Phone calls from unknown inmates...

TIDE-HSV

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I just had a thought--the next time that Pakistani guy calls from the Windows Department to fix my computer, I will refer him to TF to fix the {LIKE} and {THANKS FOR THIS POST} buttons...:wink:
LOL! I wish. The reason they haven't been reinstalled is that all of the present problems with the site, which took us completely offline (and there are a lot which aren't really obvious except to staff), started with an update to the "Like" plugin. Until we understand exactly what happened, there's a great reluctance to reinstall the missing features. The most recent problem was the corruption of the PM system last week and, as a result, I have 65K in PMs which I can't access right now...
 

TrampLineman

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Kind of sounds like that "Lonely Hearts Scam" that Kirksey Nix Jr. ran out of Angola before the judge and his wife got killed in Biloxi years ago. They would target gay men and blackmail them. Sounds like they are trying to find what they think are "single women" are target your wife thinking or hoping she'll be single and talk. Best thing to do these days is either block the numbers and/or pick up and hang up right away.

As for you thinking State Farm sold your number it wouldn't surprise me. I went to Health South one time after an accident at work, and sure enough the next week I mysteriously opened a cable account at an apartment I lived at in Ensley (not a lot of white folks live in apartments in Ensley). Brighthouse called me one day saying I owed a bill and I told them they were crazy, that I've never stepped foot on an apartment complex in Ensley. The woman told me it was mine and I was going to pay and I laughed at her and said good luck. It's still on my credit and I filed a complaint and they claimed they investigated and found that it was me (which is a joke and obviously they didn't do their homework since I had the same address since like 98) and I still refuse to pay it and never will just on general principal.
 

TIDE-HSV

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Kind of sounds like that "Lonely Hearts Scam" that Kirksey Nix Jr. ran out of Angola before the judge and his wife got killed in Biloxi years ago. They would target gay men and blackmail them. Sounds like they are trying to find what they think are "single women" are target your wife thinking or hoping she'll be single and talk. Best thing to do these days is either block the numbers and/or pick up and hang up right away.

As for you thinking State Farm sold your number it wouldn't surprise me. I went to Health South one time after an accident at work, and sure enough the next week I mysteriously opened a cable account at an apartment I lived at in Ensley (not a lot of white folks live in apartments in Ensley). Brighthouse called me one day saying I owed a bill and I told them they were crazy, that I've never stepped foot on an apartment complex in Ensley. The woman told me it was mine and I was going to pay and I laughed at her and said good luck. It's still on my credit and I filed a complaint and they claimed they investigated and found that it was me (which is a joke and obviously they didn't do their homework since I had the same address since like 98) and I still refuse to pay it and never will just on general principal.
The problem is that, these days, if you want to refinance your house, etc., your credit rating is important. The ratings services have really joined hands with the collection agencies. About two years ago, I got in a dispute with the hospital over an overnight stay. I knew exactly what the copay should have been and got mis-billed for several times that. I argued with hospital and I argued with Blue Cross. They ping-ponged me back and forth - "You'll have to ask them." They turned it over to a collection agency, and, at the urging of my wife, I paid up, after having told them they'd just have to sue me and good luck with that. Later talking, to my bankers, they told me gently that, in today's world, you can't approach it that way. Once it goes to collection, your credit rating takes a huge hit, no matter if you're right or wrong. Since then, I've found that I have a huge hammer with Medicare. I can appeal and drag them on the carpet and make them prove their charges, which no hospital can really do. I understand that, when that happens, they slink off into the shadows and decide just to forget the whole matter...
 

TrampLineman

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Yea my credit took a hit, but luckily the rest of mine made up for it and it is still pretty good even though it would be perfect if not for that. It was only $81 too, I know it was a small amount and during those times I was pretty hard off so I was so hardheaded I just couldn't do it. Especially when the credit agency and the cable folks were telling me they were 100% sure it was mine and me knowing I never lived in Ensley. I should have called Health South and raised a fuss but at that time I didn't put it together, but it had to be someone working there because that was the only way someone in Birmingham could get a hold of my info.
 

TIDE-HSV

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Yea my credit took a hit, but luckily the rest of mine made up for it and it is still pretty good even though it would be perfect if not for that. It was only $81 too, I know it was a small amount and during those times I was pretty hard off so I was so hardheaded I just couldn't do it. Especially when the credit agency and the cable folks were telling me they were 100% sure it was mine and me knowing I never lived in Ensley. I should have called Health South and raised a fuss but at that time I didn't put it together, but it had to be someone working there because that was the only way someone in Birmingham could get a hold of my info.
Good luck on finding that out. It's almost always some employee making money on the side. They're caught occasionally, but not very often...
 

TrampLineman

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Yea it's way too late now to find out as it was about 10 or 12 years ago now. It was the only place that would have a copy of my license and have my social at the same time as I never lost my license or anything. Can't stand identity thieves!

Sent from my LG G2 4GLTE via Verizon
 

TIDE-HSV

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Yea it's way too late now to find out as it was about 10 or 12 years ago now. It was the only place that would have a copy of my license and have my social at the same time as I never lost my license or anything. Can't stand identity thieves!

Sent from my LG G2 4GLTE via Verizon
I'm starting to flag and head for the sack, but I'll throw one example in. It happened to me something like 15+ years ago, before garden variety crooks were doing it all the time. I had one low limit card I used for nothing other than software purchases for my office, so, low activity. I made a purchase from a small company in Maine and thought no more about it. I might go months without a purchase on that card, which I had on auto-draft. One day, I got a call from a CitiBank rep, asking me if I'd authorized $3400+ in purchases that month. Of course, my answer was negative. What had happened was that the thief had been making $20-$30 dollar purchases every month for about 5-6 months, testing my alertness (I failed). When he figured it was safe, he opened the spigot. His purchases had a pattern. His were totally for subscriptions to X-rated sites. The big purchase at the end was for the creation of a web page, once again, X-rated, at my expense. I wrote a certified letter to the president of the small company but never got a reply. I figured he didn't want his wife/SO to know what he was doing. (Or his assistant, who intercepted my letter.) The card company was very cooperative in backing out the charges, after I jumped through the hoops. I also cooperated with the feds, but I never knew what happened with the aftermath. This was a long time ago and obviously penny ante, compared with today's sophisticated ID theft, which has become a cottage industry for thieves. However, it did make me a lot more cautious - forever...
 

seebell

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FCC ruling on robocalls. From Consumers Union.

Today the FCC told the telephone companies that they CAN block unwanted robocalls for their customers. Here's a direct quote:
"We are giving the green light for robocall-blocking technology, declaring that these market-based solutions can be offered without violating our call-completion rules. The FCC wants to make it clear: telephone companies can -- and in fact should -- offer consumers robocall-blocking tools."
Check out our update then join our campaign

Sign the petition. https://consumersunion.org/end-robocalls/
 

Tidewater

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FCC ruling on robocalls. From Consumers Union.

Today the FCC told the telephone companies that they CAN block unwanted robocalls for their customers. Here's a direct quote:
"We are giving the green light for robocall-blocking technology, declaring that these market-based solutions can be offered without violating our call-completion rules. The FCC wants to make it clear: telephone companies can -- and in fact should -- offer consumers robocall-blocking tools."
Why on earth would a telephone company think that they could not offer robocop blocking?

I mean, if my telephone comany said, "We're sorry. We're not allowed to block robocalls." I'd say, "Whuh? Who is not allowing you?"
 

TIDE-HSV

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Why on earth would a telephone company think that they could not offer robocop blocking?

I mean, if my telephone comany said, "We're sorry. We're not allowed to block robocalls." I'd say, "Whuh? Who is not allowing you?"
They don't really want to. Every call carries line charges, the lifeblood of telcos. Blocking them earns them no money (could cost, if you get POed enough to leave). To an extent they are in cahoots with the robocallers...
 

Tidewater

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They don't really want to. Every call carries line charges, the lifeblood of telcos. Blocking them earns them no money (could cost, if you get POed enough to leave). To an extent they are in cahoots with the robocallers...
I guess, but I'd change telephone companies to a company that blocked robocalls. I wonder why some entrepreneur* has not thought of that.



* That idea for which the French have no word.
 

TIDE-HSV

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I guess, but I'd change telephone companies to a company that blocked robocalls. I wonder why some entrepreneur* has not thought of that.



* That idea for which the French have no word.
IDK. Maybe they just haven't thought of marketing themselves that way. It oughta work, it would seem to me. A couple of days ago, I got a late call on my office line, which I switch to home at night. By "late," I meant well after normal office hours. First the call showed "unknown caller" and "China." Next, my cell rang and it also said "China." I got irritated and blocked it. This was the same pattern as we saw with the inmate service. They had had all our numbers. Unfortunately, I'd forgotten that I have this one client in south China. Next, I got an email from him. He's 12 hours out of phase with CDT and had lost sight of the fact that it was Memorial Day... :)
 

Al A Bama

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That's just where the company is HQed. They're pretty scummy, IMO. One guy on 800notes actually did have a relative incarcerated. He opened an account, and, after a $9.95 service charge, a $2.95 "connection fee" and various other fees, his amount remaining of the $25 dollar minimum was $3, for a four minute call. One lawyer, who did practice criminal law, said on 800notes that he dealt with them all the time, and, compared with some of the other companies doing the same, their rates were "almost fair."
I received another call this afternoon from 209-890-8972 regarding the IRS coming to deal with me.

I went to 800notes and even though it's a California phone number, someone said it's probably coming from India or Pakistan. Maybe the call I thought I received from Minnesota was also probably from India or Pakistan. Seems they can't speak good English but are technologically literate.

Thanks for the info TIDE-HSV.
 

TIDE-HSV

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Yeah. They're good at spoofing numbers and area codes, but their English really, really sucks. If they could speak even halfway passable English, they'd be working in a legit TS job. These guys are the rejects. As an aside, which isn't exactly OT with this thread, during the British occupation of India/Pakistan, there were generations of the natives who grew up speaking English with what's basically a Hindic accent. It's their second language, hell, probably a lot of them speak a lot more English than their native dialect. Anyway, back to my point, these guys are the dregs. If they were better at English, they'd have a lot better job than one depending on how many people they can scam...
 

Crimson1967

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I've had a couple calls like this in the last few days. The other day a woman called and asked if she wa speaking to (my name). I said yes (you never know what it might be) and then she said she had something important to discuss with me and wanted to verify either the last for digits of my social security number. I asked her what was so important and she said she couldn't say until I verified the information. I said something to her I can't say on here and hung up.

Today a guy with an Indian accent called and asked for me. He called me by my first name, although I go by my middle. (Going by your middle name is a huge pain in the neck, but one benefit is that you know you are getting a telemarketer right away and not someone with something really important to tell you).

Anyway, he also said he needed to verify my address but this time said it was in Atlanta. I said I had never lived in Atlanta and he apologized and said he would remove my number from his list. Which is good, since I blocked his.
 

Bama Reb

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Yeah. They're good at spoofing numbers and area codes, but their English really, really sucks. If they could speak even halfway passable English, they'd be working in a legit TS job. These guys are the rejects. As an aside, which isn't exactly OT with this thread, during the British occupation of India/Pakistan, there were generations of the natives who grew up speaking English with what's basically a Hindic accent. It's their second language, hell, probably a lot of them speak a lot more English than their native dialect. Anyway, back to my point, these guys are the dregs. If they were better at English, they'd have a lot better job than one depending on how many people they can scam...
Yes, they are. I've even gotten a few phone calls from my own number. I'd sure like to know how I'm calling myself!
 

TIDE-HSV

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I've had a couple calls like this in the last few days. The other day a woman called and asked if she wa speaking to (my name). I said yes (you never know what it might be) and then she said she had something important to discuss with me and wanted to verify either the last for digits of my social security number. I asked her what was so important and she said she couldn't say until I verified the information. I said something to her I can't say on here and hung up.

Today a guy with an Indian accent called and asked for me. He called me by my first name, although I go by my middle. (Going by your middle name is a huge pain in the neck, but one benefit is that you know you are getting a telemarketer right away and not someone with something really important to tell you).

Anyway, he also said he needed to verify my address but this time said it was in Atlanta. I said I had never lived in Atlanta and he apologized and said he would remove my number from his list. Which is good, since I blocked his.
In my case, it's similar - they don't know that the "e" on the end of "Earle" is silent, their English is so poor (although some stateside solicitors also miss that), so, if someone calls for "Earlee'," we say there is no such person. That usually leaves them stammering. I really like this "Sentry" device I got off Amazon. It was a PITA getting the whitelist built up (presently at 74), but it's working well now. As I posted above, it comes on with a new number with a stern lecture to the effect that, if you're a telemarketer, hang up now. At the end, it says that, if you're a real person, just press zero at the end and call back in. (No telemarketer has done that yet.) If I'm by the phone, I can intercept and whitelist the person before the machine kicks in. It's been comic, in a way. My wife belongs to and has positions of responsibility, occasioning a lot of calls at certain times of the month, in a couple of lady's clubs which have some older women in them. She predicted they would all not be able to handle the directions for self-whitelisting. Surprisingly, they all have. OTOH, I got a call from a friend in his 50s a couple of days ago and he's bright (for a retired Auburn state forester). He called in three times without completing the routine, until I saw and recognized the number and picked up, so you just can't tell. Of course, the robocalls had become absolutely epidemic until we were willing to put up with the hassle of this gadget, but it works...
 

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