I was just sitting here, working on a web project, and I got this call that said "Please call us back immidately. It is important that you return this call."
I Googl'ed the number they called from to look for fraud, and nothing turned up, so I went ahead and called them back (it was a toll-free number).
When they answered, it was the typical "this call may be recorded" message, then I got connected with a dude that was calling on behalf of Southwestern Bell.
The dude asked for my dad, and I told him that I was able to speak on his behalf. He asked if I had power of attorney or some crap to speak for him, so I said "yes", assuming it was a telemarketer. He said that he was calling to reconcile a long overdue payment for someone with my dad's name, and I suggested that I have Mom call him back when she got home. The guy said, "Okay, that's fine, but I need to confirm your address..."
Turns out, he was looking for someone who lived on Market Street in Kokomo, which is about 90 minutes southeast of here. To the best of my knowledge, none of my family has ever lived there, with the exception of my brother-in-law.
I told the guy that he had the wrong person, and he said, "Yeah, apparently I do. I'm sorry, sir. We'll not bother you again."
-
There was a story of mistaken debt identity a while back, where the victim was constantly hassled about it for a number of years in the most terrible, debt collecting ways, even after consistently telling them how they had the wrong person. When the guy killed himself, he listed that as one of his reasons.
-
Wow. I doubt it'll got that far.
-
I used to get messages all the time that said like, "This call concerns important personal business." One time I got that message and it clicked over to something that said I had a long-overdue balance of $31.83 and to stay on the line to make payment arrangements. So I actually was home once when that call came in, and I did stay on the line, and nothing ever happened. I was surprised not to find some outlandish charge on my next phone bill. It sounded like a pretty big scam. Especially considering none of the calls ever said what company it was.
-
Whatever you guys do, DO NOT give out any personal information. It could be a scam, and someone trying to get your information to cause identity theft. Be very cautious.
-
Yeah, I didn't give the dude any information other than "You have the wrong person."