Quote:
Originally Posted by dotti34
It is the sensible thing to take all necessary precautions of course, and it is good to know that you all do. That you ignore unknown numbers. The man I mentioned always has up to now. However, since he began his medical treatment he receives calls from numbers he is not familiar with, important calls that are related to his condition, visits to the hospital, etc., so all calls have to be answered at present. Yes, we all know his wife should have hung up (there’s that hindsight rearing its ugly head again) but at the present time they are not in a good place to be thinking straight.
So as much as we like to think ‘it will never happen to me as I am too smart to be taken in by scammers’, let me tell you that it can happen to anyone given the circumstances.
As well as scammers trying to get to you by phone, just remember these lowlifes have other methods of obtaining money illegally. We all use the ‘fantastic plastic’ these days but just how safe is your card and its details? How often do you use your card, how often do you give these details out when paying bills or making purchases either by phone or in person, how often do you hand over the card in good faith, to pay for a meal for instance? Why is it necessary for banks to have departments that deal with card fraud and such problems if your card is so safe?
Let’s face it, we might be smart regarding phone calls but just how smart are we really? We should not be complacent however clever we like to think we are.
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I endorse everything you have said.
Life sometimes throws us a curve ball....when cancer strikes your family your priorities change because all of your life is turned upside down....
Yes, you do get phone calls from numbers you do not recognise and you have to pick up because it might be the result of your latest blood tests mean your treatment is suspended....or that your consultant wants to see you....any number of things.
And when you are dealing with the ill health of a family member, you are distracted and you might just not stick to your normal rules...because life is far from normal.
There was a case in the newspaper recently where an Elderly retired surgeon had been scammed out of all of his money.
He felt very silly at having been conned, but he was a victim....yet he felt like it was his fault.
The scammers are clever....they get away with it because over a short space of time technology and the fast pace of change has left a lot of elderly people behind.
Financial organisations have encouraged the use of the internet and technology to the detriment of a proportion of the population.
Those who neither know, or have access to technology.
I hope this couple getntheir money returned Dorothy....the bank owes them a duty of care.....and seeing substantial transactions going from an account that doesn't make transactions on that scale should raise alarms....that it didn’t or that they were not acted upon is a cause for concern.
As to cards....I rarely use mine in the shops....I use it for transactions at the bank....but for little else.
I remain reluctant to give my details to anyone....that doesn’t mean I am safe, because just carrying your card in your purse it could have the details skimmed off it.
I just hope that if that happened then my bank would realise it isn’t me spending on my card....and alert me and put a block on it.