Watch out for latest scam

[Deleted member 1258]

Some organisations are a bit strange.
I wanted a refund from Calmac and got a phone call on a Saturday morning from somebody with an Eastern European accent claiming to be from Calmac and asking for my bank details. I said I wanted to visit a local office to get my refund that way. Neither side would give way so I just disconnected the call.
In fact it proved to be genuine when I went to the office.

Better safe than sorry.

 

[DaveReading]

Probably ends up connecting you to a premium service

Can't happen with an incoming call.

 

[PaulSB]

Like many people my wife and I have an online presence, shop online etc. yet neither of us has encountered any of the millions of scams which seem to be attempted every hour of every day.

With the exception of one instance of the WhatsApp scam "Hi Dad it's your son blah blah......." and obviously the silent phone calls we get nothing.

We are cautious online but that's all, we dont have the knowledge to be anything other than sensible.

I appreciate data is stolen and this is out of everyone's control but I find it hard to believe we've stumbled on some super secure routine. How is it people get targeted? What is it people do which makes their info so vulnerable?

Unrecognised numbers don't get answered, texts are ignored, emails go direct to spam thanks to Mr Google. It isn't difficult.

 

[oldwheels]

One scam I got was an email allegedly from my brother who was stuck in a hotel in Turkey but his wallet had been stolen and he could not pay his hotel bill. The hotel would not release his passport until he paid so he could not get home. Would I then send funds to pay his hotel bill to a given bank account so that he could get his passport back.
My brother did travel extensively as he worked at that time for the EU and could well have been in Turkey.
I simply phoned him at home to tell him of this event and he managed to block the scammer immediately.

 

[Svendo]

Read this article this morning, scammers are capable of guessing card numbers, so the need to regularly check statements is greater than ever. Presumably they’re using ‘brute force’ attempts until one works and fast food vendors seem susceptible. Perhaps their websites allow the most rapid repeat attempts, as well as ‘below the radar’ amounts and a service unlikely to activate fraud algorithms. The pattern of clusters from specific banks makes me wonder if they get a genuine one then assuming banks are issuing batches of sequential numbers proceed from there.
I did note the maths seems off, if 6 digits are issuer and bank and one is a checksum surely that leaves 9 rather than 7?

 

[DaveReading]

I did note the maths seems off, if 6 digits are issuer and bank and one is a checksum surely that leaves 9 rather than 7?

The mathematical equivalent of a Guardian typo ?

Interesting academic paper from a few years ago, but presumably still valid: Does The Online Card Payment Landscape Unwittingly Facilitate Fraud?

https://eprints.ncl.ac.uk/file_store/production/230123/19180242-D02E-47AC-BDB3-73C22D6E1FDB.pdf

 

[ColinJ]

I got a junk scam email yesterday claiming that a hacker had remotely enabled the camera on my non-camera-equipped device and recorded me doing [unmentionables] while watching [unmentionables]. The videos would be sent to my imaginary boss and imaginary colleagues at my imaginary job unless I coughed up a lot of cash in the form of Bitcoin!

Clearly if they send that to enough random people they will end up contacting some who actually DO [unmentionables] while watching [unmentionables] on a device which DOES have a webcam and who DO have jobs, and bosses, and colleagues with whom they would probably prefer not to share their [unmentionable] activities!

Some of the mugs might actually send the money. As if scamming hackers DO delete the video evidence when you send them money, rather than demanding twice as much a month later!

 

[DaveReading]

Some of the mugs might actually send the money. As if scamming hackers DO delete the video evidence when you send them money, rather than demanding twice as much a month later!

Actually those scammers have no idea who has or hasn't paid up, all they see if anyone is idiotic enough to pay them is a random deposit in their Bitcoin account.

It follows that there is never any point in paying them as it will have absolutely no effect on your future dealings with them.

 

[DRHysted]

Read this article this morning, scammers are capable of guessing card numbers, so the need to regularly check statements is greater than ever. Presumably they’re using ‘brute force’ attempts until one works and fast food vendors seem susceptible. Perhaps their websites allow the most rapid repeat attempts, as well as ‘below the radar’ amounts and a service unlikely to activate fraud algorithms. The pattern of clusters from specific banks makes me wonder if they get a genuine one then assuming banks are issuing batches of sequential numbers proceed from there.
I did note the maths seems off, if 6 digits are issuer and bank and one is a checksum surely that leaves 9 rather than 7?

My credit card company believed that this technique was used one of the times I’ve been caught. A friend once commented that if I can be got with all the preventions I take, anyone can, he then continued in his usual take no precautions approach.

 

[lazybloke]

Windows 98 & 98se were on one disc only, as was windows 95 in all it's variants.

A prompt response:

 

[classic33]

A prompt response:
View attachment 691610

Very prompt!