On 2022-09-17, Computer Nerd Kev <not@telling.you.invalid> wrote:

Ahem A Rivet's Shot <steveo@eircom.net> wrote:

On 17 Sep 2022 08:13:14 +1000
not@telling.you.invalid (Computer Nerd Kev) wrote:

Yep, that's what I do and they almost always hang up on me. The
delay varies a lot though,

There is another scam that involves calls that only ring for a
short time and hang up or hang up almost immediately if answered. These are >> call back bait - if you call back to find out about your missed call it
goes to a high rate premium number. You find out how badly you've been
scammed when the bill comes in.

Huh, I didn't know about that one. My landline phone doesn't do
Caller ID though, so it wouldn't work on me that way. On rare
occasions automated scam and political advertising messages have
been left on my answering machine though (I guess they detect the
beep). A convincing message left there could probably trick me into
calling back.

"This is the Canada Revenue Agency. Please call back immediately
regarding your tax return. Be aware that failure to reply, or
not replying truthfully, can result in severe penalties."

Yeah, right.

--
/~\ Charlie Gibbs | Microsoft is a dictatorship.
\ / <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid> | Apple is a cult.
X I'm really at ac.dekanfrus | Linux is anarchy.
/ \ if you read it the right way. | Pick your poison.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: Agency HUB, Dunedin - New Zealand | Fido<>Usenet Gateway (3:770/3)

On Sun, 18 Sep 2022 00:22:09 GMT
Charlie Gibbs <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid> wrote:

"This is the Canada Revenue Agency. Please call back immediately
regarding your tax return. Be aware that failure to reply, or
not replying truthfully, can result in severe penalties."

Yeah, right.

That would be a skilful spammer, most assume you're in the USA.
I've had no end of issues with my First National and Bank of America
accounts, also problems with my amazon.com prime account, the FBI seem to
have lost interest they were after me by email some years back.

Perhaps these spammers think Ireland is a suburb of Boston.

--
Steve O'Hara-Smith
Odds and Ends at http://www.sohara.org/

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: Agency HUB, Dunedin - New Zealand | Fido<>Usenet Gateway (3:770/3)

On 18/09/2022 08:29, Ahem A Rivet's Shot wrote:

On Sun, 18 Sep 2022 00:22:09 GMT
Charlie Gibbs <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid> wrote:

"This is the Canada Revenue Agency. Please call back immediately
regarding your tax return. Be aware that failure to reply, or
not replying truthfully, can result in severe penalties."

Yeah, right.

That would be a skilful spammer, most assume you're in the USA.
I've had no end of issues with my First National and Bank of America accounts, also problems with my amazon.com prime account, the FBI seem to have lost interest they were after me by email some years back.

Perhaps these spammers think Ireland is a suburb of Boston.

Joe Biden seems to think it is...


--
"Strange as it seems, no amount of learning can cure stupidity, and
higher education positively fortifies it."

- Stephen Vizinczey

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: Agency HUB, Dunedin - New Zealand | Fido<>Usenet Gateway (3:770/3)

On 2022-09-18, Ahem A Rivet's Shot <steveo@eircom.net> wrote:

On Sun, 18 Sep 2022 00:22:09 GMT
Charlie Gibbs <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid> wrote:

"This is the Canada Revenue Agency. Please call back immediately
regarding your tax return. Be aware that failure to reply, or
not replying truthfully, can result in severe penalties."

Yeah, right.

That would be a skilful spammer, most assume you're in the USA.

Yup. In the e-mail version, they even attach Government of Canada logos
to make it look more convincing.

I've had no end of issues with my First National and Bank of America accounts, also problems with my amazon.com prime account, the FBI seem
to have lost interest they were after me by email some years back.

For a while I was getting bogus notices of outstanding traffic tickets.
They did a good job of sounding threatening while omitting minor bits
of information like location, licence number, etc. One of them attached
a photo of a street I've never seen, complete with a time stamp stating
that it was UTC+2. Since our time zone is (currently) UTC-7, that was
a bit of a giveaway.

Perhaps these spammers think Ireland is a suburb of Boston.

I don't even know what street Canada is on.
-- Al Capone

--
/~\ Charlie Gibbs | Microsoft is a dictatorship.
\ / <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid> | Apple is a cult.
X I'm really at ac.dekanfrus | Linux is anarchy.
/ \ if you read it the right way. | Pick your poison.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: Agency HUB, Dunedin - New Zealand | Fido<>Usenet Gateway (3:770/3)

A good tipoff is that delay before an agent comes on the line.

Some of them wait until they hear a voice
before transferring the call

NEVER say "hello". The predictive dialer listens for that.
I always say "good morning/evening/...".
That usually gets silence.
--

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: Agency HUB, Dunedin - New Zealand | Fido<>Usenet Gateway (3:770/3)

It is odd isn't it that in the days when only some people had tape
based answering machines they tended to get used ...

And the tapes were easy to archive.
Try to save/download voicemail. No such option.
--

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: Agency HUB, Dunedin - New Zealand | Fido<>Usenet Gateway (3:770/3)