Protect Yourself and Report the Latest Frauds, Scams, Spams, Fakes, Identify Theft Hacks and Hoaxes
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Scammers are not just busy on the internet, they are burning up the phone lines
in attempts to scam people. There are a number of common scams, such as:
and some new and as yet, uncommon scams. Just to prove that you can't trust phone calls you receive, see the examples reports of phone scams we've received.
Detailed reports of other phone calls can be found on this page.
My scam was a telephone caller. Who identified herself as being from the better business bureau and working with the U S Customs for a delivery and documents. The call back number was 876-832-1313 and the name was Betty White. Upon calling this number, it was answered as U S Customs claims. She told me that I had won 1.5 million dollars. It would be delivered by courier, and I needed to pay them 500 + dollars. At this time I said I was not interested.
The ladies reply was F you
Received a call from someone purporting to be the "The Government" and wanted me to help "The Government" issue FHA refund checks, of which, they promised, I would receive a percentage and would have my paycheck sent to me directly from the US Treasury. After a little probing, they said they operated under the name GMI Enterprises, based out of Portland, Oregon (I live in Boise, Idaho). I spoke to a person name Angie (she would not give me her last name) and said her operator number was 113. The phone number used to reach them (which I have confirmed) is 971-285-3130. They do charge a fee to enroll in their program, and they claimed that I had requested to be contacted via something I signed up for online (which I have not done).
HUD is warning of two scams:
If you are unsure whether your loan was FHA, you can call HUD toll-free at 1-800-697-6967 and provide your name and property address, or you may contact HUD at sf_premiums@hud.gov. You can click here to search the HUD database.
I received a phone call from someone claiming to be from MCI long distance and stating that there were some 3rd party calls that had been charged to my home phone. The first time I called the number that they had left I got a recording asking me to leave my name, address, and phone number so that they could forward a bill to me. I just hung up. I called back later on and immediately got a person who asked me for my personal information and when I asked why she needed it she stated once again that there had been some 3rd party calls charged to my home phone. She stated that they needed my name, home phone number, and address in order to forward a bill to me for the charges. I then stated to her that I did not have MCI long distance service and she said "Thank You" and hung up on me. I later got to thinking about it and looked MCI up on the internet and found out that they no longer exist. They were bought out by Verizon in 2003. The number that they left for me was 1-877-471-1453.
Sun National bank in florida text messaged my cell phone saying "your national bill service is expired. for renewal call us toll free at 805 27501591"
I have never had a sun national bill service or an account or anything related to sun national. I called the phone number to find out what this was all about andthe first thing they asked for was a credit card number... pass this on.
The FBI has warned residents of Tennessee, Florida, Alabama and Mississippi about a new scam targeting customers of Regions Bank.According to a notice issued on November 23, 2007 (see this page for the complete story) residents of Tennessee, Florida, Alabama and Mississippi have received automated telephone calls asking them to visit a fraudulent Web site and verify customer information, such as their user name and password.
Regions said customers who receive such a call or who provided information on the Web site should contact the bank at 800-REGIONS or by sending an e-mail to fraud@regions.com .
"I am looking to see if any one else has been in the same situation as me. I didn't really see it on your list of things. This wasn't an e-mail thing(that I know of anyway). I was balancing my bank statement for my check book and I noticed a debit on there of $66.50. before the amount was 8664340080Medserv., with repeated numbers after it. I did not authorize this transaction and I currently filled out forms to reverse the charge and stop payment from them doing that to me again. I tried to call that number and when I finally reached someone they tried to tell me I ordered some medical subscription/supplies. I told them I did not and he said that maybe my spouse did. I told them I have no spouse. He said that maybe someone in my family did. I said there is no way anyone did. #1 - I don't need any Medical subscription/supplies. #2 I would have never given out my checking account information. When I asked him where they got it of course they wouldn't tell me and when I proceeded to chew them out he hung up on me. This is really scary when people can get a hold of your personal checking account info(let alone credit cards) and charge whatever on it! If no one else has had this happen then I feel I need to make people aware of this. Please help me find out more and let me know."
Yes, it looks like a scam. Contact your bank and the FBI - see this page for another example.
See these pages for guidance as applicable to your specific situation:
For a comprehensive list of national and international agencies to report scams, see this page.