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Old 08-28-2008, 07:41 PM
 
80 posts, read 349,045 times
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Thanks. This is good to know. There are lots of scams, particularly those that prey on older people.

When I get a suspicious call, sometimes I tell them I can't talk now - can I please have their number and I will call them back. If they won't give a number, it's not legit.

Or, you could ask, "May I have the number of the boiler room that you're calling from?" LOL. TJ3.
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Old 08-29-2008, 06:16 AM
 
Location: Florida
1,738 posts, read 8,277,658 times
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when people call and start asking questions I always say "my moms not home right now." and they hang up. ....its kinda fun! my mom doesn't live w/ us and I'm 26 but it works. =)
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Old 08-29-2008, 07:42 AM
 
27,214 posts, read 46,761,394 times
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thanks for the nice tips....I'm going to use some of them in the future...but i only tell my kids not to tell that the parents aren't home, but just not available to get to the phone.
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Old 08-29-2008, 09:07 AM
 
Location: anywhere
1,731 posts, read 4,684,522 times
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One of the scams that is being done on the elderly is someone calling and claiming a member of their family has a huge gambling debt and is going to be hurt unless they pay up. This was done to my 94 year old Grandma two weeks ago not four hours after her sister died. Those scumbags called my Grandma and said that my dad had a gambling debt for something like 30k and he would be harmed if she did not pay up right away. Such a nice thing to do to an old lady who just lost her sister and best friend. Thankfully my Grandma saw through it as my dad can't even play Go-Fish let alone poker lol. She called the cops but of course they said there is nothing they can do about it as they get these calls all the time and have no way of knowing who made the call. When she asked the cops what happens when someone falls for it they said that is their problem and the elderly person should have known better. With that she told them to get out of her apartment. So you all may want to warn your parents and grandparents about this scam and the sheriff's dept lack of concern about it.
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Old 08-29-2008, 12:29 PM
 
27,214 posts, read 46,761,394 times
Reputation: 15667
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kathleen1971 View Post
One of the scams that is being done on the elderly is someone calling and claiming a member of their family has a huge gambling debt and is going to be hurt unless they pay up. This was done to my 94 year old Grandma two weeks ago not four hours after her sister died. Those scumbags called my Grandma and said that my dad had a gambling debt for something like 30k and he would be harmed if she did not pay up right away. Such a nice thing to do to an old lady who just lost her sister and best friend. Thankfully my Grandma saw through it as my dad can't even play Go-Fish let alone poker lol. She called the cops but of course they said there is nothing they can do about it as they get these calls all the time and have no way of knowing who made the call. When she asked the cops what happens when someone falls for it they said that is their problem and the elderly person should have known better. With that she told them to get out of her apartment. So you all may want to warn your parents and grandparents about this scam and the sheriff's dept lack of concern about it.
OMG. I'm so sorry to hear that, but i'm glad your grnadma is such a smart lady.
I expected that answer from the police and that is why i didn't even call but put up a thread and hope many people will read it and be warned.
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