I was recently lucky enough to be the target of a hopeful phone scammer (twice). Luckily, I have a brain and did not fall for his ridiculous scam. However, I thought I would mention it here so that people would be on the lookout.

The basis of this scam is that the scammer claims to be an employee working for the federal government, and that they would like to give you $5,000 because you have paid your taxes on time. Of course they need to verify your personal information for you to get the money. Now my phone calls didn't make it much farther than this because it was an obvious scam, but a few internet searches show that if you allow them to continue, they will eventually ask you for your bank routing number and bank account number so that they can have the funds deposited to your account.

Anytime someone asks for your personal information (especially account numbers, social security numbers, etc), it should immediately set off a red flag that this person is trying to scam you. Aside from the obvious clue that they wanted my personal information, they didn't even try to make the scam believable. For one, the scammer was rude on the phone, and obviously did not have a good handle on the English language. The scammer's heavy accent made some of his words hard to understand. Another obvious problem was that the scammer actually calls for someone else who used to have my phone number, and when told they have the wrong number, they offer the money to me.

For your amusement, I now include the paraphrased text (didn't record the actual conversation) from my calls. Here's the first call that came in early September.

Scammer: Is Jeff ****** available?

Me: You have the wrong number.

Scammer: Who is this?

Me: Excuse me? Who are you?

Scammer: My name is (couldn't understand) from (couldn't understand) and we've been trying to reach you at this number for a few months. First we need to update your contact information in our system. What is your name?

Me: I'm not going to give you my contact information.

Scammer: Sir, I am calling you to let you know that we'd like to give you $5,000 for (couldn't understand). We just need to first update your contact information.

Me: I'm not interested.

Scammer: You're not interested in $5,000?!

Me: I'm not interested in your scam. (I hang up)



About 3 weeks later, we get a repeat call. This time slightly different:

Scammer: Is Jeff ****** available?

Me: Jeff ****** does not have this number anymore. We have this number now.

Scammer: My name is (couldn't understand) from the federal government and I am calling you to let you know that we'd like to give you $5,000 because you paid your taxes on time. We just need to first update your contact information.

Me: If you work for the government, you should already have my contact information.

Scammer: We just need to verify that it is correct so we can get you your money.

Me: Is there a valid phone number that I can call you back at to verify that this is legitimate?

Scammer: We just need to validate your information to get you your $5,000.

Me: If the government really wanted to give me $5,000 they already have the appropriate contact information (I hang up).


I almost hope the guy tries again. I think I'll next pretend that I work for the IRS. I'd like to see how he explains his $5,000 for paying your taxes on time to an IRS employee.

Anyway, just watch out for this and any other scam.

KEEP YOUR INFORMATION SAFE

ALWAYS REMEMBER THAT A LEGITIMATE COMPANY WILL NOT ASK YOU FOR PRIVATE OR PERSONAL DATA OVER THE PHONE OR EMAIL. NEVER GIVE OUT ACCOUNT NUMBERS OR SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBERS. IF A DEAL SOUNDS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE, IT IS - PEOPLE DON'T JUST GIVE THINGS AWAY TO RANDOM PEOPLE.