[On-going Scams - Post them here]

Questions on how we spend our money and our time - consumer goods and services, home and vehicle, leisure and recreational activities
scrabbler1
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Re: [On-going Scams - Post them here]

Post by scrabbler1 »

I have gotten calls and emails from those claiming to be from Amazon telling me about an order I supposedly made. Unlike the legit emails I get from Amazon confirming an order, these phonies never address me by my first name. But just for some peace of mind, I will sign into my Amazon account to make sure there are no new orders, other than anything recent I know I placed.
Barsoom
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Re: [On-going Scams - Post them here]

Post by Barsoom »

scrabbler1 wrote: Mon Oct 18, 2021 1:06 pm I have gotten calls and emails from those claiming to be from Amazon telling me about an order I supposedly made. Unlike the legit emails I get from Amazon confirming an order, these phonies never address me by my first name. But just for some peace of mind, I will sign into my Amazon account to make sure there are no new orders, other than anything recent I know I placed.
It's a frequent scam.

It's not just Amazon. I've gotten it from GeekSquad, Microsoft 365, Home Depot, etc. Variations also include subscription renewals.

They want you to call their number to complain, and then they will presumably hook you on the call for account verification information.

-B
vested1
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Re: [On-going Scams - Post them here]

Post by vested1 »

Got one yesterday from 877-607-1961. The recorded message said that due to the delinquency in our utility payment our electricity was due to be disconnected in 5 days. It instructed me to press 2 to talk to a representative. I pressed 2, which was a mistake, and a man immediately answered and verified that we were late with our payment and would have our electricity disconnected in 5 days if we didn't pay the bill.

1. I asked him which company he represented
2. He answered PG+E
3. I laughed and told him I didn't live in California
4. He hung up

When I lived in California years ago we did have PG+E but the bill included gas and electricity, no way to pay only one. We now live in a different state in an all electric house so I initially thought it could be a mixup on our provider's part because of the option to talk to a representative. The recording didn't announce a company name of the utility. We've never been late on any bill, so I should have hung up as soon as I heard the recorded message.
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hsmith
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Re: [On-going Scams - Post them here]

Post by hsmith »

I was just hit by this scam recently - unauthorized credit card charges purporting to be from Apple. Call your credit card company ASAP if you see this on your statement:

APL*ITUNES.COM/BILL 866-712-7753 CA

The charges actually do not come from Apple but, rather, from a fraudster who has somehow managed to spoof an Apple charge. Many people have become the victim of this credit card scam over the last several years. Most reported that they were only charged $0.99 or other small amounts, at first. The small amounts are likely a test by the fraudster to check if the credit card is working, and to see if the charge is noticed, reported, and subsequently rejected. If the incident is not noticed by the cardholder then the fraudsters may take several hundreds of dollars from the victim’s account.

Fortunately, I noticed the unauthorized charges right away, and notified the credit card, and got the charges reversed. I was also given a new credit card number. Then the same unauthorized charges appeared on the new card number! Once again, I reported the charges to the credit card company, and the charges have been reversed. I'm still not sure how the fraudsters accessed my credit card.
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LadyGeek
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Re: [On-going Scams - Post them here]

Post by LadyGeek »

hsmith wrote: Mon Oct 25, 2021 2:30 am I'm still not sure how the fraudsters accessed my credit card.
I don't think it's the fraudsters. When you get a replacement card, charges on the old card are transferred to the new one. This keeps the "legit" charges from bouncing due to the new card. I'm betting your other charges showed up on the new card and the scam charge was part of the transfer.
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ROIGuy
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Re: [On-going Scams - Post them here]

Post by ROIGuy »

Years ago I got a spam email, on an old email address so I didn't care about that. I wrote back to the spammer " are you parents proud of what you do? Do they know what you do for a living? Im sure they're very proud of the person they raised trying to defraud other people". and few more remarks after that.

I must have really hit a nerve with that spammer, and I know he read it because the next day I got hundreds of spam email. I just simply deleted that email account enjoyed the fact that I got under their skin.
rich126
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Re: [On-going Scams - Post them here]

Post by rich126 »

I get a bunch of sms messages claiming things wrong with orders, or I'm eligible for some free gift, etc. The orders are often easy to ignore because I can easily check online such as with Amazon to see if there are issues. The AT&T one is more confusing since I am a customer but I refuse to click on links like that.

I can certainly understand anyone older, not computer savvy, or have other issues fall prey to these scams. I only wish enforcement was stricter.

I had something from Chase (I had a bunch of cards with them) and first got an email but when I called they weren't away of it. Then I actually got a letter in the postal mail but that seemed weird as well. I ended up just trashing everything and never heard anything again from Chase on it. I did forward the email to their abuse email address.

I do think many offices (doctors, dealerships, etc.) have systems that are compromised because anytime I give out my info, I often get "new" spam a few days later. In some cases I'm assuming they are selling the info or using a 3rd party that is selling info, in other cases I really think they have systems with malware on them and they don't have a clue.

I'm currently in my busy period of doctor appointments and I see a noticeable increase in spam emails.

Be careful. Sadly even companies send out mixed messages. My old employer tried to tell people not to click on links and would send out fake phishing attempts to see who reported it or who clicked on them. Unfortunately they also sent out numerous emails with links in them that we legitimate. Not sure how you train non-tech people with such mixed messages.
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Lynette
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Re: [On-going Scams - Post them here]

Post by Lynette »

Is it OK to click on an Unsubscribe link in an email. Some of the emails in my gmail spam folder claim to be from a legit business and have an unsubscribe button? Sometimes when I click on the unsubscribe, it asks me to confirm my email address. I think that someone has simply used a legitimate business to attempt to do some marketing - something like an affiliate. I looked at one of them and they are using a mailbox that can be hired in Las Vegas.
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ResearchMed
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Re: [On-going Scams - Post them here]

Post by ResearchMed »

Lynette wrote: Mon Oct 25, 2021 9:12 am Is it OK to click on an Unsubscribe link in an email. Some of the emails in my gmail spam folder claim to be from a legit business and have an unsubscribe button? Sometimes when I click on the unsubscribe, it asks me to confirm my email address. I think that someone has simply used a legitimate business to attempt to do some marketing - something like an affiliate. I looked at one of them and they are using a mailbox that can be hired in Las Vegas.
Do NOT click. That could be a way to hide a malicious link.

Or it could "just" be a way for you to give some nice info to a spammer, that the email is live and the owner really opens and reads the emails. That's not good, either.

RM
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heartwood
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Re: [On-going Scams - Post them here]

Post by heartwood »

ResearchMed wrote: Mon Oct 25, 2021 9:40 am
Lynette wrote: Mon Oct 25, 2021 9:12 am Is it OK to click on an Unsubscribe link in an email. Some of the emails in my gmail spam folder claim to be from a legit business and have an unsubscribe button? Sometimes when I click on the unsubscribe, it asks me to confirm my email address. I think that someone has simply used a legitimate business to attempt to do some marketing - something like an affiliate. I looked at one of them and they are using a mailbox that can be hired in Las Vegas.
Do NOT click. That could be a way to hide a malicious link.

Or it could "just" be a way for you to give some nice info to a spammer, that the email is live and the owner really opens and reads the emails. That's not good, either.

RM
I almost never click unsubscribe unless its one I know I signed up for. I will usually hit "spam" in my gmail account. It usually asks if I want to label as spam and do I want to unsubscribe. I just spam it, never spam + unsubscribe.

The gmail spam filter works well, no need for me to unsubscribe, unless its something I know I asked for.
likegarden
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Re: [On-going Scams - Post them here]

Post by likegarden »

Someone here wrote that by opening an Email you are already sending a message back to the originator that you are alive and read it. I never open suspected scammer Emails, simply delete them.
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LadyGeek
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Re: [On-going Scams - Post them here]

Post by LadyGeek »

Yes, that can happen and is called a "read receipt". Years ago, it was helpful to know if someone read your email. That's no longer the case and I have read receipts disabled.

Google your email program + "read receipts" to find out how to disable that feature. For example, "thunderbird disable read receipts".
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tortoise84
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Re: [On-going Scams - Post them here]

Post by tortoise84 »

likegarden wrote: Tue Oct 26, 2021 7:44 am Someone here wrote that by opening an Email you are already sending a message back to the originator that you are alive and read it. I never open suspected scammer Emails, simply delete them.
LadyGeek wrote: Tue Oct 26, 2021 8:01 am Yes, that can happen and is called a "read receipt". Years ago, it was helpful to know if someone read your email. That's no longer the case and I have read receipts disabled.

Google your email program + "read receipts" to find out how to disable that feature. For example, "thunderbird disable read receipts".
Actually it goes a lot deeper than read receipts. There's a thing called an email tracking pixel:
https://www.wired.com/story/how-to-tell ... track-you/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_beacon
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LadyGeek
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Re: [On-going Scams - Post them here]

Post by LadyGeek »

Good article, thanks. I should also mention that I have remote content download disabled in my email client (Thunderbird). That will kill the web beacons.
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Lynette
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Re: [On-going Scams - Post them here]

Post by Lynette »

heartwood wrote: Mon Oct 25, 2021 9:58 am
ResearchMed wrote: Mon Oct 25, 2021 9:40 am
Lynette wrote: Mon Oct 25, 2021 9:12 am Is it OK to click on an Unsubscribe link in an email. Some of the emails in my gmail spam folder claim to be from a legit business and have an unsubscribe button? Sometimes when I click on the unsubscribe, it asks me to confirm my email address. I think that someone has simply used a legitimate business to attempt to do some marketing - something like an affiliate. I looked at one of them and they are using a mailbox that can be hired in Las Vegas.
Do NOT click. That could be a way to hide a malicious link.

Or it could "just" be a way for you to give some nice info to a spammer, that the email is live and the owner really opens and reads the emails. That's not good, either.

RM
I almost never click unsubscribe unless its one I know I signed up for. I will usually hit "spam" in my gmail account. It usually asks if I want to label as spam and do I want to unsubscribe. I just spam it, never spam + unsubscribe.

The gmail spam filter works well, no need for me to unsubscribe, unless its something I know I asked for.
Thanks, I added trocker. When I hit the unsubscribe, I was using a Chromebook. It seemed to place some or other garbage in my gmail "All mail". Then I got a spam email from my scammer friend. He claimed he had hacked my account and gave me a password I had use long ago. He / she (?!) claimed to have hacked my email. I do not think he did as I think the scammer got the password from a website I used that had a data breach. He said he had put malware in Chrome and had made videos of my watching porn on the PornHub website!!! He wanted about $2,500 and then said he would go away. I restored my Chromebooks to basic and reloaded the email. I used a Password manager and 2FA where possible. My google accounts are protected by Googles Advanced Protection Plan and I also use Yubkeys for all of them. I also placed tape over the camera!

I have other gmail accounts for financial and Amazon! I think I will start to gradually let this email account die and only be a spam account!

Thanks for the help.

Lynette
Last edited by Lynette on Wed Nov 17, 2021 6:08 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Jaylat
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Re: [On-going Scams - Post them here]

Post by Jaylat »

I recently caught a scam, purely by luck:

I was charged $119 for Amazon Prime in January, which I thought was normal as I'm a subscriber. However when doing an annual search of payments I found a second Prime charge in April. I called Amazon and was informed that the first charge was fraudulent.

The charges were on my Chase Amazon Prime card, which I have literally never taken out of the house. A very hard fraud to uncover; if I only reviewed my charges month by month I would never have found it!

Tip: the "real" Amazon Prime charge should have taxes added.
random_walker_77
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Re: [On-going Scams - Post them here]

Post by random_walker_77 »

I got a call today, where the caller ID said "Citibank". The number, I later found, also matched their published number for their fraud department.

I heard an automated message warning of a suspicious charge. Did I authorize a $1498 charge today? Press 1 if not...

That lead me to a guy w/ a thick accent asking if I'd authorized $1498 in Indonesia. So far, this isn't that different from an actual fraudulent charge call. Then it got weird. He wanted me to go to my computer and was trying to get me to open a teamviewer url, whereupon I called him out on it and hung up.

If the "bank" calls you, don't give out any personal information. Definitely don't go to any URLs they tell you over the phone.

On a related note, this Mark Rober video about a variant of phone scams is both entertaining and informative: (he's known for the glitterbomb, and also the squirrel maze)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrKW58MS12g&t=2s
scrabbler1
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Re: [On-going Scams - Post them here]

Post by scrabbler1 »

random_walker_77 wrote: Wed Nov 17, 2021 5:42 pm I got a call today, where the caller ID said "Citibank". The number, I later found, also matched their published number for their fraud department.

I heard an automated message warning of a suspicious charge. Did I authorize a $1498 charge today? Press 1 if not...

That lead me to a guy w/ a thick accent asking if I'd authorized $1498 in Indonesia. So far, this isn't that different from an actual fraudulent charge call. Then it got weird. He wanted me to go to my computer and was trying to get me to open a teamviewer url, whereupon I called him out on it and hung up.

If the "bank" calls you, don't give out any personal information. Definitely don't go to any URLs they tell you over the phone.

On a related note, this Mark Rober video about a variant of phone scams is both entertaining and informative: (he's known for the glitterbomb, and also the squirrel maze)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrKW58MS12g&t=2s
In the popular 800notes website, there are 10 pages worth of posts about this Citibank scam.

https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-800-374-9700/10
Colorado Guy
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Re: [On-going Scams - Post them here]

Post by Colorado Guy »

I have received a few emails recently from "Home Depot", "CVS Pharmacy", "Capital One", and "Discover", for surveys, free prizes, etc. All you have to do is fill out a survey, select a "free" item, and then pay S&H, which means you need to enter your credit card number.

Looking at the email addresses, they are not from "Home Depot", but from another source (kypihztqf....). Regarding the others listed above, I don't have accounts with any of them, so pretty obvious these are scams. I was initially suspicious when I received the Home Depot email because I have spent quite a bit there this last year and thinking my credit information somehow got hacked, but with the others I have recently received, now believe it is just a random spam phishing type request. Fortunately, no credit card info was entered anywhere.

Be safe.
RetiredAL
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Re: [On-going Scams - Post them here]

Post by RetiredAL »

Colorado Guy wrote: Thu Nov 18, 2021 8:40 am I have received a few emails recently from "Home Depot", "CVS Pharmacy", "Capital One", and "Discover", for surveys, free prizes, etc. All you have to do is fill out a survey, select a "free" item, and then pay S&H, which means you need to enter your credit card number.

Looking at the email addresses, they are not from "Home Depot", but from another source (kypihztqf....). Regarding the others listed above, I don't have accounts with any of them, so pretty obvious these are scams. I was initially suspicious when I received the Home Depot email because I have spent quite a bit there this last year and thinking my credit information somehow got hacked, but with the others I have recently received, now believe it is just a random spam phishing type request. Fortunately, no credit card info was entered anywhere.

Be safe.
My very elderly Dad's email account continually gets the HD and CVS versions of those. They all seem to come from a Gmail accounts, a dead giveaway. They get marked as spam without ever opening them.

Opposite that, I was recently expecting some Best Western coupon codes that did not arrive. I later found them in my local Outlook's spam folder. These were the 3rd set of them this year and the other two arrived normally. Go figure.
Lynette
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Re: [On-going Scams - Post them here]

Post by Lynette »

Today I got an email supposedly from Fedex that a shipment from Walmart would arrive tomorrow. I have not ordered anything from Walmart. I clicked on the Walmart link but it does not exist. I did not unsubscribe as there is a scammer who is trying to find a way to put malware on the computer I use all the time - a Chromebook. I checked the account I started to set up with Fedex but I did not complete the registration. In addition I have changed the email account with which I sign it. Obviously this is another scam but the dedicated scammer who is trying to "get" me. I also immediately restored my Chromebook to factory settings. I am becoming an expert at that. The scammer had my full name and address. My information was in a data breach on a website that was hacked.

Has anyone else had these scam emails from claiming that a delivery is about to take place for something you did not order?
EnjoyIt
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Re: [On-going Scams - Post them here]

Post by EnjoyIt »

Lynette wrote: Thu Nov 18, 2021 8:29 pm Today I got an email supposedly from Fedex that a shipment from Walmart would arrive tomorrow. I have not ordered anything from Walmart. I clicked on the Walmart link but it does not exist. I did not unsubscribe as there is a scammer who is trying to find a way to put malware on the computer I use all the time - a Chromebook. I checked the account I started to set up with Fedex but I did not complete the registration. In addition I have changed the email account with which I sign it. Obviously this is another scam but the dedicated scammer who is trying to "get" me. I also immediately restored my Chromebook to factory settings. I am becoming an expert at that. The scammer had my full name and address. My information was in a data breach on a website that was hacked.

Has anyone else had these scam emails from claiming that a delivery is about to take place for something you did not order?
I get stuff just like this all the time. I ignore it.
A time to EVALUATE your jitters: | viewtopic.php?p=1139732#p1139732
Lynette
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Re: [On-going Scams - Post them here]

Post by Lynette »

EnjoyIt wrote: Thu Nov 18, 2021 9:01 pm
Lynette wrote: Thu Nov 18, 2021 8:29 pm Today I got an email supposedly from Fedex that a shipment from Walmart would arrive tomorrow. I have not ordered anything from Walmart. I clicked on the Walmart link but it does not exist. I did not unsubscribe as there is a scammer who is trying to find a way to put malware on the computer I use all the time - a Chromebook. I checked the account I started to set up with Fedex but I did not complete the registration. In addition I have changed the email account with which I sign it. Obviously this is another scam but the dedicated scammer who is trying to "get" me. I also immediately restored my Chromebook to factory settings. I am becoming an expert at that. The scammer had my full name and address. My information was in a data breach on a website that was hacked.

Has anyone else had these scam emails from claiming that a delivery is about to take place for something you did not order?
I get stuff just like this all the time. I ignore it.
Thanks!
ddbtoth
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Re: [On-going Scams - Post them here]

Post by ddbtoth »

hsmith wrote: Mon Oct 25, 2021 2:30 am I was just hit by this scam recently - unauthorized credit card charges purporting to be from Apple. Call your credit card company ASAP if you see this on your statement:

APL*ITUNES.COM/BILL 866-712-7753 CA

The charges actually do not come from Apple but, rather, from a fraudster who has somehow managed to spoof an Apple charge. Many people have become the victim of this credit card scam over the last several years. Most reported that they were only charged $0.99 or other small amounts, at first. The small amounts are likely a test by the fraudster to check if the credit card is working, and to see if the charge is noticed, reported, and subsequently rejected. If the incident is not noticed by the cardholder then the fraudsters may take several hundreds of dollars from the victim’s account.

Fortunately, I noticed the unauthorized charges right away, and notified the credit card, and got the charges reversed. I was also given a new credit card number. Then the same unauthorized charges appeared on the new card number! Once again, I reported the charges to the credit card company, and the charges have been reversed. I'm still not sure how the fraudsters accessed my credit card.
Also be aware that the Apple .99 cents is also the amount for the 50 gb storage subscription fee. But good catch on your part.
squirm
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Re: [On-going Scams - Post them here]

Post by squirm »

Lynette wrote: Thu Nov 18, 2021 8:29 pm Today I got an email supposedly from Fedex that a shipment from Walmart would arrive tomorrow. I have not ordered anything from Walmart. I clicked on the Walmart link but it does not exist. I did not unsubscribe as there is a scammer who is trying to find a way to put malware on the computer I use all the time - a Chromebook. I checked the account I started to set up with Fedex but I did not complete the registration. In addition I have changed the email account with which I sign it. Obviously this is another scam but the dedicated scammer who is trying to "get" me. I also immediately restored my Chromebook to factory settings. I am becoming an expert at that. The scammer had my full name and address. My information was in a data breach on a website that was hacked.

Has anyone else had these scam emails from claiming that a delivery is about to take place for something you did not order?
Everyone's info has been breached, esp with the Equifax disaster.
Why would you click on email spam link? Just look at the domain of the sender. If you didn't order anything from somewhere, chances are 99.99% it's spam.
EnjoyIt
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Re: [On-going Scams - Post them here]

Post by EnjoyIt »

ddbtoth wrote: Fri Nov 19, 2021 10:40 am
hsmith wrote: Mon Oct 25, 2021 2:30 am I was just hit by this scam recently - unauthorized credit card charges purporting to be from Apple. Call your credit card company ASAP if you see this on your statement:

APL*ITUNES.COM/BILL 866-712-7753 CA

The charges actually do not come from Apple but, rather, from a fraudster who has somehow managed to spoof an Apple charge. Many people have become the victim of this credit card scam over the last several years. Most reported that they were only charged $0.99 or other small amounts, at first. The small amounts are likely a test by the fraudster to check if the credit card is working, and to see if the charge is noticed, reported, and subsequently rejected. If the incident is not noticed by the cardholder then the fraudsters may take several hundreds of dollars from the victim’s account.

Fortunately, I noticed the unauthorized charges right away, and notified the credit card, and got the charges reversed. I was also given a new credit card number. Then the same unauthorized charges appeared on the new card number! Once again, I reported the charges to the credit card company, and the charges have been reversed. I'm still not sure how the fraudsters accessed my credit card.
Also be aware that the Apple .99 cents is also the amount for the 50 gb storage subscription fee. But good catch on your part.
Yup...I get this email once a month.
A time to EVALUATE your jitters: | viewtopic.php?p=1139732#p1139732
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ResearchMed
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Re: [On-going Scams - Post them here]

Post by ResearchMed »

squirm wrote: Fri Nov 19, 2021 12:07 pm
Lynette wrote: Thu Nov 18, 2021 8:29 pm Today I got an email supposedly from Fedex that a shipment from Walmart would arrive tomorrow. I have not ordered anything from Walmart. I clicked on the Walmart link but it does not exist. I did not unsubscribe as there is a scammer who is trying to find a way to put malware on the computer I use all the time - a Chromebook. I checked the account I started to set up with Fedex but I did not complete the registration. In addition I have changed the email account with which I sign it. Obviously this is another scam but the dedicated scammer who is trying to "get" me. I also immediately restored my Chromebook to factory settings. I am becoming an expert at that. The scammer had my full name and address. My information was in a data breach on a website that was hacked.

Has anyone else had these scam emails from claiming that a delivery is about to take place for something you did not order?
Everyone's info has been breached, esp with the Equifax disaster.
Why would you click on email spam link? Just look at the domain of the sender. If you didn't order anything from somewhere, chances are 99.99% it's spam.
Also, isn't just "clicking" a risky move? I thought that alone could cause harm, such as downloading malware. Is that not a potential problem?

An additional question is whether simply "opening the email itself", withOUT clicking on anything thereafter can cause harm...?

RM
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squirm
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Re: [On-going Scams - Post them here]

Post by squirm »

ResearchMed wrote: Fri Nov 19, 2021 12:18 pm
squirm wrote: Fri Nov 19, 2021 12:07 pm
Lynette wrote: Thu Nov 18, 2021 8:29 pm Today I got an email supposedly from Fedex that a shipment from Walmart would arrive tomorrow. I have not ordered anything from Walmart. I clicked on the Walmart link but it does not exist. I did not unsubscribe as there is a scammer who is trying to find a way to put malware on the computer I use all the time - a Chromebook. I checked the account I started to set up with Fedex but I did not complete the registration. In addition I have changed the email account with which I sign it. Obviously this is another scam but the dedicated scammer who is trying to "get" me. I also immediately restored my Chromebook to factory settings. I am becoming an expert at that. The scammer had my full name and address. My information was in a data breach on a website that was hacked.

Has anyone else had these scam emails from claiming that a delivery is about to take place for something you did not order?
Everyone's info has been breached, esp with the Equifax disaster.
Why would you click on email spam link? Just look at the domain of the sender. If you didn't order anything from somewhere, chances are 99.99% it's spam.
Also, isn't just "clicking" a risky move? I thought that alone could cause harm, such as downloading malware. Is that not a potential problem?

An additional question is whether simply "opening the email itself", withOUT clicking on anything thereafter can cause harm...?

RM
I assume the worst and don't click on anything. The other day i got a message from "Microsoft" saying "unusual account activity". It looked very official. The difference is it showed up in my junk folder, not my inbox which such notice would appear. Anyways i checked my account logins online (i think Microsoft has very good security), i didn't see anything (i also have 2fa). Then i looked at the email sender domain, it said Microsofts.com.... Oh those sneaky little *$#$#. Anyways, i was suspicious from the start as it didn't land in my inbox.

I'm not sure if opening an email triggers anything, i don't see how. Years ago spammers would send nude pics in their messages, so when you opened the email you got hit with that, but at that point i disabled the loading of pictures. now Outlook disables it by default if it's in junk folder.
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Re: [On-going Scams - Post them here]

Post by Doom&Gloom »

^^^
I got a similar email in my junk folder a few days ago purportedly from Microsoft. They almost fooled me. Reply domain was micro.com, but there was a grammatical error in the body of the message which I noticed first. These guys are getting better.
roamingzebra
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Re: [On-going Scams - Post them here]

Post by roamingzebra »

ResearchMed wrote: Fri Nov 19, 2021 12:18 pm Also, isn't just "clicking" a risky move? I thought that alone could cause harm, such as downloading malware. Is that not a potential problem?

An additional question is whether simply "opening the email itself", withOUT clicking on anything thereafter can cause harm...?

RM
Here is an external thread that talks about that:
https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/p ... l.1003672/

Some of the takeaways are:

1. "Embedded images" are images that are rendered in your email, meaning they have been automatically downloaded when you opened the email. That's a vector for possible malware. One dissenter, however, says that hasn't been a big problem for awhile. To be safe, disallow images in your emails and/or disallow all remote content.

2. SVG images are a risk for malware according to the dissenter above, because they can contain javascript. According to the dissenter, gmail doesn't allow SVG images.
Lynette
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Re: [On-going Scams - Post them here]

Post by Lynette »

squirm wrote: Fri Nov 19, 2021 12:47 pm
ResearchMed wrote: Fri Nov 19, 2021 12:18 pm
squirm wrote: Fri Nov 19, 2021 12:07 pm
Lynette wrote: Thu Nov 18, 2021 8:29 pm Today I got an email supposedly from Fedex that a shipment from Walmart would arrive tomorrow. I have not ordered anything from Walmart. I clicked on the Walmart link but it does not exist. I did not unsubscribe as there is a scammer who is trying to find a way to put malware on the computer I use all the time - a Chromebook. I checked the account I started to set up with Fedex but I did not complete the registration. In addition I have changed the email account with which I sign it. Obviously this is another scam but the dedicated scammer who is trying to "get" me. I also immediately restored my Chromebook to factory settings. I am becoming an expert at that. The scammer had my full name and address. My information was in a data breach on a website that was hacked.

Has anyone else had these scam emails from claiming that a delivery is about to take place for something you did not order?
Everyone's info has been breached, esp with the Equifax disaster.
Why would you click on email spam link? Just look at the domain of the sender. If you didn't order anything from somewhere, chances are 99.99% it's spam.
Also, isn't just "clicking" a risky move? I thought that alone could cause harm, such as downloading malware. Is that not a potential problem?

An additional question is whether simply "opening the email itself", withOUT clicking on anything thereafter can cause harm...?

RM
I assume the worst and don't click on anything. The other day i got a message from "Microsoft" saying "unusual account activity". It looked very official. The difference is it showed up in my junk folder, not my inbox which such notice would appear. Anyways i checked my account logins online (i think Microsoft has very good security), i didn't see anything (i also have 2fa). Then i looked at the email sender domain, it said Microsofts.com.... Oh those sneaky little *$#$#. Anyways, i was suspicious from the start as it didn't land in my inbox.

I'm not sure if opening an email triggers anything, i don't see how. Years ago spammers would send nude pics in their messages, so when you opened the email you got hit with that, but at that point i disabled the loading of pictures. now Outlook disables it by default if it's in junk folder.
Thanks for the replies but it turns out actually it was for me. It was delivered to me today. My church is helping furnish apartments for some Afghanistan refugees and their families. My church compiled a list and asked if members to donate items they did not need. I donated some items but decided to order other items from Amazon. My garage is full of boxes from Amazon - e.g. towels, lamps, cooking equipment, vacuum cleaners etc. One of the items on the list was for salad bowls that I ordered from Amazon. Apparently the sellers ordered the bowls from Walmart and it shipped via Fedex from somewhere in the US. I did not recognize the Walmart order number or Fedex tracking number as they must have been the sellers. The numbers in the email were not the ones in my Amazon order.
gtd98765
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Re: [On-going Scams - Post them here]

Post by gtd98765 »

One of the more common ways cybercriminals cash out access to bank accounts involves draining the victim’s funds via Zelle, a “peer-to-peer” (P2P) payment service used by many financial institutions that allows customers to quickly send cash to friends and family. Naturally, a great deal of phishing schemes that precede these bank account takeovers begin with a spoofed text message from the target’s bank warning about a suspicious Zelle transfer. What follows is a deep dive into how this increasingly clever Zelle fraud scam typically works, and what victims can do about it.
https://krebsonsecurity.com/2021/11/the ... ight-back/
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Tubes
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Re: [On-going Scams - Post them here]

Post by Tubes »

Woah, woah, woah! I almost bit for a scam this morning!

I was researching something (a class action lawsuit that just settled and probably is a hot topic for internet searches) and using the "past 24 hour" feature of Google search, I got a list of 10 promising sites for research.

I clicked one and it presented me with a "Prove your are human, press this" screen. I almost did. It was not a Captcha. It was something that clearly was not good. Backing out, I noticed the other 10 sites were previewed all with the same text. These sites were random sites with real names for various things. It looks like they are all compromised sites that are feeding this scam engine.

Be careful out there! Don't just press any "I am not a robot" screen without taking care.
ChrisC
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Re: [On-going Scams - Post them here]

Post by ChrisC »

EnjoyIt wrote: Fri Nov 19, 2021 12:18 pm
ddbtoth wrote: Fri Nov 19, 2021 10:40 am
hsmith wrote: Mon Oct 25, 2021 2:30 am I was just hit by this scam recently - unauthorized credit card charges purporting to be from Apple. Call your credit card company ASAP if you see this on your statement:

APL*ITUNES.COM/BILL 866-712-7753 CA

The charges actually do not come from Apple but, rather, from a fraudster who has somehow managed to spoof an Apple charge. Many people have become the victim of this credit card scam over the last several years. Most reported that they were only charged $0.99 or other small amounts, at first. The small amounts are likely a test by the fraudster to check if the credit card is working, and to see if the charge is noticed, reported, and subsequently rejected. If the incident is not noticed by the cardholder then the fraudsters may take several hundreds of dollars from the victim’s account.

Fortunately, I noticed the unauthorized charges right away, and notified the credit card, and got the charges reversed. I was also given a new credit card number. Then the same unauthorized charges appeared on the new card number! Once again, I reported the charges to the credit card company, and the charges have been reversed. I'm still not sure how the fraudsters accessed my credit card.
Also be aware that the Apple .99 cents is also the amount for the 50 gb storage subscription fee. But good catch on your part.
Yup...I get this email once a month.
Yeah, I get this storage charge once a month too. I signed up for that but recently, I got a .16 cent charge and when I looked into it, there was an .83 cent store credit against the .99 cent storage fee. We’re trying to figure this one out. So, I’ll be monitoring charges for a while to see if there’s anything odd happening. Next time I go into the Apple Store, I ask about this.
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heartwood
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Re: [On-going Scams - Post them here]

Post by heartwood »

Tubes wrote: Sun Nov 28, 2021 7:26 am Woah, woah, woah! I almost bit for a scam this morning!

I was researching something (a class action lawsuit that just settled and probably is a hot topic for internet searches) and using the "past 24 hour" feature of Google search, I got a list of 10 promising sites for research.

I clicked one and it presented me with a "Prove your are human, press this" screen. I almost did. It was not a Captcha. It was something that clearly was not good. Backing out, I noticed the other 10 sites were previewed all with the same text. These sites were random sites with real names for various things. It looks like they are all compromised sites that are feeding this scam engine.

Be careful out there! Don't just press any "I am not a robot" screen without taking care.
10 sites all with the same text does sound suspicious.

OTOH captchas have gotten stupidly obtuse. Ones that "find all traffic lights" in 9 or more squares and one is just a corner of one for example.

One from yesterday was activating Mastercard Debit cards received as rewards for health tasks from Aetna. I had ordered them, so expected. They came in an Aetna envelope. The MCs had a label with the activation information on it. So all good so far.

Choice was activate online or call. Tried online, all fine until "prove you are human at the end with "find the animal with an unreal head". All variations on frogs and chickens in fuzzy pictures. You had to do it 4 or 5 times in a row with no errors. Or it reset and started over. After 4 tries I called the phone number. It was a phone tree with broken voice quality and bad logic.

This is Aetna dealing with Medicare clients. 65+ year olds, bad eyesight, poor hearing, perhaps limited computer skills and perhaps cognitive issues.

I hope it was not a scam on me.
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ResearchMed
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Re: [On-going Scams - Post them here]

Post by ResearchMed »

heartwood wrote: Sun Nov 28, 2021 8:53 am OTOH captchas have gotten stupidly obtuse. Ones that "find all traffic lights" in 9 or more squares and one is just a corner of one for example.

One from yesterday was activating Mastercard Debit cards received as rewards for health tasks from Aetna. I had ordered them, so expected. They came in an Aetna envelope. The MCs had a label with the activation information on it. So all good so far.

Choice was activate online or call. Tried online, all fine until "prove you are human at the end with "find the animal with an unreal head". All variations on frogs and chickens in fuzzy pictures. You had to do it 4 or 5 times in a row with no errors. Or it reset and started over. After 4 tries I called the phone number. It was a phone tree with broken voice quality and bad logic.
I'm really glad to hear that others (well, at least one other!) are getting this type of "prove you aren't" <whatever>.

I had one of these just a few days ago.
I was supposed to find the chicken. It looked like a jigsaw puzzle on drugs, with images overlapping, and partial images.
And in one case, I just could *not* find a chicken. Honk! (ha!) so I had to start over, apparently.
And then all I saw was, it definitely appeared to me, a DUCK, not a chicken. Maybe a mutant chicken? One whose beak got run over by a truck and flattened? :annoyed

The only other weird CAPTCHA type of test I've seen recently was when the instructions suddenly changed as the next "choice" appeared.
First, it was something like "find the traffic signal" or school bus, etc. But suddenly, there was one where I was supposed find the squares withOUT a traffic signal. That took a bit of extra time, because... I "wasn't reading the directions" very well by that point. I mean, I knew the game, right? HONK again.

But that chicken-duck!?
Maybe it was in honor of an early Thanksgiving, and the turkey was yet to arrive for the Turducken? :wink:

RM
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Tubes
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Re: [On-going Scams - Post them here]

Post by Tubes »

Captchas, ugh. Mine was "Find the Bridges". OK, I see a sidewalk. Technically, I could call that a floating bridge over dirt...

Here's the point of my scam alert. We are all a bit fed up with some of these Captchas and "prove your humanity". Because of that, we may drop our guard in order to just get it over with. Don't drop your guard! Be careful. These scammers are using our frustration.

Note I'm not saying that captchas are not valid. In most normal situations when we go to a trusted site then drill down for info, and then it throws up the "Be a human" roadblock, it is OK. But be very careful with a direct "prove human" as the first screen from a search. Stop and go back, take a breath and reassess why you are there at some random site.
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ResearchMed
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Re: [On-going Scams - Post them here]

Post by ResearchMed »

Tubes wrote: Sun Nov 28, 2021 9:14 am Captchas, ugh. Mine was "Find the Bridges". OK, I see a sidewalk. Technically, I could call that a floating bridge over dirt...

Here's the point of my scam alert. We are all a bit fed up with some of these Captchas and "prove your humanity". Because of that, we may drop our guard in order to just get it over with. Don't drop your guard! Be careful. These scammers are using our frustration.

Note I'm not saying that captchas are not valid. In most normal situations when we go to a trusted site then drill down for info, and then it throws up the "Be a human" roadblock, it is OK. But be very careful with a direct "prove human" as the first screen from a search. Stop and go back, take a breath and reassess why you are there at some random site.
I'm trying to think if I've encountered a CAPTCHA that was not where I had myself typed in the website address. Perhaps I'm forgetting.

But if it appears in a website that one purposefully and carefully went to, shouldn't that be safe?
Could a scammer somehow insert a scam test like that into a safe website?
Is there a way that something like that can be compromised?
(If the entire website was hijacked, that's a different, bigger problem.)

I still get really ticked off when a legit vendor sends an email and instructs one to "click the link below".
Sure, it might be "safe", but that's hardly encouraging clients to be careful about NOT clicking on suspicious links... such as emails that *appear* to come from a legit vendor but... "not quite"...
:annoyed

RM
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Tubes
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Re: [On-going Scams - Post them here]

Post by Tubes »

ResearchMed wrote: Sun Nov 28, 2021 9:31 am
I'm trying to think if I've encountered a CAPTCHA that was not where I had myself typed in the website address. Perhaps I'm forgetting.

But if it appears in a website that one purposefully and carefully went to, shouldn't that be safe?
It was not a captcha, it was similar to a captcha. And thankfully that's what got my attention.

If you purposely go to a site - a well known site - no worries.

I'm talking about blindly finding something from a search that challenges you. And yes, these appeared to be hijacked sites, but they were nothing sites, nothing well known.
roamingzebra
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Re: [On-going Scams - Post them here]

Post by roamingzebra »

Scammers and crooks have officially ruined the Internet. Look at what's in store if you want an IRS account starting in mid 2022:

https://www.journalofaccountancy.com/ne ... -2022.html
Creating an ID.me account requires users to verify their identities with a government-issued ID such as a driver's license, state ID, or passport, according to an instruction video linked to from the company's support website. Users will also need access to an email account and a mobile or landline phone and will have to upload a "selfie" photo using a cellphone or computer webcam. If ID.me is unable to verify a user's ID in that way, the user will be prompted to join a video call with a "trusted referee" to complete the process.
JBTX
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Re: [On-going Scams - Post them here]

Post by JBTX »

viewtopic.php?f=11&t=363767

Scam where fraudster hijacked Facebook account from user with poor online hygiene, ID and password likely reused and on dark web. Took over account changed all 2fas such that it is virtually impossible to recover as Facebook does not take calls or individualized messages. Imposter reached out to connected friends, promising great new job, and said they get jobs for others too, and offered to apply for them, and asked for bank information and SS # and other info. At least one person fell for it and lost several thousand from bank account.
BashDash
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Re: [On-going Scams - Post them here]

Post by BashDash »

Quick question.

Was messaging within Facebook marketplace about a household item I was selling. I don't have any posts or profile on FB other than just for marketplace. After some normal questions regarding the product the other person asked for my address. I always wait until absolute confirm they are purchasing until providing this. As soon as I provided my address the whole conversation disappeared from the marketplace. This gave me a bad feeling that I was scammed. Earlier on I provided my cell to move the conversation to text but it didn't happen.

Thoughts? Am I overthinking this.

I fully deleted my FB account which I don't use anyway personally.

Any other action I should take. Thank you!
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Sandtrap
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Re: [On-going Scams - Post them here]

Post by Sandtrap »

Emails daily from Amazon.com.

"Someone has logged onto your Amazon account from (enter city or country of the day), "click here" to correct this issue."

Not sure what would happened if I clicked on the link.? (haven't so far, just delete)

j :D
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Dave55
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Re: [On-going Scams - Post them here]

Post by Dave55 »

Sandtrap wrote: Thu Dec 09, 2021 7:04 am Emails daily from Amazon.com.

"Someone has logged onto your Amazon account from (enter city or country of the day), "click here" to correct this issue."

Not sure what would happened if I clicked on the link.? (haven't so far, just delete)

j :D
Amazon loves you Jim!

Dave
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dknightd
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Re: [On-going Scams - Post them here]

Post by dknightd »

I've had a couple of emails lately about paypal purchases. Obvious scam attempts. The strange thing is they did not want me to click on them. They wanted me to call them. Perhaps an attempt to connect my phone number with my email account???
The scams get cleverer every year. And my brain gets weaker every year. I hope the two never intersect. I do try to be careful. But I'm starting to think it is just a matter of time!
Retired 2019. So far, so good. I want to wake up every morning. But I want to die in my sleep. Just another conundrum. I think the solution might be afternoon naps ;)
random_walker_77
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Re: [On-going Scams - Post them here]

Post by random_walker_77 »

Sandtrap wrote: Thu Dec 09, 2021 7:04 am Emails daily from Amazon.com.

"Someone has logged onto your Amazon account from (enter city or country of the day), "click here" to correct this issue."

Not sure what would happened if I clicked on the link.? (haven't so far, just delete)

j :D
Definitely don't click that. Sounds like a scam. If you mouse over the link, does that link look legit?

If you're worried, just go to amazon directly and change your password. If it's been a while, that might not be a bad idea anyways.
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Bogle101
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Re: [On-going Scams - Post them here]

Post by Bogle101 »

Do people here advocate always keep your credit frozen and then de-thawing only when you need to get a mortgage or something?
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ResearchMed
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Re: [On-going Scams - Post them here]

Post by ResearchMed »

Bogle101 wrote: Thu Dec 09, 2021 10:08 am Do people here advocate always keep your credit frozen and then de-thawing only when you need to get a mortgage or something?
Many do, and we are among them.

It's not that big a deal to unfreeze/refreeze, and it's not needed very often anyway.
VERY simple compared with what would happen "if you should have but didn't..."

RM
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Bogle101
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Re: [On-going Scams - Post them here]

Post by Bogle101 »

ResearchMed wrote: Thu Dec 09, 2021 10:14 am
Bogle101 wrote: Thu Dec 09, 2021 10:08 am Do people here advocate always keep your credit frozen and then de-thawing only when you need to get a mortgage or something?
Many do, and we are among them.

It's not that big a deal to unfreeze/refreeze, and it's not needed very often anyway.
VERY simple compared with what would happen "if you should have but didn't..."

RM
Thanks! I think I am going to start looking into how to do it. One of my accounts was recently hacked and what a pain it was. Motivated me to make everything two factor authentication now.
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RetiredAL
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Re: [On-going Scams - Post them here]

Post by RetiredAL »

dknightd wrote: Thu Dec 09, 2021 8:31 am I've had a couple of emails lately about paypal purchases. Obvious scam attempts. The strange thing is they did not want me to click on them. They wanted me to call them. Perhaps an attempt to connect my phone number with my email account???
The scams get cleverer every year. And my brain gets weaker every year. I hope the two never intersect. I do try to be careful. But I'm starting to think it is just a matter of time!
The common talk about these is that if you call, they will ask for your card number and CVV saying they need it to stop the charge.
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