I wanted to write this because of suspicious e-mails I received from a friend and also because I got two phone scammers to hang up on me!
The festive season is a good time to be reminded about scams so we don't get caught. There seem to be an extra lot of them this time of year.
The first e-mail asked, “Can you do me a favour?” When I replied ‘yes’, the second one followed--pronto. I was suspicious after the first two lines. First of all, the language used didn’t sound like her. The e-mail said to rush right out and get gift cards so she could give them to her niece for a birthday. Couldn't go herself due to her suddenly bad knees. So I phoned her right away. Luckily, she had already been alerted and was working to get rid of the e-mails. I suggested that she let her groups of friends know about this scam. Unfortunately, someone had already fallen for it and lost money.
Lately, more and more phone scammers are telling me about my compromised credit cards or threatening me with jail time.
But how, I ask myself, can I have had a chance to commit a crime? For the past seven months, our main outings have been venturing to a grocery store, taking out a coffee or visiting friends as we sat just outside of hearing range.
Everyone that I talk to has these pesky phone calls.
So it gave me great satisfaction when I got two scammers to hang up on me!
The first one was a man with a lovely voice. He was raising money: he invoked the name of the police, fire fighters and first responders. Honestly, how could I resist? When I heard that voice, I was convinced he was the kind of person who could carry me out of a burning building safely—from the top floor. I thought we were getting along fine. He asked how I preferred to donate. “I no longer donate over the phone,” I said. “Could you give me your website so I can donate there? I’ve got my pen and paper rea….”
CLICK!
Our relationship was over so suddenly.
Then there are the fake credit card company calls. I got several ; sometimes two in the same day. Each time, the amount supposedly taken out of my account was different. My curiosity was piqued. When they said, Press 9 if you want to talk to a fraud officer, I did. Unfortunately, I yelled at them. This is a scam, I said. Stop calling me. Now if they had my financial interest at heart, don’t you think they would at least have allowed me to finish ranting and then tried to help me? Not a chance.
All I heard was the gentle CLICK! of a scammer crawling back into its hole.
That made me think of all the vulnerable or distracted people who will be caught by them. So when I phone my 92-year-old aunt, I’ll ask her every so often if she has had any suspicious calls. Oh yes, she says, but I know what to do. “I hang up!”
Get the word out about these scams that take so much money from too many people and keep talking about them to your friends and family. Make sure to check up on people who could become their victims.
The variety of scams listed on the York Region Police website (yrp.ca) alone is enough to make your hair curl. The site is a good place to check for more information on how you can protect yourself.
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