NPR: "Why Phone Fraud Starts With A Silent Call"

[leno...@yahoo.com]

Heard it on the radio yesterday.

http://www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/2015/08/24/434313813/why-phone-fraud-starts-with-a-silent-call

August 24, 2015 4:35 PM ET

By Aarti Shahani


Here's an experience some of us have had. The phone rings. You pick it up and say "Hello. Hello. Helloooo." But nobody answers.

It turns out there could be someone on the other end of the line: an automated computer system that's calling your number -- and tens of thousands of others -- to build a list of humans to target for theft.

Vijay Balasubramaniyan, CEO of Pindrop Security, a company in Atlanta that detects phone fraud, says that in any number of ways, the criminal ring gets your 10 digits and loads them into an automated system.

Maybe you gave your number to Target or some other big retailer that got hacked. Maybe you entered an online raffle to win a free iPhone...

(snip)



Lenona.

[The Real Bev]

On 08/25/2015 10:17 AM, leno...@yahoo.com wrote:
>
> Heard it on the radio yesterday.
>
> http://www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/2015/08/24/434313813/why-phone-fraud-starts-with-a-silent-call
>
> August 24, 2015 4:35 PM ET
>
> By Aarti Shahani
>
> Here's an experience some of us have had. The phone rings. You pick
> it up and say "Hello. Hello. Helloooo." But nobody answers.
>
> It turns out there could be someone on the other end of the line: an
> automated computer system that's calling your number -- and tens of
> thousands of others -- to build a list of humans to target for

> theft...

Anybody who falls for that deserves whatever they get.

--
Cheers, Bev
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
"The almost universal access to higher education here in the US has
ruined a lot of potentially good manual laborers." -- Bob Hunt

[Bob F]

The Real Bev wrote:
> On 08/25/2015 10:17 AM, leno...@yahoo.com wrote:
>>
>> Heard it on the radio yesterday.
>>
>> http://www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/2015/08/24/434313813/why-phone-fraud-starts-with-a-silent-call
>>
>> August 24, 2015 4:35 PM ET
>>
>> By Aarti Shahani
>>
>> Here's an experience some of us have had. The phone rings. You pick
>> it up and say "Hello. Hello. Helloooo." But nobody answers.
>>
>> It turns out there could be someone on the other end of the line: an
>> automated computer system that's calling your number -- and tens of
>> thousands of others -- to build a list of humans to target for
>> theft...
>
> Anybody who falls for that deserves whatever they get.

So, are you saying that you never answer your phone and say something?

[wilm...@gmail.com]

On Wednesday, August 26, 2015 at 12:22:16 PM UTC-7, The Real Bev wrote:
>
>
> Anybody who falls for that deserves whatever they get.
>
> --
>

Seems able to be said about any crime victim.

[BigDog811]

If she's anything like me, she doesn't even answer the phone unless the displayed name/number is recognized. So no, I never answer the phone without saying something - but I never answer the phone unless I know there's someone on the other end I want to talk to. Everyone else can leave a message and I might call them back.

[BigDog811]

Yep, pretty much. With extraordinarily rare exception the only real victims in our society are children and the mentally impaired. And dumb-ass isn't an impairment. Almost everyone else gets what they ask for in one way or another.

[The Real Bev]

I never answer the phone and believe that there's a problem with my
bank/credit card/dog that requires me to give the caller personal
information that would enable him to get my money.

--
Cheers, Bev
----------------------------------------------------------
"When I was in college, the only job I could get was
shitting on people's lawns. Sure, the owners complained,
but it was honest work and it kept me off welfare..."
-- M. Tabnik in mcfl (paraphrased)

[Michael Black]

On Thu, 27 Aug 2015, The Real Bev wrote:

> On 08/26/2015 04:20 PM, Bob F wrote:
>> The Real Bev wrote:
>>> On 08/25/2015 10:17 AM, leno...@yahoo.com wrote:
>>>>
>>>> Heard it on the radio yesterday.
>>>>
>>>> http://www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/2015/08/24/434313813/why-phone-fraud-starts-with-a-silent-call
>>>>
>>>> August 24, 2015 4:35 PM ET
>>>>
>>>> By Aarti Shahani
>>>>
>>>> Here's an experience some of us have had. The phone rings. You pick
>>>> it up and say "Hello. Hello. Helloooo." But nobody answers.
>>>>
>>>> It turns out there could be someone on the other end of the line: an
>>>> automated computer system that's calling your number -- and tens of
>>>> thousands of others -- to build a list of humans to target for
>>>> theft...
>>>
>>> Anybody who falls for that deserves whatever they get.
>>
>> So, are you saying that you never answer your phone and say something?
>
> I never answer the phone and believe that there's a problem with my
> bank/credit card/dog that requires me to give the caller personal information
> that would enable him to get my money.
>

The sad part is they have the means at the company to look anywhere, so
long as they have sufficient privilege. So I suspect this sort of thing
works for people who believe the password makes their account "secure".
It doesn't work for people who know the company can look anyway.

Michael

[tra...@optonline.net]

On Wednesday, August 26, 2015 at 7:20:50 PM UTC-4, Bob F wrote:

I've yet to hear how an automated caller that just looks
for someone answering then turns into fraud. Seems that there
are a lot of other subsequent steps involved that you'd have to fall for
and I assume that is what Bev was referring to. All the robo caller
is doing is finding random numbers where someone or something answers.

[The Real Bev]

Theory has it that answering allows the bastards to put your number on a
list of people who actually answer, which is a more expensive list. Not
my problem :-( Anybody who pays more to try to sell me something over
the phone is wasting his money and that's a plus as far as I'm concerned.

Since the phone is a foot away from my elbow, it's easy to look at the
calling number and pick it up and put it down again.


--
Cheers, Bev
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
It's true that Smokey the Bear deserves praise for his
campaign against forest fires, but nobody ever mentions
the boy scouts he kills for their hats.

[Shoe-Chucker 2]

In article <2vmstal6ipqibutjf...@4ax.com>,
Derald <der...@invalid.net> wrote:

> I did not listen to the program excerpt but did read the text at
> the citation, which appears to be a transcript of the on-air news item.
> I must say that it is typical NPR drivel. The examples are of the
> extreme stupidity of the calls' recipients and/or the incompetence of
> some unnamed "generic" institution's customer service types. The only
> actual useful _information_ in the entire piece is in the last
> paragraph, which I quote below:
> >The FTC recommends that consumers "just hang up" on the robocalls.
> >
> >"We don't want consumers to engage in any way with robocallers," Hsue says.
> (Patty Hsue, an attorney who leads the FTC's effort against robocalls)
> > "A lot of times when you get a robocall you have the option of pressing 1
> > for more
> > information or pressing 2 to ask to be removed from the list. And in either
> > case,
> > pressing 1 or 2 basically lets the robocaller know that it's a live person
> > on the other
> > line who's willing to engage and that could lead to additional robocalls."
> Seems to me, that's the voice equivalent to the email, "Click this
> link to be removed from future emails", which simply is a way of
> determining the email address to be valid and monitored.
>
> Gratuitous Aside: I don't believe that my long-dead father ever
> "answered" a telephone in his life. He simply put the handset to his
> ear and waited for the calling party to initiate the conversation.
> After all, _they_ interrupted _his_ day ;-)

We never answer the phone. our machine gets every call. so if you call
us.
Leave an interesting message or bazinga !
--
Karma ; what a concept!

[wilm...@gmail.com]

On Thursday, September 3, 2015 at 8:39:59 AM UTC-7, Shoe-Chucker 2 wrote:
>
> We never answer the phone. our machine gets every call. so if you call
> us.
> Leave an interesting message or bazinga !
> --
> Karma ; what a concept!

For several days calls kept coming in saying they had important information regarding my credit card. I just ignored it. I did a search on the internet using the caller I.D. number, and it was unanimous that the calls were bogus. Then the calls started occurring much more frequently, two or three times a day. Once I picked up and told the lady to stop bothering me. She called back within minutes. Turns out my C.C had been used for fraudulent charges. The C.C. company understood my reluctance to become involved with a cold call and had me call the number on the back of my C.C.. Seems it started out with a $5 charge here and a ten buck charge there. Within a couple of weeks some Nigerians were having a big ol' party at my expense. a few interviews with the fraud department, a signed statement and a new card and all was forgiven. As far as the Nigerians? I didn't even get an invite to the party.

[The Real Bev]

A friend's trust account was looted by one of the trust company's
employees who forged signatures. It took a year to straighten out and
the friend never got to see the employee flogged.

Somebody used my CC number to buy a ticket from Dallas to -- possibly --
London. CC company didn't charge me, but I'll never find out who did it
or how he was punished. Given that you have to show a passport and the
ticket number was given, it should have been possible to track the son
of a bitch down, but I bet they never went to the trouble.

We really need to get some sort of enjoyment out of this shit.

--
Cheers, Bev
===============================================
"If God had wanted us to use the metric system,
Jesus would have had 10 apostles."
- Jesse Helms

[wilm...@gmail.com]

>
> We really need to get some sort of enjoyment out of this shit.
>

And that is why I am trying to start a new kind of company.

I am good at keep phone solicitors on the line. I get an enjoyment from wasting their time. I especial feel good when I get the supervisor in on the call.

Once I get their attention and trust, I start to hint that being a phone solicitor is not what anyone's parents dreamed for their child. I have had operators promise they would quit their job and countless others who wept openly as we spoke.

The more time I have a solicitor on the line, the less time he has to bother other people.

sometimes I feel guilty about being such a PIA. And that's where my business comes in.

For $20 I promise to harass phone solicitors for a total of one hour. I look forward to keeping busy and to hire additional harassers. I could hire an entire army of people who provide themselves in driving phone salesmen into contemplating suicide.

If enough people were highly paid harassers, soon the companies would be spending all their time dealing with time wasters. Morale would plummet and a new era of peace would soon reign across the land. Thank you!

[tra...@optonline.net]

I've had that happen a few times, where the CC company thought
there might be fraudulent activity. In every case, they left a
a message clearly stating that it was Bank XYZ calling about my
account and to call them back. It would have been impossible to
think it was some random scammer and to ignore it isn't a good
idea.

[BigDog811]

Agreed. There's a phone number on the back of every credit card issued for at least the past two decades. Call it if you think there's a problem. They'd rather hear from you with a false alarm than spend the time and money to unwind a problem.

About two years ago we got a call early in the evening. The caller ID clearly had the name of of my credit card issuer as well as a number with an area code I recognized as the location of their corporate HQ. No reason not to answer it. They'd intercepted a couple of transactions that were outside our normal pattern and wanted to confirm them. Of course, they were fraudulent. They locked our account and overnighted us new cards that were delivered early the next afternoon. A quick phone call to activate them; they transferred the entire account history; and processed the legitimate pending transactions on the new number. Practically seamless...easy peasy.

[The Real Bev]

On 09/10/2015 05:53 AM, BigDog811 wrote:

> Agreed. There's a phone number on the back of every credit card
> issued for at least the past two decades. Call it if you think
> there's a problem. They'd rather hear from you with a false alarm
> than spend the time and money to unwind a problem.

...which is printed in tiny print, possibly with embossing over it, such
that some of us need a magnifying glass to read it.

--
Cheers, Bev
====================================================
"I am working for the time when unqualified blacks, browns and
women join the unqualified men in running our government"
-- Cissy Farenthold

[BigDog811]

I guess it depends on the card issuer. I carry a Chase Freedom VISA CC, as well as VISA ATM/Debit cards from two credit unions in different parts of the country. All three have the trouble numbers printed in relatively large (about 6 pt) bold fonts, right under the magnetic strips. Very easy to read.

[wilm...@gmail.com]

On Thursday, September 10, 2015 at 4:44:17 AM UTC-7, tra...@optonline.net wrote:

>
> I've had that happen a few times, where the CC company thought
> there might be fraudulent activity. In every case, they left a
> a message clearly stating that it was Bank XYZ calling about my
> account and to call them back. It would have been impossible to
> think it was some random scammer and to ignore it isn't a good
> idea.

Everytime I get a call with an urgent message regarding my car's warranty, I run to the basement and pull out the box marked important papers, I then locate the number for the auto manufacturer's warranty department, after listening to hold music for 10 to 300 minutes I am assured I am still covered. Whew! Crisis avoided.

[The Real Bev]

I guess I've avoided a lot of stress by driving a 1988 car.


--
Cheers, Bev
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The early bird gets the worm, the second mouse gets the cheese.

[The Real Bev]

On 09/10/2015 09:09 AM, BigDog811 wrote:
> The Real Bev wrote:
>> On 09/10/2015 05:53 AM, BigDog811 wrote:
>>
>>> Agreed. There's a phone number on the back of every credit card
>>> issued for at least the past two decades. Call it if you think
>>> there's a problem. They'd rather hear from you with a false
>>> alarm than spend the time and money to unwind a problem.
>>
>> ...which is printed in tiny print, possibly with embossing over it,
>> such that some of us need a magnifying glass to read it.
>

> I guess it depends on the card issuer. I carry a Chase Freedom VISA
> CC, as well as VISA ATM/Debit cards from two credit unions in
> different parts of the country. All three have the trouble numbers
> printed in relatively large (about 6 pt) bold fonts, right under the
> magnetic strips. Very easy to read.

Anybody who regards a 6-pt font as easy to read desperately needs to be
slapped into insensibility.

[BigDog811]

Anyone who can't read 6 point type, at least well enough to copy a phone number, desperately needs the services of an optometrist.

[The Real Bev]

On 09/11/2015 03:44 PM, BigDog811 wrote:
> On Friday, September 11, 2015 at 12:20:05 PM UTC-4, The Real Bev
> wrote:
>> On 09/10/2015 09:09 AM, BigDog811 wrote:
>>> The Real Bev wrote:
>>>> On 09/10/2015 05:53 AM, BigDog811 wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Agreed. There's a phone number on the back of every credit
>>>>> card issued for at least the past two decades. Call it if
>>>>> you think there's a problem. They'd rather hear from you
>>>>> with a false alarm than spend the time and money to unwind a
>>>>> problem.
>>>>
>>>> ...which is printed in tiny print, possibly with embossing over
>>>> it, such that some of us need a magnifying glass to read it.
>>>
>>> I guess it depends on the card issuer. I carry a Chase Freedom
>>> VISA CC, as well as VISA ATM/Debit cards from two credit unions
>>> in different parts of the country. All three have the trouble
>>> numbers printed in relatively large (about 6 pt) bold fonts,
>>> right under the magnetic strips. Very easy to read.
>>
>> Anybody who regards a 6-pt font as easy to read desperately needs
>> to be slapped into insensibility.
>

> Anyone who can't read 6 point type, at least well enough to copy a
> phone number, desperately needs the services of an optometrist.

Glasses for going on 55 years now, plus cataract surgery which improved
things immensely. Thanks for the suggestion, though.

--
Cheers, Bev
=====================================================
I'd rather not have neighbors. If I can see them, they're too close.
In fact, if I can see them through a rifle scope, they're too close.
-- Anonymous Coward

[tra...@optonline.net]

Try sticking to the facts and reality. It's very unlikely that you're
going to get an urgent warning from a car warranty company. Never heard
of it happening. However CC companies do call their card holders
occasionally because they've detected unusual activity on their accounts.
So, ignoring a call that says "This is Chase calling with an important message regarding your VISA account", when you know that you have their VISA card
is a really dumb idea. As others have pointed out, if you don't want to
accept the call, their number is on the back of the card. It's also on
the last paper billing statement, available when you log in online, or from
doing a google search. Good grief.