S/O Beggars, Moochers and Scammers

[LazyDaisy]

This wasn't a scam, but I'm not sure what was going on - a reverse scam?

I got a call from a company, I think it was Macy's, following up about an expensive purchase and asking me to confirm it was legit.  The call was to my home number, asking for me by name, but the credit card number being used wasn't one of mine.  (The rep read the type of card and last 4 digits and I knew it didn't match any of my cards)  The only thing I could think was that someone tried to order me a surprise gift but given the expense, type of item, and time of year, that was very, very unlikely.

I had them cancel the transaction.  I figured whoever really ordered it wouldn't receive it anyway, so might as well save them (and me) the trouble of following up on a lost delivery.

I would check your credit report if I were you to make sure that no one has opened a new credit card in your name.

[Yvaine]

This wasn't a scam, but I'm not sure what was going on - a reverse scam?

I got a call from a company, I think it was Macy's, following up about an expensive purchase and asking me to confirm it was legit.  The call was to my home number, asking for me by name, but the credit card number being used wasn't one of mine.  (The rep read the type of card and last 4 digits and I knew it didn't match any of my cards)  The only thing I could think was that someone tried to order me a surprise gift but given the expense, type of item, and time of year, that was very, very unlikely.

I had them cancel the transaction.  I figured whoever really ordered it wouldn't receive it anyway, so might as well save them (and me) the trouble of following up on a lost delivery.

I would check your credit report if I were you to make sure that no one has opened a new credit card in your name.

I'm also curious whether they have another customer with the exact same name and have gotten their wires crossed.

[jedikaiti]

This wasn't a scam, but I'm not sure what was going on - a reverse scam?

I got a call from a company, I think it was Macy's, following up about an expensive purchase and asking me to confirm it was legit.  The call was to my home number, asking for me by name, but the credit card number being used wasn't one of mine.  (The rep read the type of card and last 4 digits and I knew it didn't match any of my cards)  The only thing I could think was that someone tried to order me a surprise gift but given the expense, type of item, and time of year, that was very, very unlikely.

I had them cancel the transaction.  I figured whoever really ordered it wouldn't receive it anyway, so might as well save them (and me) the trouble of following up on a lost delivery.

I would check your credit report if I were you to make sure that no one has opened a new credit card in your name.

I'm also curious whether they have another customer with the exact same name and have gotten their wires crossed.

Or contact info - my parents used to have a Discover card (but cancelled it a while ago), as I currently do, and for some time, every time Discover wanted to talk to me about something, they called my parents home number. This was in 2009-ish, and I hadn't lived with Mom & Dad since about 1997. Took several tries to get that sorted out.

[Elfmama]

Credit card companies do get it right sometimes. 

For a while, a CW was living in NYC, interviewing for a job in the UK and visiting inlaws in Scandanavia for several weeks at a time.  this resulted in a number of charges that could legitimately be regarded as 'suspicious'. 

She was overseas at the time the call came to our office but I was able to explain the situation to the lady from the credit card company.

And how did the credit card lady know that it wasn't YOU playing fast and loose with CW's credit card?  We know that you weren't, but Credit Card Lady taking the word of a co-worker doesn't seem quite kosher.

[starry diadem]

Credit card companies do get it right sometimes. 

For a while, a CW was living in NYC, interviewing for a job in the UK and visiting inlaws in Scandanavia for several weeks at a time.  this resulted in a number of charges that could legitimately be regarded as 'suspicious'. 

She was overseas at the time the call came to our office but I was able to explain the situation to the lady from the credit card company.

They talked to you about your co-worker's account?  Wow.  Not a cc company I'd want to do business with, no matter that it worked to her advantage that time.

[VorFemme]

Credit card companies do get it right sometimes. 

For a while, a CW was living in NYC, interviewing for a job in the UK and visiting inlaws in Scandanavia for several weeks at a time.  this resulted in a number of charges that could legitimately be regarded as 'suspicious'. 

She was overseas at the time the call came to our office but I was able to explain the situation to the lady from the credit card company.

They talked to you about your co-worker's account?  Wow.  Not a cc company I'd want to do business with, no matter that it worked to her advantage that time.

I'm wondering if it might have been a business card that could ALSO be used for personal expenses, as long as the employee paid all the personal charges every billing period (so that the business didn't have to pay any interest). 

[snowfire]

If the phone call about the suspicious CC activity came to Thipu1's office, it probably was a company card.  Phone number on a personal card would have gone to a home phone.

[sunnygirl]

I once received a piece of mail to my address, but some random name, thanking me for my purchase of a mobile phone and welcoming me to that particular network (I didn't open it, it was one of those things where the papers are encased in clear plastic). I never got any bills, so I have no idea why someone would buy a phone and give a fake address. I kept getting statements from the phone company so obviously they were paying the bill.

On the other hand, once when I was very sick I did something extremely stupid and left a cc in the card reader in a shop in Heathrow airport, on my way to Iceland. Didn't manage to cancel it till the next day, yet it was never used. Guess I got very lucky. Then later that day I discovered one of my other ccs had been blocked by the bank after the first time I used it there. Which is fine, except I'd used it in China, India and some African countries without it being blocked. So me swanning all over Asia and Africa making in some cases some quite large purchases doesn't set off any warnings, but buying a single pizza in Reykjavik does??

[HoneyBee42]

I've had my bank call me when I've been overseas due to the cards being used there.  Yeah, by me!   

These days I call them before I go away.

My parents once had trouble w/ their cards getting declined.  They (being happily married for 40+ years) are both users on the same cc acct.  My mother was visiting me while I was living in Syracuse, NY while my father was here in southern IL (where I live now--I was being held up by my ex fighting everything along the way in the divorce--I ended up getting everything that I had asked for and he got everything I had originally offered him in the opt-out ... but the car was impounded when he was arrested and he also got a felony conviction which wasn't part of my original opt-out offer).  So, they were about 850 miles apart and both using their cards until suddenly they couldn't.  Fortunately, a call to the card company got it straightened out for them.

[Twik]

So me swanning all over Asia and Africa making in some cases some quite large purchases doesn't set off any warnings, but buying a single pizza in Reykjavik does??

I don't know - how expensive is an Icelandic pizza?

[Thipu1]

If the phone call about the suspicious CC activity came to Thipu1's office, it probably was a company card.  Phone number on a personal card would have gone to a home phone.

You know, this never bothered me until I mentioned it here, but it does seem odd.  This was also around 2000 when practices were a little different than they are now. 

It wasn't a company card.  The museum didn't use those. 

The lady didn't mention any specific purchases. She just mentioned the pattern of charges coming from three countries on a fairly regular basis.   I think she believed me because I told her t CW was expected back to work on X date and she might want to call at that time. 
   

[Yarnspinner]

My neighbor, Emily Gale, age 93, is the target of dozens and dozens of what are probably fairly legit scams, but they smack of scam nonetheless.  In the past few months she has asked me to explain a number of pieces of mail she has received and in most cases, I have said "Tear it up."

They usually take one of the following two forms:

1) "Emily Gale!  You are responsible for the watermain at (street address of the condominium we live in) and it could cost you thousands!  You need to send $XXX now!"  All of it is in large font.  Below in tiny letters it reads "Don't let this happen to you, send $XX dollars today to get your Home Water Insurance!
I told her (again, last week) that her common charges PAY FOR THIS and she should toss this one in the trash.

2) Same deal.  This time sent to HR Director Emily Gale, asking if she has put up the appropriate posters about new IRS practices for her employees.  If not, "You may be fined thousands of dollars".  It was sent in a very authentic looking IRS peel apart envelope with the very authentic lettering the IRS uses.  And I explained again that the company sending it (tiny tiny letters spelling out "Personal Concepts Inc."--I am betting they meant "Personnel") was just trying to get money out of her.

And then because we live in a city where there is really only ONE political party, though the other one always runs a mayoral candidate just for chuckles, she received dozens of begging letters from Majority Party soliciting funds to defeat the minority party, complete with tales of the evil minority party would do to senior citizens if ever they managed to get their hot little paws on the mayoralty.  What really confuddled her was the fact that most of these were addressed to Henry Gale, her husband of fifty years....who has been DEAD for twenty years.  I suggested she write the party a letter telling them that, as his name was taken off the voter's registrar years ago (her kids saw to it) that she should send the letters back, directing the people in charge to send the letters to the cemetary where Henry is buried.

It's bad enough when "businesses" try to scam seniors, but when the political clout that claims to protect the same folks tries the same sort of stunts, I really want to go slap people until their heads spin on their necks like Linda Blair's.

[twilight]

When I was in New Orleans, I was sorely tempted to try the cup-and-ball game. Not because I thought it was possible to win anything, but I was interested in watching the way the scam went down. If I hadn't been on my own, I would have tried, but I was worried about making myself a target for something worse if I drew attention to myself as a mark.

When I was 4 my parents let me play the cup and ball game at a carnival and I won on my first try!!  The guy manning the booth was astonished (his mouth literally dropped open)  and tried to claim I cheated and would not give me the prize.  My dad made a big stink and the crowd that saw me win fair and square started getting angry so he finally relented but refused to let me throw my 2 remaining balls.  According to the rules I could pick any prize so I of course wanted the monstrously huge pink teddy bear that was hanging from the very top of the booth.  The guy tried to talk me into taking some little dinky trinket but my heart was set on the bear.  It took him and another guy ten minutes to get it down.  He told us that in the five years he had been working there no one had ever won before and they never had to get one of the big prizes down.  The bear was quite dusty but I loved it.

edited to add:
I just realized you are refering to a totally different ball and cup game that my parents would most definately not allowed me to play, especially at the age of 4.
LOL!

[sunnygirl]

So me swanning all over Asia and Africa making in some cases some quite large purchases doesn't set off any warnings, but buying a single pizza in Reykjavik does??

I don't know - how expensive is an Icelandic pizza?

Cheaper than basically everything else in Iceland, hence why I ended up eating it about five times in six days. 

[kherbert05]

I was house sitting for my parents and got a phone call from their CC company. We went around and around because of privacy rules. Finally I said They are currently driving from San Angelo to Houston. They will probably stop in either Kerrville at the Exxon and BBQ place or at Franks in Schulenburg. They will get to Houston about X time and I'll leave a message for them to call you.


Turned out that an employee from a company that marketed stuff in Time magazines had stolen a bunch of CC numbers and gone to Las Vegas. My parents were told the cops had to let him go before they had returned the call and it was to late to press charges. That didn't make sense. It had only been a couple of hours - so no way the statue of limitations had run out.   


Mom let Dad have it with both barrels. He had taken to filling out all those "free trial" offers that came in the magazines getting the "prize" then cancelling. That is were the guy got the CC number from.