Have You Received a "STOP! Learn How to Make $10,000 Now!" Phone Call? It's a Scam from 203-989-3131
Did you receive a call from a man with a northeastern (NY/NJ or possibly Chicago?) accent yelling
"STOP! You can make ten thousand dollars right now! Learn how. Press 1 to learn how or press 2 and I'll never call you again."
This is a very, very obvious scam. How do we know? Because he is calling numbers that are on the national do-no-call list! And since that is a violation of federal law, this person or company obviously is not concerned with following laws!
Our own staffers just received this call this morning, from 203-989-3131 in STamford, CT so we know it must be very common and persistent. Of course, they will likely change number and locations.
Scammers are not just busy on the internet, they are burning up the phone lines in attempts to scam people. See below for a consumer report of calls of this type. But there is good news: The Federal Trade Commission is asking a federal court to shut down a telemarketing campaign ( Voice Touch, Inc. ) that has been bombarding U.S. consumers with hundreds of millions of allegedly deceptive "robocalls" in an effort to sell them vehicle service contracts under the guise that they are extensions of original vehicle warranties.
The Scam
You receive a call, with a recording telling you that he can show you how to earn $10.000 RGIHT NOW!
A typical message sounds like this:
"STOP! You can make ten thousand dollars right now! Learn how. Press 1 to learn how or press 2 and I'll never call you again."
What to do?
Do NOT press 1 or 2, or any other number. Simply hang up. If you press 2 to be removed from their call list, you are simply confirming that your number is active and he will likely sell it to other scammers.
You can report the scammers to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) at 1-877-FTC-HELP or 1-877-382-4357.
Information About Specific Phone numbers
There are several websites that focus on reports of scam phone calls. See these:
There are a number of common telephone scams, such as:
and some new and as yet, uncommon scams.
To see a list of other product cases click here.
And please let us know about any suspicious calls or emails you receive. We look for patterns so that we can alert the authorities and victims to new scams, before it is too late!
For a comprehensive list of national and international agencies to report scams, see this page.