Tedd Thompson

About 6:30 last night I received a call from a nice lady supposedly from Verizon informing me that I had a past due bill from for $5.62 from them and that they we going to shut my service off at 8 o'clock unless I made a payment at this time, of course she could take my credit card and do all this over the phone. This flustered me and caught me off guard, at first,then the BS factor began to set in. "Why wasn't I notified I asked ". "Oh you were , by text she replied". I don't do text period and nothing is or has been on this phone ever. "She replied that Verizon won't send a paper notice on that small amount and if I didn't want my service interrupted that I needed to pay up now or it would be a mess in the morning to fix." At this time my wife took the phone ( she had been listening all the time and she pays that bill) and informed the sweet sounding lady that no transactions take place over the phone at this house and that hell would freeze over before we would comply tonight,discussion ended at this point.

8 o'clock came and went with no change of service just as we expected. We tried to call Verizon and warn them of the attempt so others might be warned but Verison being the communication experts they are make it impossible to reach a human being and we gave up after 20 min on hold.


So if a sweet sounding southern bell contacts you about a late payment give her my regards....Tedd

jaunty75

Never give your credit card info to someone who calls you (as opposed to you calling them) as you have no idea who they really are.

In this case, you could have simply gone to Verizon online and looked at your account to see if there actually was an overdue amount. If there really was, you could have paid it right there with a credit card with no need to involve this lady on the phone at all.

I doubt very much any legitimate company would make a phone call over a $5 shortage. It would cost more to pay someone to make the calls than what they would get back in recovered funds. But by asking for $5 instead of, say, $50, $100 or $200, it sounds like a minor matter that can be cleared up quickly, and, heck, what's $5 on your credit card? The scammer counts on your nonchalance about the small amount due to give them your credit card number before you realize what's happening.

oldcutlass

And then the big bill arrives.

Kyle's 77 Cutlass

Oh my, what is wrong with people. Get a job and earn your dollar honestly. Now a days this is lacking too much. Bust your ***** and feel good about yourself of the hard work you did. Look back and see what you earned

455man

When my kids were like 5 i used to just hand the phone to them and let them talk to the scammers.

MDchanic

I've gotta say, this is a great scam, though.

It basically carves out the elderly, who are the most likely to be isolated, confused, and not in a clear state of mind, by talking about texting - anyone who is under about fifty will just look at their phone and say, "I never got a text from Verizon, and if I had, I'd have checked with my mobile app right away." A confused elderly person might not be completely sure what text even is, and might accept whatever explanation is given, and, further, might rely on paper bills, and so not think to check their balance on line (or even have their on line phone company account set up).

Anyone with any sense will see the scam right away, like you did, and hang up, thus saving the scammers from wasting precious time talking to non-susceptible people.

Very smart.

- Eric

tru-blue 442

Freaking scammers, hang 'em high...

redoldsman

You could probably use this on a scammer. When I used to get calls from telemarketers, I would act like I could barely hear them. They would start talking louder and louder and I would finally say, I can't hear you and hang up. Loved it.

barnfind

Ask em for their employee number or supervisor, it'll throw most of them off guard, Anyone soliciting (calling you up) is a no go. Or I'm busy at the moment Ill call back to clear this up usually will clear most BS up quick. Any restricted or private number is BS, I wont answer. Some states have strict laws against taking advantage of the elderly.

Lady72nRob71

Yep, very popular. However, most legit companies will send a bill by postal mail if there is a real debt. Not everyone has texting phones (me included) or even email. And the reliability of either is questionable.

My mom once got a call from 'microsoft' saying their 'satellite' system was picking up errors from her computer. Ironically she had issues with her machine. They wanted personal info but luckily she hung up and called me. I told her immediately it was a scam but had she did not believe me (an engineer) and had to call my sister, who had to research it to conclude what I said.
Microsoft doesn't give a rats butt if her computer is hosed, or even a thousand of them in a company (except maybe to sell a new version to hose them even more)...

Beware of anyone demanding immediate info or payments for anything.

Tedd Thompson

The call didn't pass the smell test right away, but it did catch me off guard for a few seconds. My wife checked immediately(after we hung up) our statement and later online and as expected everything was up to date and current but there was that doubt that a mistake on our part could have happened, that is situation that the scammers are hoping for. She was very smooth and had a answer for every question though some made little sense. I can see how some elder people (I'm getting elder by the minute myself) could get flustered and fall for this scam.....Tedd

nsnarsk65cutlass

I got an answering machine years ago when i was getting telemarket calls,The calls stopped,i don't answer the lan line unless i know who it is.I never give out any cc info over the phone ever.Nick