I fell for a possible scam

[Col7777]

I was on the PC and got a popup in the corner from the BBC News.
It was saying David Beckham (soccer player) was on the TV telling how he is making a fortune daily.
So I clicked on the popup, then I got a BBC News page and it was saying David was on a TV show telling people to get on this quick, it was about the Bitcoin thing, then there was screenshots of people replying thanking him and they were making a small fortune overnight by doing nothing, just letting the Auto Trade run.

Then at the bottom of the page was a 'Click This' to join quick.
So like an idiot I clicked it, it asked for my name and email and phone number, I entered that then got a page saying the minimum deposit was £200 and to enter my bank card number, I know what you are all thinking but I did it.

Then a popup saying because I in the UK my deposit hadn't gone through, at that moment I got a phone call from a Asian woman saying she saw I had just registered and could I verify my bank details, so now I realised something was wrong.

I said, "When I buy something online and it asks for my bank details I don't get a phone call asking me to verify so why are you asking?"
She said I needed to go through her first, I refused and hung up, 2 seconds later she phoned back again asking me to verify my bank details, I said forget it I'm not interested, she phoned again straight away, I told her to stop phoning me.

Then I got an email sending me link that would enable me to deposit the money from the UK, then I phoned my bank.
I got a security person on and I told them my story and gave them the email details etc.
They stopped my bank card straight away and are sending me a new one in a few days.

Then I Googled a search and found a page saying that there was a FAKE BBC News item being sent online about the Bitcoin, I normally never fall for stuff like this but that BBC News page looked genuine and like an idiot I fell for it.

Anyway luckily they can't take my money now as my card had been stopped but I'm letting others know just in case they get the popup and like me think it is real.

Edit: Forgot to add, on the fake news page it also said that a few banks phoned the BBC at the moment TV program was on air asking them to stop the broadcast as they didn't want this information getting out, this again influenced me.

Col.

[Cybermat47]

Good rule of thumb is to ignore anything you see that says “this is how you can make a fortune”.

[Reece]

I got a security person on and I told them my story and gave them the email details etc.
They stopped my bank card straight away and are sending me a new one in a few days.
You are very lucky!! :yep::oops:

[Onkel Neal]

I was on the PC and got a popup in the corner from the BBC News.
It was saying David Beckham (soccer player) was on the TV telling how he is making a fortune daily.
So I clicked on the popup, then I got a BBC News page and it was saying David was on a TV show telling people to get on this quick, it was about the Bitcoin thing, then there was screenshots of people replying thanking him and they were making a small fortune overnight by doing nothing, just letting the Auto Trade run.


Anyway luckily they can't take my money now as my card had been stopped but I'm letting others know just in case they get the popup and like me think it is real.

Edit: Forgot to add, on the fake news page it also said that a few banks phoned the BBC at the moment TV program was on air asking them to stop the broadcast as they didn't want this information getting out, this again influenced me.

Col.


Thanks for sharing your experience. Scammers are getting a lot better at deception these days, this could happen to anyone, even me! I moved into a new house and was ordering all kinds of household items from Amazon, Walmart, Wayfair, etc and getting the usual emails about deliveries and tracking numbers. Normally when I get an email from FedEx, USPS, or UPS, I copy and paste the tracking number from the email into the Fedex and UPS website one at a time. One day I was going along and I just clicked on the link to go directly to the tracking number... nothing happened but I stopped and realized, wth did I just do? :oops: I examined the links and nope, not legit, not from Fedex.

I'm almost ready to close all my email accounts!:hmph:

[Eichhörnchen]

If you would all email your bank sort codes and account numbers to me, I can put a stop to this

[Texas Red]

If you would all email your bank sort codes and account numbers to me, I can put a stop to this

:hmmm: How do we know you're not a scammer as well? :haha:

[mapuc]

If you would all email your bank sort codes and account numbers to me, I can put a stop to this


I would say he should put it here in this thread, thereby it would have a greater chance to be stopped.

Back to serious comment.

I think we all have during our life on the web, have made smaller or bigger mistake. We learn from it.

Markus

[Jimbuna]

That scam is all over the internet using different household names/celebeities.

One of the worst offenders for such advertising is actually msn.com

[Col7777]

Hi Jim, wish I had seen it sooner mate, anyway here is the name and email/phone number of the website trying to take my money.




Megan Davis | Agent at INV Center
Tel: +442039910009

E-Mail: megand@invcenter.com
Website: www.invcenter.com


Mailtrack Sender notified by
Mailtrack 06/11/20, 11:37:27 AM

[Jimbuna]

Hi Jim, wish I had seen it sooner mate, anyway here is the name and email/phone number of the website trying to take my money.




Megan Davis | Agent at INV Center
Tel: +442039910009

E-Mail: megand@invcenter.com
Website: www.invcenter.com


Mailtrack Sender notified by
Mailtrack 06/11/20, 11:37:27 AM

Most importantly, you got out in time :salute:

[Platapus]

This is where my rat-like paranoia saves me. I don't trust no body, especially on the Internets Tubes.


Glad you were able to get out with no losses.

[Kptlt. Neuerburg]

Just remember, if it sounds too good to be true it usually is.

[Col7777]

Thanks everybody for all your concerns and comments, like I said in my first post I'm usually more aware of stuff like this but this time I fell for it.

Anyway moving on I got an email from my bank telling me they are sending me another card but... It is a more advanced card with lots of new features, I can turn things on and off with this card by going online and either activating or de-activating certain features.

So now I have to be computer savvy lol, the thing is they didn't ask me if I wanted this new card style they are just sending me one.
Suppose I shouldn't complain, after all they were helpful when I phoned about my problem.

Col.

[Cybermat47]

Next time someone tries to scam you, make them waste their time :O:

https://youtu.be/_QdPW8JrYzQ (https://youtu.be/_QdPW8JrYzQ)

[Platapus]

Don't feel bad. Smart people fall for this stuff a lot.


Does anyone remember the I Love You virus that want around a while back? It was a pretty bad virus that messed up computers and networks.


The Frau was working at a computer security company. Their entire business was in designing protective measures against such viruses and in educating customers about the risks of viruses.


Her company was actively working on the I Love You problem at the time.



Yeah, there was someone at that company who opened the I love You attachment and infected the entire corporation's network.



Fortunately, her company had the proper protective measures in place so the damage was limited and mitigated.


So even people working computer security issues can fall for stuff.


Stuff happens. Again, glad you were able to get out.



But

[Col7777]

Talking about viruses, I remember when I was fairly new to the Internet and I got an email saying it had detected a virus, to get rid of it install this cure.

So being green at the time and panicking I installed it, activate this scan then got a popup saying it had detected the virus but only the full version could get rid of it.
To get the full version pay £XXX etc, luckily I told someone at work and he was PC savvy, he told me it was a scam, then he googled it for me and said you will have a job getting rid of this, and he helped me, he found a cure and sent me the information of how to do it.

Another time this was years alter I was at work and there was a young lad who I liked from another company in our control room.
He was working on a computer altering the program, he was very clever, we got talking and the subject of viruses came up, then he told me he had written a few.
I asked why he would do things like that, he said it was a laugh, I told him I thought he was a moron and and never spoke to him again.

Col.

[Pisces]

That scam is all over the internet using different household names/celebeities.

One of the worst offenders for such advertising is actually msn.comGot them on Facebook all of time too a few years back.

A Dutch celebrity John de Mol jr. (media-entrepreneur/television producer) went to court against Facebook demanding they take down those fake ads and won:

https://techcrunch.com/2019/11/12/dutch-court-orders-facebook-to-ban-celebrity-crypto-scam-ads-after-another-lawsuit/

Which seems to have helped as I don't get them as much anymore.

[Jimbuna]

Thanks everybody for all your concerns and comments, like I said in my first post I'm usually more aware of stuff like this but this time I fell for it.

Anyway moving on I got an email from my bank telling me they are sending me another card but... It is a more advanced card with lots of new features, I can turn things on and off with this card by going online and either activating or de-activating certain features.

So now I have to be computer savvy lol, the thing is they didn't ask me if I wanted this new card style they are just sending me one.
Suppose I shouldn't complain, after all they were helpful when I phoned about my problem.

Col.

Most if not all the financial institutions are now using this latest technology. I don't know if you use mobile banking but I can even adjust the features on my iPhone.

[Jimbuna]

Got them on Facebook all of time too a few years back.

A Dutch celebrity John de Mol jr. (media-entrepreneur/television producer) went to court against Facebook demanding they take down those fake ads and won:

https://techcrunch.com/2019/11/12/dutch-court-orders-facebook-to-ban-celebrity-crypto-scam-ads-after-another-lawsuit/

Which seems to have helped as I don't get them as much anymore.

Yeah, the crap used to be prevalent just about everywhere.

[Jeff-Groves]

Don't feel bad.
I got scammed myself!
Wife said she'd do the dishes if I did the laundry.
Wife is now on a camping trip and guess who is doing the dishes?
And she took $700 out of MY Bank account!!
:/\\!!

[Jimbuna]

Don't feel bad.
I got scammed myself!
Wife said she'd do the dishes if I did the laundry.
Wife is now on a camping trip and guess who is doing the dishes?
And she took $700 out of MY Bank account!!
:/\\!!

Your lucky, I told Nancy we'd need a $1000 at least :)

[Jeff-Groves]

:har:

[Jimbuna]

:O::03:

[Reece]

Don't feel bad.
I got scammed myself!
Wife said she'd do the dishes if I did the laundry.
Wife is now on a camping trip and guess who is doing the dishes?
And she took $700 out of MY Bank account!!
:/\\!!
The things we do for love! :yep:

Edit:
Forgot to mention, when the wife is happy the husband is happy! :up:

[Onkel Neal]

Here's a scam: Tonight I was looking for a ladder. Home Depot has a really good deal but "out of stock" (https://www.homedepot.com/p/Gorilla-Ladders-22-ft-Reach-MPX-Aluminum-Multi-Position-Ladder-with-375-lb-Load-Capacity-Type-IAA-Duty-Rating-GLMPX-22/303903543)


Ok, so I search for other vendors, Amazon, out of stock. etc.

Then I come across the ladder for nearly half the price at this site

https://www.lelafall.com/type-375-multi-position-lbs-capacity-mp-load-telescoping-ladder-iaa-duty-rating-22-ladders-ft-gorilla-with-aluminum

Whoa, this must be a scam, right?

According to Scamdoc, yeah, definitely.
https://www.scamdoc.com/view/205920

[Cybermat47]

Here's a scam: Tonight I was looking for a ladder. Home Depot has a really good deal but "out of stock" (https://www.homedepot.com/p/Gorilla-Ladders-22-ft-Reach-MPX-Aluminum-Multi-Position-Ladder-with-375-lb-Load-Capacity-Type-IAA-Duty-Rating-GLMPX-22/303903543)


Ok, so I search for other vendors, Amazon, out of stock. etc.

Then I come across the ladder for nearly half the price at this site

https://www.lelafall.com/type-375-multi-position-lbs-capacity-mp-load-telescoping-ladder-iaa-duty-rating-22-ladders-ft-gorilla-with-aluminum

Whoa, this must be a scam, right?

According to Scamdoc, yeah, definitely.
https://www.scamdoc.com/view/205920

Love how that store sells dresses, jewellery, clothes, and apparently this one specific kind of ladder.

[Col7777]

Glad you took STEPS in the right direction and checked first.

Col.

[Jimbuna]

Here's a scam: Tonight I was looking for a ladder. Home Depot has a really good deal but "out of stock" (https://www.homedepot.com/p/Gorilla-Ladders-22-ft-Reach-MPX-Aluminum-Multi-Position-Ladder-with-375-lb-Load-Capacity-Type-IAA-Duty-Rating-GLMPX-22/303903543)


Ok, so I search for other vendors, Amazon, out of stock. etc.

Then I come across the ladder for nearly half the price at this site

https://www.lelafall.com/type-375-multi-position-lbs-capacity-mp-load-telescoping-ladder-iaa-duty-rating-22-ladders-ft-gorilla-with-aluminum

Whoa, this must be a scam, right?

According to Scamdoc, yeah, definitely.
https://www.scamdoc.com/view/205920

That's a good site Neal and fortunately I've never had to ignore it, only used it on a couple of occasions though.

[Onkel Neal]

It's becoming more prevalent than ever. Facebook ads are estimated to be 50% fake store fronts. (https://www.freep.com/story/money/personal-finance/susan-tompor/2019/12/11/facebook-ad-shopping-scams-paypal/4351882002/)

https://www.aarp.org/money/scams-fraud/info-2019/online-shopping.html

Bass, the attorney in Austin, was in the market for a coat when the Facebook ad caught her eye.

She’d bought a number of sweaters, scarves and shoes from similar ads without any issues. So she followed the link and purchased two coats from KeliSexin. She didn’t pay attention to the URL, she said, and assumed that the social media site had vetted the ad. A spokeswoman for Facebook said an automated system reviews ads to make sure they’re not selling prohibited items such as tobacco, dietary supplements and payday loans. Identifying companies that sell counterfeit products, she said, can be more difficult, and Facebook often relies on user reports to flag such content. She added that the company is reviewing KeliSexin’s ads.

Bass said she typically reads customer reviews and does reverse image searches for products on websites she’s not familiar with. “But this time I didn’t,” she said. “And I got burned.”

She used a debit card to pay $112.49 for two coats. Weeks later, she’s still trying to get a refund for the order, which arrived from a San Diego warehouse.

When she asked to return the coat, a company representative told her she’d have to ship it to China, according to emails Bass shared with The Post. “It may be lost in the process of returning,” the representative told her. “If lost, we can’t refund the money to you.”

Getting a refund, experts say, can often be difficult. Most consumers don’t catch on until days or weeks later, when they receive a faulty product in the mail (or perhaps nothing at all). By then, the site in question has probably been shut down, leaving shoppers with little recourse.

Kevin Whitaker didn’t have particularly high expectations when he paid $54 for a shearling sheepskin coat from Neathot.com. But he liked the color and thought it looked nice.

“I figured it was an imitation but I read the reviews and thought I’d just wear it casually,” the Pittsburgh-based truck driver said.

He paid an extra $6.95 for three-day shipping. Two weeks later, he has yet to receive anything from the now-defunct website. (As for the item in the photo, it turned out to have been a $3,395 Overland coat.)

“This was my first time buying from a site I don’t know and I’ll never do it again,” he said. “I feel cheated.”

[Platapus]

She didn’t pay attention to the URL, she said


Strike One. Always check the URL in a link before you click on it



assumed that the social media site had vetted the ad.



Strike Two. Trusting Social Media to vet things is naive at best, downright stupid at worst.


Bass said she typically reads customer reviews


Strike Three. Online reviews have lost all credibility with me. With people being hired to either place poor reviews or worse posting good reviews to make companies look better, online reviews are not worth the binary digits it takes to store them. Yet another example of something that started out good but became perverted by businesses.



Sounds like this lady really needs to learn about the Internets Tubes and how it is an ugly world out there.

[Col7777]

Well yesterday I got a phone call, I didn't recognise the number but I answered it, before you say I shouldn't because it was unrecognised I recently got a call from my daughter, she was using her friend's phone because her battery had gone, so I thought it could possibly something like that.

Anyway back to the story:
There was an Asian guy calling saying he was from the company mentioned in my first post on this thread.
He was saying he could take payment and all I had to do was give him my bank details.
I told him I was no longer interested but then he asked why I wasn't interested, I just said, it was a mistake so I'm not interested, then he asked why was it a mistake.
I was now annoyed! I told him he was wasting his time, as I am no longer interested so thank you and goodbye!
2 seconds later he phoned back, I was going through the procedure of blocking him when he phoned from another number.
I told him to stop phoning because I will not be giving my bank details and why doesn't he understand I am not interested?
He again asked why I wasn't interested so this time I said OK, why are you not understanding what I'm saying, answer me that?
He said I was being rude all he was doing was trying to help me, I said, OK thank you but I no longer am interested, again he kept on, so I just left him connected seeing as he phoned me it was his phone bill.
After a while I listened and he was still connected but not talking, so I pretended I was on another phone and let him hear me supposedly talking to the police, I was reporting him and giving them his number, I carried on a conversation as though I was actually talking to someone.
I then heard him disconnect.

I blocked that number too, but it shows these people don't give up, I'm guessing there may have been others who fell for the scam as I did and he was chasing up possible leads in the hope he may get lucky.

[Jimbuna]

My usual and favourite response.....putting the cordless phone next to the tv or radio and going back into the man cave.

[Eichhörnchen]

You only needed to ask him what he's wearing... maybe ladies' things? Then say you'd like to think he was. I don't reckon he'd have been on for much longer... but I could be wrong :timeout:

[Jimbuna]

That wouldn't have put me :O:

[Pisces]

I would have put that on me :O:Fixed that for you! :O:

[Eichhörnchen]

^ Also fishnet stockings and suspenders

[ForceGhost]

I’ve seen people fall for MUCH more obvious scams before, live and learn mate! :Kaleun_Salute:

[Onkel Neal]

I never engage with anyone on the phone, I simply shout Not interested! and bang--hang up. Feels good, too. :03:

[Jimbuna]

Having the last word is always gratifying.

[vienna]

I never answer my phone directly if I don't know the number, I just let it go to voicemail, taking the attitude of 'if its a legit call, they will leave a message'; also, if it is a nuisance call, I can just delete the message from voicemail; I used to answer the phone directly, but got tired of all the robocalls and scam attempts and I found the number of such calls declined markedly when I stopped answering directly, so I'm guessing the callers are probably figuring either the number they called is a dead drop and/or the likelihood of making an actual score is virtually null; if it is an unknown number, I sometimes do a 'Net search of the number to see if I can find out if its legit; I have found a rather significant amount of the numbers have been flagged/reported as scams or robocall telemarketers; I have only found one legit number in my "Net searches...






<O>

[mapuc]

Ideas keep on popping up in my heads.

I'll tell you about an idea which popped up some years ago.

My landlord was at my home to help me build an extra wall, so one big room became two room instead.

During this 1 to 1½ hour he was there-he received 3 phone calls. All of them was from sellers.
Each time he used minutes saying to these sellers "No not interested" a few times and more.

This gave me the idea to create a special personal phone guard.

This mean when a person private or business person create an account at my company, they will be told to have two phone numbers.
One for absolutely private use.
One for public use.
The one for public use, goes through my company.

A seller will not get in contact with a member-unless the member gives a go ahead.
Even if he tries to call hundreds of times of from different phone numbers.
So if my landlord had such a possibility-he would get a text message from this personal phone guard -saying there have been x/xx attempt to get in touch with you, A email with more information have been sent to your mail address.

Markus

[Eichhörnchen]

Be aware of the phone call-back scam, too: the phone will ring just once... for a split second... then it will ring off. If you have caller ID you will see an 08 number (in the UK) and the idea is to get you to dial back to find out who wanted you. Then of course you're on the hook for a massive hit in your phone bill with a premium-rate call

I tried to report this online to our UK enforcement agency, but I was directed to select the particular scam I wanted to report... and of course this one wasn't on the list, so I had to leave it

Interestingly, after being plagued by these calls for such a long time, we find we haven't had any since the lock-down... I guess the buggers are all at home for the duration. I hope they starve

[Jimbuna]

Interestingly, after being plagued by these calls for such a long time, we find we haven't had any since the lock-down... I guess the buggers are all at home for the duration. I hope they starve

That's our experience too.

Sadly, the UK authorities can do nothing about malicious callers based outside of the UK.

[Col7777]

I got one from a lady in Verona, Italy.
She was trying to sell me of all things Olive oil, she spoke in English with an accent.
I was in the mood for a wind up so I kept her on, she said she was in Verona, I interrupted quick and said, "Oh I like your name, Verona, if I had a baby girl I think I would call her that."
She said, "No, my name isn't Verona, I'm in Verona in Italy." Again I interrupted, "I've been to Italy, it was a long time ago, I was in Milan and I took the train to Venice, have you been to Venice?"
She said, "No, did you like it?" I told her I went in that big church with the paintings on the ceiling, then went on a gondola, and visited a glass factory."

She then started to talk about Olive oil, I said, I was on a pension and Olive oil is a bit expensive for me so I buy the cheap sunflower or vegetable oil.
she tried again to sell me this oil, I then said, "Well I haven't got a passport now so I couldn't come to Italy to get it, I'm afraid of flying, keep reading about different crashes and seeing things in movies it has put me off."

She said, "Oh no you don't have to come to Italy, we can send it to you."
I said, "That is so kind of you but won't it cost you a lot of money just to send me a bottle of oil where as if I wanted some I could buy it here."

She laughed and said, "It was not a problem." I asked why she picked me of all the people in England to send a bottle of oil to?

She said, "You was picked out at random so you are lucky." I then asked if I could use Olive oil in my moped engine, she laughed and said, "No it's best just to use it for cooking, not for engines."
I kept calling her Verona as well and it was making her laugh, in the end I said it was very nice talking to her but I must go because I don't want to take up any more of her time.
She tried to keep me on the phone, by then she had given up on the oil and was just chatting, she eventually went and said it was nice talking to me and hoped I had a good day.

I haven't a clue why a company in Italy is trying to sell olive oil to people in England, but the lady was nice really and she did have a laugh and was polite, but it was fun talking to her as well.
I wonder how much that phone call cost for Italy?

Col.