Quote:
Originally Posted by Nathaniel B.
I've gotten a couple of letters ("snail mail" letters) recently claiming that some of my personal and/or medical information might have been compromised due to a data breach *which is never reported in the news. 'Conveniently', I am also being offered some type of data protection and/or credit monitoring from some third party ... free *for a trial period, of course. After which, a non-trivial fee will be charged I'm sure.
Thing is, I don't recognize any of the names of the companies involved in the "data breach". Now, I know my data is being shared with probably hundreds of companies of which I have never heard. And these letters do appear very convincing - with phone numbers and addresses of various government agencies and credit reporting services and advice to put a "fraud alert" on one's credit report.
But I smell a rat. The return address is for the same company offering the "free" protection. 
Seems like trying to frighten people into buying your product ought to be illegal.
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That is a bit of new wrinkle, sending 'phishing' by ordinary mail; this would open those responsible to criminal mail fraud charges, which can be very serious; apparently, the sods who are behind these scams are either supremely ignorant of the law or have an arrogance unmatched , except by a few...
I don't get very many of those scams in my email, in fact, very seldom, but I have gotten a number of phone incidents. I never answer a number I do not recognize (I even don't answer some numbers I do know) and allow them to go to voicemail; unsurprisingly, not a lot of them seem to want to engage with voicemail. If they do leave a message, usually a 'robo' message, I just delete it an block the number out of hand; if they don't leave a message, I usually make a Google search of the number and, usually, block those numbers against future calls...
A good rule is to verify the source of the call/letter/email before responding. If you get a call or email claiming to be from a known entity and asking that you call back or click a link, don't: the best course is to go to the entity's webpage, get their Customer Service number, and call it to verify if they have, indeed, tried to call/email you, or if they have some problem with your account to be addressed. In some cases, the Customer Service persons will ask for particulars of the attempted scam so it may be reported to either their internal security or law enforcement. Bottom line is to never respond to a call or other missive as instructed by that missive, but, rather to contact the alleged entity directly via a known webpage or Customer Service number. If you don't know for sure who you are dealing with, don't engage them in communication...
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