Grandma... It's me (SCAM)

[CristoRey]

We've all heard and read about the infamous "Grandma Scam"
From operation Discovery here in Santiago to the bottom of the
barrel call centers full of deportees operating across this country.
Here is a short video showing how these scams work for those of you
are interested in learning more.

 

[JD Jones]

These scammers are either guys from the states who have come to the DR to live cheap, or they're deported Dominicans.

The guy who made this video is now working for Aura, which is a company that protects persons from scammers, so it's nice to see he's getting some financial benefit from scamming the scammers. He has a lot of videos with scammers and does a cool job at freaking them out.

There's quite a few persons who do this. If you watch him on YT, you'll probably see some of them on the related videos section.

 

[SKY]

Sky's Scam Defense:

1-Never answer or respond to a strange number, email, Whatsapp, or any other function.

2- Read One Again.......

 

[jd426]

These Guys are Human Garbage .. Hope there is a Special Place in Hell for them.
I only heard of one person whos Mother fell for one of these ,but it was a Lot of money .. like more than $35,000 all in Cash.
And she has 2 Sons she could have called , but she believed the Scammer .
Old People are very vulnerable.

 

[NALs]

Scams aren’t just done via the phones.

I got this one in my phone earlier this week. The funny part is that I didn’t meet anyone new and no one that I know has implied they saw me but I didn’t somewhere. Plus, I don’t recognize that number.

From time to time I get another message. Apparently, I own some land in Polk County, Florida and whomever they are, are interested in buying. Yep, own land in a county I have never been to. Florida has a history of people that even haven’t been to the state buying land in some swamp that they thought was good dry land, but I don’t buy real estate without seeing it in situ. I get a message like that every few months. If they were a legit interest in “buying my Polk County, FL property” they would get the hint already. This might pass over the head of these folks probably in Nigeria or something.

 

[Manuel01]

If you can.... spend as much time with them on the phone as possible incl. Discussing details about $ Handover etc. The moment they are busy with us, they can't scam somebody else

 

[SKY]

If you can.... spend as much time with them on the phone as possible incl. Discussing details about $ Handover etc. The moment they are busy with us, they can't scam somebody else

You want to take up time and aggravate them also just tell them to hold on and you will be right there. Then put the phone down and forget it. I use that for my ex-wives.......

 

[melphis]

I find telling them really disgusting things you are doing to their family members works. I once had one tell me I was the most vile and disgusting person he ever had the misfortune of talking to. He then threatened to call the police on me. I had to remind him that he phoned me to try to scam me. I really thought he was going to cry.
It made my day.

 

[LindseyKaufman]

My teacher had her phone number hacked over the weekend. I have no idea how you can do that. She went to Claro but they insisted that they found see nothing wrong and she should wait 24 hours. This was Saturday morning and of course, Sunday no one was working.

Meanwhile the hacker messaged me and all other people in her family and friends asking for money because there is an emergency. A family emergency!

He sent me a message and as soon as he ask for a transfer via Zelle I knew he was not from here.

Playing naive, I told him to come to my house, explain to me in person and I would see about helping. That brought up more excuses.

At that point I warned my teacher. Shortly thereafter her mother got a phone call, then one by one all those close to her.

Her mother called the number that came up when they called her and it was from New York.

So I went back to WhatsApp and told this person that we all know what they are up to. And we called the police here (not saying where here is) and we called the police in New York where the calls were coming from. That stopped the calls.

But now my teacher must find time to go to claro, cancel her account with that number and get a new one, losing all her contacts, photos, and other saved information.

Scary.

 

[jd426]

They have software with which you can SPOOF any Number ..
The Telemarketers use it all the time ..

When you call the number which appears on your Caller ID, it does not mean that is the number which called you... Those days are long gone
So your Teachers phone # may have been targeted for scamming ,but does not mean its her Physical Phone that is affected .
Phones do not get "cloned" any longer . those days went away when Analog switched over to Digital .

 

[AlterEgo]

They have software with which you can SPOOF any Number ..
The Telemarketers use it all the time ..

When you call the number which appears on your Caller ID, it does not mean that is the number which called you... Those days are long gone
So your Teachers phone # may have been targeted for scamming ,but does not mean its her Physical Phone that is affected .
Phones do not get "cloned" any longer . those days went away when Analog switched over to Digital .

Exactly. I think they spoof randomly. About once a year I get a call from someone who says I called them (I didn’t) and they swear my number is on their caller ID.

 

[Gadfly]

Silence unknown callers keeps me free of idiot callers here

 

[Buffness]

Apparently, it’s more sophisticated than just scam phone calls these days. You need to be more careful than merely blocking calls. If you are receiving calls from scammers, ask yourself how they got your information in the first place.

There are people who gather your details from public databases, government websites (it’s shocking that the UK government still posts directors' full names and dates of birth in this day and age...but I digress), LinkedIn profiles (I never connect with anyone I haven't met in person), and social media profiles. Some even post "ghost jobs" to collect information if and when you respond.

In the DR, companies (especially utilities) are quick to request and take copies of your photo ID, passport, etc. You never know how securely this information is stored or if it might made easily accessible to someone for a few $$$.

My point is - If and when you start receiving calls from unknown sources, consider how they got your number and what they know about you—and who else might know.

So, guard your data; They do say , after all, that 'prevention is better than cure'.

 

[LindseyKaufman]

They have software with which you can SPOOF any Number ..
The Telemarketers use it all the time ..

When you call the number which appears on your Caller ID, it does not mean that is the number which called you... Those days are long gone
So your Teachers phone # may have been targeted for scamming ,but does not mean its her Physical Phone that is affected .
Phones do not get "cloned" any longer . those days went away when Analog switched over to Digital .

But in this case she was no longer receiving her messages or calls. He received them. It was like he took over her number and received all her communications.

 

[SKY]

But in this case she was no longer receiving her messages or calls. He received them. It was like he took over her number and received all her communications.

It sounds like they somehow got a Sim card of her cell.......

 

[JLSawmam]

Regarding @LindseyKaufman's teacher, if it's an android phone, her contacts, photos, and some data should be a part of her Google account and not tied to her phone number, So, she shouldn't lose everything. I assume Iphones are similar, don't know. Anyway, definitely still sucks

 

[jd426]

But in this case she was no longer receiving her messages or calls. He received them. It was like he took over her number and received all her communications.

Someone would have needed access to her Physical Sim card, and then duplicated the Sim card .. thats the only way that could happen .
In other words they had HER Sim card in their possession at one time to do this .

Did she share the Sim card with anyone so they could make calls ?


I think in this case finding out why and how this happened is more important than the Fraud itself .

They have essentially taken over her Phone number .
I would suggest get a new Number and never lend out your Sim card again.

 

[NanSanPedro]

Someone would have needed access to her Physical Sim card, and then duplicated the Sim card .. thats the only way that could happen .
In other words they had HER Sim card in their possession at one time to do this .

Did she share the Sim card with anyone so they could make calls ?


I think in this case finding out why and how this happened is more important than the Fraud itself .

They have essentially taken over her Phone number .
I would suggest get a new Number and never lend out your Sim card again.

I can't imagine why anyone would do that. They are tied to your cedula/passport. That's a NFW decision if I ever heard of one.

 

[Cdn_Gringo]

It's called SIM swapping.

 

[NanSanPedro]

It's called SIM swapping.

ok, but what's the point?