The man sounded like he was underwater when talking to me. I thought that he was speaking another language (still not convinced that he wasn't). He got mad when I asked if he was speaking English and the line became slightly clearer. It sounded like there were many other people in the background talking. He then said that he was from Xfinity and wanted to save me some money on my service. I said No and he quickly hung up.

July 16, 2024

Missed a call from this number and promptly received a voicemail from an AI-esque voice that stated my back taxes were marked as "non-collectible." It followed with "This is an aspect of the new federal economic recovery program that's been in the news. Therefore, before you file or make any arrangements to settle your tax debt , kindly call us back at the same number. We appreciate your time and look forward to speaking soon."

May 31, 2024

Fake Comcast impersonation scam by criminals phoning from the Philippines. This is a fake Comcast (or AT&T DirecTV, Spectrum, Dish Network) scam by Puta'ng Ina Ka criminals calling from the Philippines to steal your credit card, Social Security number, and personal identity data. The scam may begin with a recorded message speaking English generated using text-to-speech translation software to disguise the origin of this Philippines scam. The message may say: "You can avail up to 50% discount on your Xfinity bills. Your promo code is..." or "I'm calling you from Comcast. This call is to let you know that your existing package with us has been qualified for 50% off along with some free upgrades." The Filipino scammer impersonates Comcast, AT&T, Spectrum, or Dish Network and says either your television/Internet service will be suspended due to unpaid fees, or they offer fake sales promotions, or they offer a service upgrade for a small fee, or they are in the returns department and you owe them money for equipment that you have not returned back to them. The fake promotion usually is a special low rate for a 2-year or 3-year subscription, but you have to prepay $200 to $600 for the first 2 to 8 months in advance, and then the scammer asks for your credit card number or asks you to pay with prepaid eBay, Amazon, Google, or Best Buy gift cards or debit cards, giving the fake excuse that paying with a prepaid card is "safer" than using a credit card. Prepaid cards are less traceable than credit card transactions so they are actually safer for the scammer. Some scammers also ask for your Social Security number "for verification purposes". If the scammer thinks you are really gullible, he may bait you even more by telling you that he will send a fake ACH "rebate" payment to your bank as a way to steal your bank account/routing number before telling you to buy prepaid debit/gift cards. Once the scammers obtain prepaid debit/gift card numbers from you, the victim, they transfer them to a group of US-based "runners," who liquidate and launder the funds, either by buying resellable goods online or selling the gift cards via gift card resale sites to convert the gift cards to cash. Or the scammer says your Comcast service is going to be suspended due to a fake unpaid bill and again asks for your credit card number. About 55% of North America scam calls come from India and 40% come from the Philippines. India scammers run hundreds of fraud, extortion, and money laundering scams every day such as posing as a fake pharmacy, fake Social Security officer saying your benefits are suspended, IRS officer collecting on fake unpaid back taxes, debt collector threatening you for fake unpaid bills, fake bank/financial/FedEx/UPS/DHL scams, pretending to offer fake health insurance, car warranty, student loan forgiveness, credit card and debt consolidation services, posing as Amazon to falsely say an unauthorized purchase was made to your credit card or your Prime membership was auto-debited from your bank, posing as Microsoft/Dell/HP/Apple to say your account has been hacked or they detected a virus on your computer, fake "we are refunding your money" or "your account has been auto-debited" scams, fake Google/Alexa listing scams, posing as electric utilities, Verizon, AT&T, or Comcast, fake solar panel and home purchase offers, fake fundraisers asking for donations, fake phone surveys, and the scammers try to steal your credit card, bank account/routing number, Social Security number, and personal information. India scammers often rotate through fake Social Security, subscription auto-renewal, pharmacy, and pre-approved loan scams on the same day. Philippines scammers run more auto/home/health/life insurance, Social Security and Medicare identity theft, and fake charity donation scams. Scammers use disposable VoIP phone numbers (e.g. MagicJack devices) or they spoof fake names and numbers on Caller ID. Anyone can use telecom software to phone with a fake CID name and number. Scammers spoof thousands of fake 8xx toll-free numbers. CID is useless with scam calls unless the scam asks you to phone them back. CID area codes are never the origin of scam calls since scams use spoofed CID numbers from across the US and Canada, numbers belonging to unsuspecting people, invalid area codes, and fake foreign country CID numbers; e.g. fake women crying "help me" emergency scams often spoof Mexico and Middle East CID numbers. Scammers often spoof the actual phone numbers of businesses such as Apple, Verizon, and banks to trick you into thinking the call is valid. How can you avoid being scammed by phone calls? NEVER trust any unsolicited caller who: sells something (most unsolicited calls are scams so your odds of saving money are very poor); asks for your Social Security number; offers a free gift or reward; threatens you with arrest/lawsuit or says you need to reply back soon (pressure tactic); asks you to access a website, download a file, wire transfer money or buy prepaid debit/gift cards; claims suspicious activity on your account; says your subscription is being refunded or auto-renewed/auto-debited; and all pre-recorded messages. Recordings are far more likely to be malicious scams and not just telemarketer spam. All unsolicited callers with foreign accents, usually Indian or Filipino, are usually scams. Filipino scammers tend to speak better English than Indian scammers. Filipinos speak English with a subtle accent that may sound Hispanic. Scams often say that you inquired about a job, insurance, Social Security benefits, or that you previously contacted them or visited their website. A common India scam plays a fake Amazon recording. Amazon account updates are emailed, not robo-dialed. Many banks use automated fraud alert calls to confirm a suspicious purchase, but verify the number that the recording tells you to phone or just call the number printed on your credit card. India scammers impersonate AT&T DirecTV, Comcast, or a cable/Internet company, offering fake discounts or service upgrades. Indians impersonate the IRS and Social Security Administration. The IRS/SSA never make unsolicited calls and never threaten to arrest you; they initiate contact via postal mail. Real lawsuits are not phoned in, especially not using pre-recorded threats lacking details; legal notices are mailed/couriered. The police, FBI, DEA never phone to threaten arrest; they show up in person with a warrant. Scammers try to gain your trust by saying your name when they call, but their autodialer automatically displays your name or says your name in a recording when your number is dialed using phone databases that list millions of names and addresses. Scammers often call using an initial recording speaking English, Spanish, or Chinese that is easily generated using text-to-speech translation software to disguise the origin of their overseas phone room. Some speech synthesis software sound robotic, but others sound natural. To hide their foreign accents, some India scammers use non-Indians in their phone room. Scammers often use interactive voice response (IVR) robotic software that combines voice recognition with artificial intelligence, speaks English with American voices, and responds based on your replies. IVR calls begin with: "Hi, this is fake_name, I am a fake_job_title on a recorded line, can you hear me okay?"; or "Hi, this is fake_name, how are you doing today?"; or "Hello? (pause) Are you there?"; or "Hi, may I speak to your_name?" IVR quickly asks you a short question to elicit a yes/no reply so it hangs up if it encounters voicemail. IVR robots understand basic replies and yes/no answers. To test for IVR, ask "How is the weather over there?" since IVR cannot answer complex questions and it keeps talking if you interrupt it in mid-sentence. IVR usually transfers you to the scammer, but some scams entirely use IVR with the robot asking for your credit card or SSN. A common myth is IVR calls record you saying "yes" so scammers can authorize purchases just using your "yes" voice, but scammers need more than just a recorded "yes" from you - credit cards and SSN. Phone/email scams share two common traits: the CID name/number and the "From:" header on emails are easily faked, and the intent of scam calls is malicious just as file attachments and website links on scam emails are harmful. Scams snowball for many victims. If your personal/financial data are stolen, either by being scammed, visiting a malicious website, or by a previous data breach of a business server that stores your data, then your data gets sold by scammers on the dark web who will see you as fresh meat and prey on you even more. This is why some receive 40+ scam calls everyday while others get only 0 to 2 calls per week. If you provide your personal data to a phone scammer, lured by fake 80%-discounted drugs or scared by fake IRS officers, you receive even more phone scams and identity theft can take years to repair. Most unsolicited calls are scams, often with an Indian accent. No other country is infested with pandemics of phone room sweatshops filled with criminals who belong to the lowest India caste and many are thieves and rapists who were serving jail time but released early due to prison overcrowding. Scammers often shout profanities at you. Just laugh at their abusive language. Google "Hindi swear words" and memorize some favorites, e.g. call him "Randi Ka Beta" (son of whore) or call her "Randi Ka Betty" (daughter of whore). Scammers ignore the National Do-Not-Call Registry; asking scammers to stop calling is useless. You do these scammers a favor by quickly hanging up. But you ruin their scams when you slowly drag them along on the phone call, give them fake personal and credit card data (16 random digits starting with 4 for Visa, 5 for MasterCard), ask them to speak louder and repeat what they said to waste their time and energy.

May 7, 2024