2 Michigan women tricked by convincing, sophisticated Amazon scam: What to know

[Dashinka 23,382]

Scammers are getting more creative.  Be careful.

 

2 Michigan women tricked by convincing, sophisticated Amazon scam: What to know

 

The calls appear to have three steps: The initial caller claims to be from Amazon and tells you there has been a fraudulent purchase on an Amazon account.

 

Then, the conversation quickly turns to reveal that you have bank accounts with four or five well-known names — Wells Fargo, PNC Bank, Bank of America, Chase and others.

 

Maybe that's where you really bank, maybe you don't and will let it slip where you do have accounts. 

 

Last, you're told that someone has used your identity to open up a string of bank accounts.

 

A call that began from Amazon somehow ends up with a federal agent on the line to convince you that you'll be arrested soon because you're now suspected of money laundering. The caller might imply that hundreds of thousands of dollars were transferred into questionable accounts opened with your ID information. 

 

https://www.freep.com/story/money/personal-finance/susan-tompor/2022/05/19/amazon-scam-money-laundering/9794344002/

[seekingthetruth 1,219]

You would have to be very naïve to fall for that long winded scam.  Unfortunately there are a lot of naïve people out there and seniors are especially vulnerable.

 

I wish they would call me and I could have some fun with them!  Unfortunately I don't get those calls in the Philippines.

[seekingthetruth 1,219]

 

[Ontarkie 13,968]

I get similar emails to that, they want me to log in via their link and change my passwords and update account info. Funny thing is I don't have an amazon account. I send the email to amazon's fraud department and then delate it. 

 

It is very sad that seniors get caught up in this as many are not tech savvy and don't see and hear about all these scams. 

 

Scammer also have a very big grip in the pet sales. They do everything from forge AKC papers, steal real breeders identities, pictures of their litters and then pose as a breeder themselves. They are pushy and get deposits on the pups, ppl pay the deposit and then the scammer disappears. Some will even set up a date and time for pick up and then suddenly come up with excuses that they need the rest of the money before pick up. 

[Redro 4,602]

I constantly get emails from "amazon" but just ignore them. 

If I need to know anything I'll log into my account. 

A common scam I'm seeing these days are crypto scams. People are making $10 000 in just 3 hours after giving a mentor $1 000. 

Turns out they can never withdraw the money they make. 

Its a pyramid scheme as people post about their earnings on instagram and encourage their friends to invest with the same mentor.  

Edited May 20, 2022 by ROK2USA

[Dashinka 23,382]

On 5/19/2022 at 1:25 PM, Ontarkie said:

I get similar emails to that, they want me to log in via their link and change my passwords and update account info. Funny thing is I don't have an amazon account. I send the email to amazon's fraud department and then delate it. 

 

It is very sad that seniors get caught up in this as many are not tech savvy and don't see and hear about all these scams. 

 

Scammer also have a very big grip in the pet sales. They do everything from forge AKC papers, steal real breeders identities, pictures of their litters and then pose as a breeder themselves. They are pushy and get deposits on the pups, ppl pay the deposit and then the scammer disappears. Some will even set up a date and time for pick up and then suddenly come up with excuses that they need the rest of the money before pick up. 

It is not just seniors, the other women hooked by the OP scam was definitely not in that category.  Also, I have a friend that is not yet a senior that fell for a scam call supposedly from her bank.  Luckily she realized it was a scam when she hung up, but she had already given out some personal information regarding a credit card.  She called the bank immediately afterward, and except for the headache of needing to get a new card, it was not as bad as it could have been. 

 

I get calls all time from various numbers (usually showing within Michigan, but from different cities) with a natural gas scam about my bill.  I stay on top of my bills so I know there is no issue.  I usually let those calls go to voicemail, and usually they actually leave one.  I also get texts occasionally regarding bank accounts from banks I do not use, I delete them, but I suppose they hook some.

 

It takes vigilance.  

Edited May 20, 2022 by Dashinka

[mam521 1,798]

My mom enjoys messing with the scammers when they call and she has time to play games.  She had one swear at her and hang up on her not that long ago after she frustrated him by backing him into a corner with her responses.  We got a good chuckle.  My sister will tell the scammers that mom died when they call asking for her.  It really throws them off.  

 

Always check your own accounts to see your purchases. Set up bank notifications for any and all transactions on cards. Check Credit Karma or whatever credit service you have (Chase does Credit Journey) to see what's associated to your name and credit history and request your free credit report from the credit bureau from time to time.  

 

Scammers are everywhere!

[Ontarkie 13,968]

1 hour ago, Dashinka said:

It is not just seniors, the other women hooked by the OP scam was definitely not in that category.  Also, I have a friend that is not yet a senior that fell for a scam call supposedly from her bank.  Luckily she realized it was a scam when she hung up, but she had already given out some personal information regarding a credit card.  She called the bank immediately afterward, and except for the headache of needing to get a new card, it was not as bad as it could have been. 

 

I get calls all time from various numbers (usually showing within Michigan, but from different cities) with a natural gas scam about my bill.  I stay on top of my bills so I know there is no issue.  I usually let those calls go to voicemail, and usually they actually leave one.  I also get texts occasionally regarding bank accounts from banks I do not use, I delete them, but I suppose they hook some.

 

It takes vigilance.  

Oh definitely not only seniors. With the dog groups i'm in I don't understand how some ppl get scammed. They will post the texts they had and it screams scam but they get taken. It's all very sad that trusting ppl are getting scam. 

The sad part is even real breeders get scam by the scammers. So much so that breeders' are now telling other breeders to no longer allow home visits. This is beside the parvo and other diseases that can be brought to the breeders house. But breeders are being robbed, killed and their dogs stolen. It's a scary crazy world we live in these days. 

 

20 minutes ago, mam521 said:

My mom enjoys messing with the scammers when they call and she has time to play games.  She had one swear at her and hang up on her not that long ago after she frustrated him by backing him into a corner with her responses.  We got a good chuckle.  My sister will tell the scammers that mom died when they call asking for her.  It really throws them off.  

 

Always check your own accounts to see your purchases. Set up bank notifications for any and all transactions on cards. Check Credit Karma or whatever credit service you have (Chase does Credit Journey) to see what's associated to your name and credit history and request your free credit report from the credit bureau from time to time.  

 

Scammers are everywhere!

I would mess with the ones that would call saying they were from Microsoft. Oh man did I make one woman mad got her crying and then she hung up on me. 

[Dashinka 23,382]

Years ago, I had a buddy that fell for an Ebay scam.  He was looking to buy a Gold Wing trike and found one on Ebay for $5k.  We all told him it was a scam, but he still went ahead and sent the money via WU, and of course never saw anything in return.

[Ontarkie 13,968]

7 hours ago, Dashinka said:

Years ago, I had a buddy that fell for an Ebay scam.  He was looking to buy a Gold Wing trike and found one on Ebay for $5k.  We all told him it was a scam, but he still went ahead and sent the money via WU, and of course never saw anything in return.

Oh that sucks big time. 

 

My daughter listed some chicks on Craig list for sale. One guy had texted her to ask about them and wanted her to verify she was real and he wanted some numbers. Well she almost fell for it, luckily she saw Google's warning about not sharing her code and then asked me about it. (She is behind and not always at the same speed) She thought is was something similar to what they do in the FB groups where the person asks for the seller to show you're a real person and the whatever you're selling is real. They often ask for you to show a picture with the buyers name and date, or random items with what ever you're selling. She though she would be just posting random numbers when she agreed to it. 

 

I did warn her about that scam before but she did not remember. She also ignored her phones warning that the caller was spam. I about smacked her. 

[Dashinka 23,382]

Gat a call yesterday on my work phone also supposedly from Amazon.  Instead of hanging up I listened for a while, and the person told me there was a suspicious purchase on my Amazon account.  Supposedly a MacBook was purchased by someone in New Mexico, and I said I did not make the purchase, and did not live in New Mexico.  Then the person asked for my name and that is when I refused to give them any additional information stating that this was personal information, and I would contact Amazon myself.  I also mentioned that they were calling on my work phone that had no connection to my Amazon account.  The caller hung up at that point.

[TBoneTX 43,433]

Great to remember this valuable thread of yours, and to resurrect it.

Even greater to burn work minutes by listening for a while.

Best of all to waste the caller's time and cause a hang-up!

Edited December 12, 2023 by TBoneTX

[Ontarkie 13,968]

This time of the year the scammers are in full force. They know the older generation especially are good targets. 

[millefleur 5,039]

Unfortunately found out recently my aunt is being scammed by a guy posing as Tom Selleck. I think he's specifically targeting older women with cognitive issues because the "video" he shared with her is beyond fake looking (AI generated in the laziest way possible, robot voice etc). It's extremely sad and upsetting because my aunt won't listen to her friends and family about this. We believe she "met" this scammer on Facebook. The scam appears to be her buying gift cards and then giving him the information although we don't know for sure, it could be worse than that. I think she's already been scammed out of at least a thousand dollars. 

 

She clearly has some kind of dementia or cognitive issue but she is in denial and refusing help. If anyone knows any resources for someone in this situation, would appreciate it.   

[TBoneTX 43,433]

Sorry, mf ma'am.  

Try to block the clown's number from her phone or block the messages from her computer?

There's a national "do not call" list and maybe one in her state.