Scam warning

Some American calls your home saying he is a relative and know info on you and will stop by for a visit (he is supposedly in the Vallarta / Nayarit beach area) and then calls a few days later saying he crashed and they will take him to jail unless you loan him money. DO NOT believe any of it. Calls from a blocked number or cell phone. They have a few confederates who will play roles of the federal polceman, accident victim whose young daughter needs airlifting and your "relative" takes responsability but needs the $$$ deposited or he will go to a dirty Mexican jail.

I think it is someone local to Chapala / Ajijic or with friends there, if you do get a call, hang up and then dial 088 if you speak Spanish and report it to the federal police telephinic fraud hotline.

Close thing happened to us a few days ago. Gringo gent
calls says he is the owner of the house and come for a
visit. This and that happens until of course he needs help
because of an accident. They are even smart enough to
try to set up a fake meeting with a friend of the owner
to try to make this look right. Two things gave them away.
Gringo was stupid on phone and he was suppose to be
in Tepic he didn't know what the toll road was. Finally
told em to call the rental company as they have an account
there and if the rental company call back I will help him.
Needless to say I or the rental company have not heard back.
They can be slick folks beware!!

Z

Why anyone would fall for that scam is beyond me. C'mon, we're all old enough to know better.

They are well trained and usually have personal info so some stuff checks out and they catch you off guard. Best not to answer phone they never leave messages.

Intercasa wrote:Best not to answer phone they never leave messages.

So how are you supposed to know its a scammer calling and not a legitimate caller?

seisdedos wrote:

Intercasa wrote:Best not to answer phone they never leave messages.

So how are you supposed to know its a scammer calling and not a legitimate caller?

All the callers and emails that are sent out because someone you know overseas is in trouble and needs money are all bs. Just hang up and don't answer the scam emails.

johninajijic wrote:

seisdedos wrote:

Intercasa wrote:Best not to answer phone they never leave messages.

So how are you supposed to know its a scammer calling and not a legitimate caller?

All the callers and emails that are sent out because someone you know overseas is in trouble and needs money are all bs. Just hang up and don't answer the scam emails.

johnny boy, the other dude said not to answer the phone. If you aren't going to answer your phone, then why even have a phone?

seisdedos wrote:

johninajijic wrote:

seisdedos wrote:

Intercasa wrote:Best not to answer phone they never leave messages.

So how are you supposed to know its a scammer calling and not a legitimate caller?

All the callers and emails that are sent out because someone you know overseas is in trouble and needs money are all bs. Just hang up and don't answer the scam emails.

johnny boy, the other dude said not to answer the phone. If you aren't going to answer your phone, then why even have a phone?

Better go back to school for reading comprehension, I said just hang up. You are a bit condused.

johninajijic wrote:

seisdedos wrote:

johninajijic wrote:

seisdedos wrote:

Intercasa wrote:Best not to answer phone they never leave messages.

So how are you supposed to know its a scammer calling and not a legitimate caller?

All the callers and emails that are sent out because someone you know overseas is in trouble and needs money are all bs. Just hang up and don't answer the scam emails.

johnny boy, the other dude said not to answer the phone. If you aren't going to answer your phone, then why even have a phone?

Better go back to school for reading comprehension, I said just hang up. You are a bit condused.

Hang up the phone before you answer?

Get caller ID and only answer the numbers you know!!!

CanuckBob wrote:Get caller ID and only answer the numbers you know!!!

I've got caller ID. I get calls from unknown numbers everyday. If I don't answer them then I may miss out when my daughter calls from overseas as it always shows her as an "unknown number". My son calls from friends' houses from time to time. I have several thousand business cards floating around. I might be missing out on some work.

I'm not really worried about getting scammed. That wasn't my point. I just wondered how feasible it is to not answer your phone as was suggested.

I never answer my phone, mainly because I can’t but all people important to me know this and will leave a message and they’ll get a return call as soon as I can get to the phone. Perhaps this would work for totally capable individuals as well. No message, no call back.

The only time I choose not to answer the phone is when I recognize the number.

Some people need to answer all the calls and yes my esteemed nemesis is right, many foreign callers show as blocked.

I just wish the caller ID would show if someone is calling about something lame or not, like pissed off a traffic cop and now calling me as the tow truck is there or someone who wants to talk for a long time and avoid paying for a consult when I'm super busy!

Intercasa wrote:Some people need to answer all the calls and yes my esteemed nemesis is right, many foreign callers show as blocked.

I just wish the caller ID would show if someone is calling about something lame or not, like pissed off a traffic cop and now calling me as the tow truck is there or someone who wants to talk for a long time and avoid paying for a consult when I'm super busy!

The reason for leaving a message so you know if it’s an emergency and in your case they also need to leave a phone number. Inform your clients that it may take a few minutes more but you will be there serve them if at all possible. Let them know if it takes more than 5 to 10 minutes it means you’re not available. All that most people really want to know is how to play the game. And with no exceptions you eventually must give a call back. (Business etiquette 101) IMHO

I just answer the phone. It's so much easier to do. And if someone is trying to scam me and they have tried before down here, I've been able to handle it. I usually catch on pretty fast. And start fibbing back.

It can almost be fun, if it weren't so scary. One time they kept on calling back a few times. They knew I was there and I just never answered.

It's fun changing languages on them especially because my Spanish is street Spanish often spoken by much younger people. Or I suggest the we go to my primary language German (which is not true) and get them really confused. (If they spoke German they would catch my accent). I pretend not to be the person they thought I was at that number.

I say again, get prepaired for these scams with your own false storry. It can almost be fun.

angela04101 wrote:Why anyone would fall for that scam is beyond me. C'mon, we're all old enough to know better.

They can be rather clever. They even had a fake random meeting with a
gentleman who says he is my landlords friend. A few days later you get
a call as Intercasa describes. They have lots of personal info on you. You
can say what you want some of them are very good. You have to remember
one thing what if it is my landlord or my relative who needs help? I spend
enough time investigating to determine it was fake but I would not have
wanted to leave my landlord or relative in Jail would you?

Z

I heard about these extortion attempts on the telephone...
one of them was...
threatening to kidnap your wife... and then... if you didn't pay them.... they'de bring her back...