Today’s update on the COVID test Medicare scam.
Second fraudulent charge processed thru H’s account. Since we were out of town for 3+ weeks, I didn’t catch the first charge (2/22) and the second charge was for 3/27. So this scam group has got the schedule down pat.
When I reported the second fraud claim the agent immediately suggested assigning a new medicare number!!! We will get a letter in about 2 weeks confirming a change and then will receive the new ID.
Folks…check your Medicare accounts.
I checked my husband’s account, and there is just the one fraudulent claim. It looks like Medicare already paid it, sigh.
I don’t know on how many web site I have accepted my free cookies - yet, none ever shipped!
“Home Title Lock”…I thought this was a bit dubious but I recall seeing FBI agents (or some type of federal law enforcement) acknowledging that home title theft was a real problem.
According to this article, it’s not.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/home-title-lock-california-scam-17883303.php
Oh good heavens…is nothing safe?:
I just came to this thread to post that. Besides airports and hotels, I have used them in hospitals. Seems the crooks are always a step ahead.
This is not new, just became more widespread apparently. Any outlet that can be used for data transfer can mean trouble. I got into a habit of looking for a regular electric outlet to charge.
Years after my grandfather died, two strangers showed up at my parents’ house asking to purchase a piece of land that my mother inherited from him. They had gotten their personal information from somewhere and were trying to convince them to set up a wire transfer with them with the promise to wire them money “for the land”. Thankfully, I was visiting at the time and I literally ran in the front yard and pulled my father away from these people. He was being too nice and listening to them. I don’t think he would have given them any information if I hadn’t been there, but he was far too trusting in even opening the door and talking to them.
When this happened, my parents were in their late '60s.
We’ve had a lot of talks since then about never accepting an unsolicited offer of any kind and to call me/my husband first if anyone calls asking for money, even if they sound like us. There are bots that can mimic your loved ones’ voices that these scam artists use. Talk to your loved ones about this and make sure they know not to trust unsolicited phone calls, door knocks, texts, mail, with asks or offers of any form of money.
A local news channel reported on scammers targeting predominantly Black homeowners with property inherited from a grandparent etc. These scammers would send a fake “delinquency” notice and then try to convince the homeowner to fix this one way or another with the end result being the same: loss of property.
Got a phone call today saying that we had won 3.7 million from the Megamillions/Publisher Clearing House. I hope they come by with a giant check!
No, no, no, no. You have to give them your bank account information so that they can deposit it directly. You wouldn’t want some thief grabbing that check and sticking it into their pocket, right?
One of these days, I’m going to respond with “I’m rather that you pay it to me in Amazon gift cards, so I have something to pay off my fines to the FBI”.
GRRRR. Somehow my email has been compromised since last week, and I’m receiving dozens of spam emails each day – including multiple offers to order Covid tests on the same day. I’ve “blocked” emails, and reported them as spam, but they keep coming. Each day it gets slightly worse. I have not tried to unsubscribe, as I’m concerned that clicking on anything will make it worse. Any suggestions (besides new email)? Does it eventually diminish, or is this the new normal going forward?
What email host are you using? You can direct the emails to your spam filter without opening them. That’s your best bet. It happens to all email accounts that have been used for a long time.
That happened to me. I started getting at least 1000 spam emails a day. They use went to my spam holder.
I still get at least 100 a day. Once in a blue moon an important email will end up there, so I skim the folder every day or so.
Well, here’s a scary story:
https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/29/us/ai-scam-calls-kidnapping-cec/index.html
There is definitely an uptick in spam emails. I used to fly under the radar, but a couple of months ago the floodgates have opened up! 20-50 a day. Thankfully, most go into the spam folder.
I always put them in my Recycling folder – wanna be carbon neutral!
NBC has done similar stories. I had H show them to FIL so he won’t get duped should they somehow call him as has happened in the past with the “I’m in jail” scam (to which he replied, “They probably deserved it!”
But this one, using voices, is far more disturbing, so we wanted to be sure he was aware of it.
So I got a text the other day from an unknown number – “Hi, This is Orlando; I’ll be your driver today.” I was tempted to respond “Wrong number,” but then I remembered all you wise people on here warning us about such scams, so I blocked the number and ignored the text.
