Getting phoney with the scam artists

O-ho the Wells Fargo Wagon is a-comin' down the street, and it’s Monday Mail.

Music Man

Today’s opening is from the musical “The Music Man,” which is about a scam.

Scams

You know, scammers in this advanced technological age must make a lot of money just by volume, because everyone seems to be getting some sort of pitch now, either online or on the phone.

I just got this text Saturday on my cell phone:

“(Wells Fargo) Account Locked. Call us now at:”

I should put the phone number in the newspaper and tell everyone to call it, but I’m afraid I’d get it wrong and it would wind up ringing a private room in an assisted-living facility or something.

After reading the text, my first thought was: Does this mean the bank can’t open more accounts I don’t know about? Great!

But the bank doesn’t send me texts. The dentist sends texts, and so does the doctor’s office. “Reply yes to confirm your appointment,” they say.

But they don’t say, “Account locked. Fillings repossessed,” or “Need colonoscopy do-over. Call us now.”

Tech support

In the reader mail are responses to a piece last week on the “tech support” scam, which employs official-looking pop-ups or other online messaging to tell users their computers are in need of service. If users take the bait, the crooks charge for fake fixes, steal personal information or create portals into victims’ computers.

Here’s an email:

Two days ago I had four messages from “Apple” on my phone, all recorded, all the same. The message left a toll-free number to call back (which I didn’t). After seeing your article in this morning’s paper, now I know what was going on, and that it was not “Apple” calling (I do not own any Apple products — yet). The call ended with “Press 1 for tech support” and “Press 2 to hang up.” These messages were all on my answering machine. I guess someone falls for it or they wouldn’t keep doing it. Thanks for bringing it up.

Lois Tryon.

Dear Lois:

The message says you have to press a number to hang up? That’s pretty suspicious, too.

It’s what now?

Here’s another message:

Tim,

I've been called numerous times by these scammers claiming to be from "Microsoft dept.," "HP," or other credentialed groups. They want you to press the Windows key ("The key in the lower left-hand section of the keyboard that has four boxes on it and is next to the Ctrl key") and the "R" key at the same time (which brings up the command box), then run the built-in error log program that lists every glitch your computer has ever experienced since you first turned it on. Seeing the tens of thousands of errors this file has logged scares people into thinking these hackers are for real. I manage to keep them on the phone for an average of 10 minutes while I "boot up" a problematic machine (while hearing them salivate in anticipation of a big payoff). Eventually, they will finally ask what version of Windows I am using. I say "I don't use Windows, I use Ubuntu Linux." At this point he/she says for me to wait a minute, and shortly the line goes dead. I go on with my business, knowing that for 10 minutes or so, that fool has not been able to contact some unsuspecting person that would fall for his/her lies….

Best regards as always,

David.

Dear David:

Were a woman on the line, I might try to creep her out by asking questions like: What are you wearing? Do you work out? Ever talk dirty with a client? Is this call being recorded for customer satisfaction?

This story was originally published June 11, 2017 at 7:17 PM with the headline "Getting phoney with the scam artists."