New version of phone scam

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Rikkitic

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#272990 29-Jul-2020 11:39

Just had a new (to me) version of the Spark phone scam. This time it's from my Visa card, suspicious payments have been blocked, press 1 to cancel or 2 to confirm. When I pressed 1 I was passed on to a 'survey' but then the phone disconnected. I have had a lot of these disconnects lately. I thought they were just due to misconfiguration by the scammers but now I wonder if there might be more to it. Are they just collecting a sucker list? Where is their profit if the robocaller keeps cutting off at the very moment the victim issues an invitation to be fleeced? Are the robocallers just following their programmes while the scammers are in jail?

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Oblivian

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#2530675 29-Jul-2020 11:44

New?..

https://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?forumid=48&topicid=255578

https://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?forumid=48&topicid=261297

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#2530687 29-Jul-2020 12:10

No way this is new years old

Rikkitic

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#2530690 29-Jul-2020 12:20

I said new to me. I have had many of the Spark calls, but as I stated in my post, this one was from 'Visa' and it offered a choice to press 1 or 2 instead of just 1. That is different and it is what I was referring to.

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Oblivian

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#2530709 29-Jul-2020 13:07

The 2nd link is the same visa scan you posted in Nov?

Yeah, OK, it has a 2nd button option. But surely you knew that it was just a variation of the same previous.

I just encountered a new (to me) scam. It was a (very generic) robocall informing me that an unauthorised overseas transaction for a little over $1,000 had been detected on my Visa (or Mastercard) credit card. It told me to press 1 to proceed. Instead I waited to see if I would get a response by doing nothing and the call timed out and disconnected after a short time. I believe the new generation of scammers are employing self-selecting sucker mechanisms like this to weed out time wasters and focus on the gullible. I pass this on for whatever it may be worth.

Just had a new (to me) version of the Spark phone scam. This time it's from my Visa card, suspicious payments have been blocked, press 1 to cancel or 2 to confirm. When I pressed 1 I was passed on to a 'survey' but then the phone disconnected. I have had a lot of these disconnects lately. I thought they were just due to misconfiguration by the scammers but now I wonder if there might be more to it. Are they just collecting a sucker list? Where is their profit if the robocaller keeps cutting off at the very moment the victim issues an invitation to be fleeced? Are the robocallers just following their programmes while the scammers are in jail?

The whole idea is they WANT you to press something (or hang on). It proves they got a hit. Just like you don't reply to spam. You don't press anything when a robocaller asks you.

It may well be since it's possibly a third repeat. You're got yourself marked as a positive by not disconnecting within the thresholds

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#2530711 29-Jul-2020 13:09

@Rikkitic @Oblivian has posted a very good post above, I think you need to think before you post

Rikkitic

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#2530717 29-Jul-2020 13:28

Linux:

@Rikkitic @Oblivian has posted a very good post above, I think you need to think before you post

Not sure what your point is. When I encounter something I think may be of wider interest, I pass it on. If it is old news or no-one cares, no harm done. What is your complaint?

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Rikkitic

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#2530719 29-Jul-2020 13:34

Oblivian:

It may well be since it's possibly a third repeat. You're got yourself marked as a positive by not disconnecting within the thresholds

I didn't used to respond but I kept getting the calls anyway. So I started responding when I had nothing better to do just to give them a hard time. But for quite awhile now, the line goes dead whenever I do respond, so maybe they have just marked me as someone not to bother with. If that is true, though, I wish they would just stop calling. It is a minor annoyance, but an annoyance none the less. At least they have the decency not to call in the middle of the night!

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