WARNING! Beware of calls asking for YES or NO answers

1. 86

   Don Bobbittposted 6 years ago

   Yesterday, I saw a warning on a major news channel where they mentioned a new scam here is how it goes;
   1- you will receive a phone call where the people ask something like; "CAN YOU HEAR ME?"
   2- once you answer YES they hang up.
   3- They have already stolen your basic information so they then charge something against your account.
   4- When you contact them to cancel the charge, they cn day you gave them permission for the charge, and will play back their recording of you saying YES.
   
   This is a scam, so never answer calls from strange phone numbers, and never say "YES" to protect yourself from this scam.

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      mike102771posted 6 years agoin reply to this

      Wow! What is wrong with people. Basic humanity has gone out the window. It's like that scene from The Godfather where they said "it's only business" to excuse doing things such as killing each other.
      
      This is just another reason why I don't answer my phone anymore. All calls are sent through the answering machine with call backs for people that matter. Maybe those kids that text instead of call on to something?

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      FitnezzJimposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      I saw this news also, and started looking for ways to deal with it, above and beyond diverting to an answering machine.
      
      I noted two actions that seemed reasonable.
      
      First was to get a Security Application that detects phone numbers not in your personal phonebook and plays a recorded message indicating the number has been given to a Law Enforcement Agency.  The writer claims this was effective.  But it also seems like you might be misrepresenting yourself.
      
      The second thing, if you fall victim to the fraud, is to contact the credit card company, let them know you were scammed, and to file a fraud report with your local Police Department or Sheriff to indicate you are willing to support that claim of fraud in Court.  I’m guessing this would be effective since I suspect fraudsters are not the sort that will show up in court to further their fraud.

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      kenneth averyposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      @Don . . .
      Thanks so much, my friend. I get these somewhat comical calls from "Microsoft" by people speaking in foreign tongues, not that this
      is bad, but one called me and got upset for he wanted me to confirm
      that I was who he was calling.
      I said, " we can sit here all day, but unless you tell me what you want,
      we will grow old holding the phone."
      I heard him exclaim, "Oh, God!" in English, and then that CLICK of a receiver hanging up.
      Ahhh, small justice beats no justice at all.

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         MizBejabbersposted 6 years agoin reply to this

         Kenneth, those computer calls are also a scam. We got one one day and my husband told him that his computer wasn't even on (it wasn't) then cussed him out.

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      MizBejabbersposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      I saw the same story, or a similar one on a major news network, and they said that some people had been entrapped. I notice that some of the commenters are debunking it. I say, "ladies, you can do what you want, I for one, won't fall for it." I agree with FFC, if I don't recognize the number, I don't answer it. Also, if the caller only rings once or twice, I know it's not legit. Legitimate business people know to let a phone ring several times.

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         DzyMsLizzyposted 6 years agoin reply to this

         The thing is, not a single person has, in fact, lost any money from this, which, if it were an actual scam, they would have.
         
         If the caller were asking for personal information, that would be a whole other thing.  But nothing is being asked but the initial question, to which there is only a one-word answer.  Then, the caller hangs up! (Gee--I wonder what would happen if you answered, "no."  ???  )
         
         Nothing can be gained by this; it's merely another crank call, to waste peoples' time and play stupid tricks.  I suppose this is today's version of our generation's youthful stunt of calling people and asking questions like, "Is your refrigerator running?"  To which a "yes" answer brought the stupid reply, "Well, you'd better go catch it!"  Followed, of course, by hanging up and collapsing in a fit of giggles.
         (Mind you, I'm not saying I ever did this.... )
         
         But I do believe that's all there is to this current nonsense.  I have more important things to worry about.

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            Don Bobbittposted 6 years agoin reply to this

            You are very WRONG on this one, I'm afraid. It is a confirmed scam. Go to snopes and check, please. We have enough wrong information being spread on HP by some writers for one of us to discount true information.
            DON

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            1. 88

               DzyMsLizzyposted 6 years agoin reply to this

               Please re-read my comment.  That's exactly what I said, that it's a SCAM, and the SCAM is the not the phone call, but this stupid warning about nothing!

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      peachpurpleposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      thanks very much for your warning, I never pick up weird number phone calls

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   6. 91

      Rachel L Albaposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      Hi Don,  I heard about this also, this morning on the radio.  Thanks again for bringing this to our attention, I would have forgotten.  This is a crazy and scary world.
      Thanks again, Rachel Alba

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      Rachel L Albaposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      I actually got this call yesterday and was very glad I heard of it before hand.  As soon as he said, "can you hear me", I did hang up.

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   FatFreddysCatposted 6 years ago

   I have a simple system to avoid scams like this: I don't answer calls from numbers I don't recognize. If it's someone who has legit business with me, they can leave me a message and I'll call them back. If they don't leave a message, then I know it was a B.S. call.

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3. 87

   Kryssy OSullivanposted 6 years ago

   I thought so!
   I have had quite a few of those calls. I had one like that last night, at 10pm. And it has been the same... A guy saying he was from my local police district, asking for donations, and if I could hear him. I also had one where they claimed to be from one of the local ambulance companies in my area.
   I figured it was weird, because even I asked who it was, it hung up on me. Calling back sometimes lands me on a voicemail.
   
   Anywho...
   Thanks for sharing, about this!

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4. 82

   psycheskinnerposted 6 years ago

   Sounds like a myth to me.  Bots can tell a person is saying yes rather than no, they cannot tell who that person speaking is.  Your voiceprint has no security value whatsoever, to you or to scammers.

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      kenneth averyposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      @ psyheskinner.

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      FitnezzJimposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      All true, of course.  The second half of the scam appears to be when the person who is the target of the fraud has the recording replayed for him, and is told he was recorded saying "yes" to whatever charge was put on his account,

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         psycheskinnerposted 6 years agoin reply to this

         That wouldn't happen because voiceprints are not used for identification purposes, pins and passwords are.

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            Don Bobbittposted 6 years agoin reply to this

            You know this, and I know this, but a lot of our fellow Hubbers are not very tech competent. That's why I placed the warning.
            DON

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            1. 82

               psycheskinnerposted 6 years agoin reply to this

               My point is that the warning is not needed because the threat is not real.
               
               There is zero evidence that anyone is recording people, or that having the recording would help with any attempted fraud.
               
               There is every reason to believe they are not and it would not.
               
               Let me put it this way, if your bank or any other entity with power over your money will carry out any transaction at all because some who sounds just like you telephoned them, you need to change banks right now because yours is not following Federally mandated laws and regulations in relation to identity protection and money laundering.

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                  RonElFranposted 6 years agoin reply to this

                  After ABC News reported on this last night, the same report was given on NBC News tonight, and they gave examples of people who claim to have experienced unauthorized charges on their credit cards because of this scam. So far I've seen reports on this from ABC and NBC. I think the weight of evidence so far is that this is something people need to be warned about.

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      MizBejabbersposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      I saw the same story, and apparently it is trapping some people. Unless you are a lawyer, do you know how much it costs to fight it?

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      RonElFranposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      I just saw a report on this on the ABC evening news. They take it seriously, and recommend that viewers do so as well. Even if the voice print has no legal value, I'm sure some victims are being intimidated by it into paying what the scammers demand. BTW, the Nuance website claims, "Voice is actually the most secure form of identification because each person's voiceprint is unique."

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         psycheskinnerposted 6 years agoin reply to this

         Not a single bank or major consumer service is using voiceprint, not  single cent has been lost to someone using it as described in this report.
         
         This whole thing is a myth.

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5. 87

   julieann26posted 6 years ago

   You  can (and should) always check these things out on legitimate scam and hoax sites like Snopes.
   
   Here's the link to what Snopes have said about this scam...
   
   http://www.snopes.com/can-you-hear-me-scam/

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6. 88

   DzyMsLizzyposted 6 years ago

   I read about this yesterday on Facebook.  Snopes debunked it; no one has ever actually lost any money, or been fraudulently charged for goods not ordered.
   
   The REAL scam is this foolish warning, itself!

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      psycheskinnerposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      Indeed, and then anyone who gets a call from someone with a cell phone in a bad reception area reports that they have been a "victim" of it.

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      TIMETRAVELER2posted 6 years agoin reply to this

      Not true.  Our local TV news outlet interviewed a woman who was scammed this way recently.

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      1. 82

         psycheskinnerposted 6 years agoin reply to this

         They interviewed a woman who got a call from someone with bad reception and attributed it to the new urban myth.
         
         Not a single cent has been lost because it is all just paranoia. Feel free to link me to any reputable report to the contrary.

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   Safari Chicposted 6 years ago

   Thanks for posting this information.

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8. 87

   mattforteposted 6 years ago

   The best part about this "scam" is that some genius thought up the story to see how far it would go.
   
   "I wonder if I can make this go viral."
   
   And so it has, even though it isn't even true. They're sitting at their desks laughing at all the  idiots spreading the information, and hanging up on the people that call them that legitimately ask "Can you hear me" when they have a shoddy connection. And everybody who says "Yeah it happened to me and I hung up" just add to the so called "validity" of the case because they assume that these people are asking the question to scam them, rather than actually asking if they can hear.
   
   The mastermind behind this has taken "trolling" to a whole new level of epic.

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