Beware of Phone Phishing Scam Involving Suposedly Deaf People
October 19th, 2009 by Skip McGrath
There is a new phone phishing scam aimed at online business owners and eBay sellers. I received one of these calls this morning. Here is how it works:
You receive a phone call and an operator on the line explains that she is on the line with a hearing impaired person who is typing her message and the operator will translate. So you say “OK” and the operator gives the person’s name and asks for yours. Then the operator says the person is overseas and wants to buy one of your products. She then started asking questions wanting my location and address and eBay ”name.”
I wasn’t sure what was going on and being very careful, when suddenly I heard a click and an another operator came on the line. She said she was from AT&T and that she was disconnecting the call because it was a fradulent call. I asked her what was going on and she explained that this was a phone phishing scam designed to get personal information and the calls were originating from overseas.
So, if you get a call like this, my best advice is to just say “No thank you,” and hang up.
