Kerry Hansen Loc: Bremerton, WA

Yesterday I got a very brief email supposedly from someone I knew in a club I used to belong too. The email asked a simple question, "Do you have an Amazon account"?

Right off I knew it was a scam so I replied, "Where do I know you from?" Which I knew I would not get an answer and I didn't. I also knew it was a scam because a month and a half ago my wife got the same request supposedly from someone in a club she belongs too.

After she said, No but my husband does, here came the request. This supposed acquaintance said she was having a little problem with her credit card and the bank that it would take a couple of days to resolve and she needed to buy a birthday gift NOW for a third person that my wife also knew whose Birthday was supposedly tomorrow and she wanted to get that gift to her before her birthday. My wife tried to call the REAL person that was asking for the favor but was not able to talk to her. However we declined to do it. What she/he had asked for was for me to buy a $150 gift card from Amazon and send it to this third person. Sometime after we turned down the request (which sounded real good and true) my wife was able to contact the real people she she knew and confirmed that it all was a scam!

So after I got the request that I showed on the first line of this thread I sent an email to an acquaintance who I knew the last time I belonged to that organization who was the president then, where I and the person whose name was used were members and I told her she needed to warn the other members. She answered back and said it was too late since she fell for it and now had lost $150 an found out yesterday she had bought a refrigerator, but she was lucky that she had already canceled her Credit card.

Here is a piece of advice that my Daughter recommended to me and that only took minutes to do to protect me from BIG purchases like a car, house Refrigerator or something big that YOUR credit card agency will check with (one of the three big credit agencies). You need to freeze your credit which only takes minutes. You go to the three big credit agencies who you see advertising all the time on how to improve your "CREDIT SCORE". Then if you need to buy something "Big" you unfreeze your credit for a short window that your credit union or some other place can check during that window, then you freeze it again so you cannot be hurt! This is very serious so I advise you to stop these bad &%#$@& people! They are working very hard to take your money or house, Fore Warned is Fore Armed. You don't want to say sometime later, "GEESE I WISH I HAD DONE SOMETHING. It is too late to close the barn door after the livestock has got out!

flyguy Loc: Lake Onalaska, Sunfish Capitol of the World!

I have gotten one of those emails to Kerry, I just deleted it. As far as I know, everything is fine and dandy.

fishinphil

That happened to someone i knew and as they came to move him out of his house as they said he wasnt the real owner anymore, he opened up his revolver on them, injuring the scammers. Yes, he got arrested but after it was cleared up in courts, the scammers then got a jail sentence.

Bdubya06 Loc: Salem OR

My 87 year old mother was scammed for about 3k last month...very shrewed business woman her whole life...but they got her!
Infuriates me!

FourchonLa. Loc: Fourchon Louisiana, South Louisiana

I use LifeLock and have been for over 10 years. Whenever I open an account, say at Home Depot or a credit application for a car. It’s an immediate response from Lifelock. Just bought a new car for my wife yesterday and as soon as the application was filed online by the dealer I received a text on my phone as did my wife and our home email. All you have to do is respond yes this is me or no it’s not. If it’s not you it gets rejected in real time. They can monitor credit cards, loans, bank accounts, financial accounts and more. And yes, scammers need to meet their maker. Satan.

Jwid Loc: Lake Killarney, Ironton, MO

Yes, Kerry. I froze my credit at the reporting companies sometime ago when Target, my health insurance company, our local grocery store was hacked. It is a good that it shuts down new accounts being opened, it also stops you from getting a card at every store. Some potential employers want access to credit reports for a security check. Slows down that process. It is not convenient to unfreeze, but it does provide peace of mind.

Simple other things to do:

Have one card that never leaves home to use for internet purchases. Put a limit on the dollar amount. Don’t use the $10,000 limit the card gives you. Make it just large enough to cover what you might need. A quick phone call from you can raise it. If you get hacked online you know the card is at home, limited, and cx it.

You can put similar limits on the cards you carry

Don’t leave your cards unsigned. Your internet card can be marked “Void do not use.” If someone gets to it that might help.

Unsigned cards will be signed by the thief and their signature will match the receipt.

Put all of your autopay billings on one card. Don’t use it for anything else. Watch it carefully. These are the companies that increase prices and just charge you what they want.

Lastly if you see a couple of weird charges on your bill that are about a $1 you have been hacked. Call and cx the card and get a new one. That is how hackers check stolen numbers to see if they work.

Above from personal experience.

Kerry Hansen Loc: Bremerton, WA

I am glad you have taken steps to stop this crap. I hope everyone does and spreads the word because the Bad people are out there Praying on the innocent!

jemstone90

People that use credit cards for everything and put their credit card info on line and plug them into gas pumps deserve to get hacked. They have been warning for the last 10-15 years that it's not safe and it is just a matter of time before someone rips you off or steals your identity. Here are just a few of the facts.
There were 650,572 cases of identity theft in 2019.
Those aged 30 to 39 reported the most cases of identity theft last year.
With over 270,000 reports, credit card fraud was the most common type of identity theft last year and more than doubled from 2017 to 2019.
Almost 165 million records containing personal data were exposed through data breaches in 2019.
1. The U.S. is #1 in Cases of Credit Card Fraud
It’s great to be on top — unless it’s regarding credit card fraud. According to the latest Nilson Report, the United States eclipses every country on the planet as the most credit fraud-prone, with 38.6% of all reported card fraud losses in 2018.
And how much was lost in the illegal transactions? A cool $9.47 billion.

Mauwehu Loc: Norwalk Ct

Had my debit card number stolen. The bank computer didn’t like the purchases and called to see if I had made them. When I told them no they reimbursed the money and sent a new card.
Liability for a stolencredit card is is 50 max inCt. I had an elderly lady call me to ask why I kept calling her for money. Someone had cloned my number and it was showing on her caller ID.My phone started ringing with scandals the day after I applied for social security. Crazy stuff.

Jeremy Loc: America

This is all information none of the Banks want its members to find out. Our banks want us to believe our identity...credit and cash are all safe and secure in their hands..

Kerry Hansen Loc: Bremerton, WA

"deserve to get hacked", that is a CRAPPY thing to say about the elderly or for that matter anybody.

Whitey Loc: Southeast ohio

I agree Kerry

plumbob Loc: New Windsor Maryland

" deserve to get hacked " A little cruel there aren't you.

The days of carrying wods of cash are long gone especially when these days an appointment is required to get in the bank in some locations. Ease up on those that have fallen prey and educate then instead of degrading would be the kindness thing to do.

mbrillhart1957 Loc: Southeast Wyoming

Nobody disserves to be hacked. I fixed the problem 10 yrs ago. Got rid of the credit cards. Don't use credit. Smartest thing I ever did. Have a debit card only. Works just fine.

My wife works at a local bank. She deals with people that get scammed all the time. Those that get scammed the most are people who can least afford it. The elderly are number one on the list. God will judge these scammers!

dbed Loc: POMME DE TERRE LAKE MISSOURI

We use card for certain things if unusual charges appear card co calls and asks if we made it happened twice last year we said no and charges were declined issued new card