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Scams: telephone, email, texts 2022

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mikejee said:
There seems to be some problem with this, and they seem to be getting through despite efforts to stop them
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and we are working as fast and as quick as we can to catch and ban them and delete their posts before they ruin the forum....this is happening daily sometimes as many as 6 a day...does not help that we are 3 mods out of 5 down at the min all on holiday...all we can do is do our best and also rely on our members to hit the report button in case we miss any...thanks folks

lyn
 
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I enjoy the calls from India, supposedly calling from Microsoft, my record for keeping a caller from Microsoft on the phone was half an hour. Could have been longer but the bathroom required a visit.
They usually hang up on me, when I eventually explain that I have a Mac computer. I always ask where they are based, some say India. One once said Birmingham, I asked where in Birmingham? They replied Temple Street, I asked what’s the name of the nearby church? They hung up.
TREAT THESES CALLS AS A BIT OF FUN! A challenge Brightens up the day.
Alf.C.
 
Brummie a long time ago said:
You should be on the stage. There is one leaving in 10 minutes, be on it.

There is a big selling site over here. You buy something, and pay the site. They verify the payment and tell the seller, who has a limited number of days to send the goods by recorded delivery. They know you paid, the seller has sent it, and that you have received the stuff. You have so many days to release the payment, or trigger a dispute. After then, the seller is paid anyway. If sending or delivery doesn't happen, you get the money back from the site. The site has special price deals with a nationwide carrier for sending stuff as part of this process.
I had a seller send me a lower spec version of a piece of tech. I opened a dispute and the payment to him from the site was immediately frozen. I sent the site photo evidence and they told the seller to sort it so I was happy, because I was getting the money back from them if he didn't. He arranged for it to be sent back, and I got repaid by the site, although he did wriggle a little bit during the dispute.
Andrew
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Andrew, the key word in the US is Dispute! If you dispute a charge the bank or paying has to investigate the charges and freezes everything until resolved. Seller’s don’t like that so they reluctantly resolve although I had one with a major retailer who finally credit it Ed my account.
 
oldMohawk said:
I notice there are three scam posts on the BHF posted this morning. Most of us simply ignore them but perhaps Xenforo can be set to automatically block their IP addresses or any VPN they might be using ?
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Do the scam posts always have a URL in the posting, that would seem to be the point, to get the viewer to click ? How about any of the first N posts from a new account that contain a URL (any URL) get deleted automatically, (or maybe just the URL is deleted). Or to be generous, the post is reviewed and marked as clean if OK. N is reset, so a new poster has to do N+1 consecutive 'clean' posts to appear automatically. That and 1 post per day until proven would at least make the scammers work a bit more.
Andrew.
 
The forum software Xenforo can be set to block certain IP addresses and VPNs from registering but setup is tricky and scammers are expert 'artful dodgers'. The best thing (as lyn said) is to click the Report button and ignore them.
 
oldMohawk said:
The forum software Xenforo can be set to block certain IP addresses and VPNs from registering but setup is tricky and scammers are expert 'artful dodgers'. The best thing (as lyn said) is to click the Report button and ignore them.
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thanks phil....we have been up against these invaders for a couple of months now....warren is doing his best to stop them by tweeking the settings every so often which does work for a short time but then the little blighters come back...as said if we allow them stay on the forums threads it will totally ruin the look and smooth running of our threads and like you say phil if members spot any they hit the report button we mods can pick them up when we have time to log on because with the best will in the world we cant be online 24/7...thanks again folks...oh as i type another one has just been posted...that makes 7 today so far...most annoying and time consuming..i shall now go and get rid of it

lyn
 
Recently on a couple of occasions the delivery person (think it was Hermes) put the parcel against the open door to take the photograph, presumably to show there was someone there who received it
 
mikejee said:
Recently on a couple of occasions the delivery person (think it was Hermes) put the parcel against the open door to take the photograph, presumably to show there was someone there who received it
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mike when we get parcels they ask us to stand on the step next to the parcel so that they can take a photo of our feet as well:D clever
 
hermes just leaves my parcels on the step. takes a pic and legs it. there is a big box outside for when i am out or if it is raining but they still leave it on the step....
Astoness said:
mike when we get parcels they ask us to stand on the step next to the parcel so that they can take a photo of our feet as well:D clever
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why feet? the mind boggles :grinning:
 
mw0njm. said:
hermes just leaves my parcels on the step. takes a pic and legs it. there is a big box outside for when i am out or if it is raining but they still leave it on the step....

why feet? the mind boggles :grinning:
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i would image for data protection/privacy reasons pete...i would think its not allowed to take a facial photos of the recipients of parcels in case the photos ended up where they should not be showing the feet alongside the parcel would prove it had been received

lyn
 
Astoness said:
i would image for data protection/privacy reasons pete...i would think its not allowed to take a facial photos of the recipients of parcels in case the photos ended up where they should not be showing the feet alongside the parcel would prove it had been received

lyn
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I know I have been lucky in this respect being in Telecommunications till I retired but myself if I get a call from a number not recognised on my mobile or shows on my caller display on the landline. I just don’t answer and on the mobile when the call ends on the mobile I block the number, as for texts I just delete them.
 
A couple of years ago we ordered online a garden strimmer , the day of delivery a slight noise was heard in the kitchen . Upon inspection after opening the front door , the female driver wending her way back to the van . The wife asked can I help you ? “Your delivery is behind the gate “ the driver said . Did you ring th bell the wife asked , only to be met with the answer I didn’t think there was anyone in . She had turfed the stimmer over the gate and walked, it was pouring down with rain and the box was soaked I ask you, what chance have you got with some people ?
 
oldMohawk said:
With regard to the scammers who post on here every morning, they are posting on many other forums. I've looked around and can see the same posts and same user names on several forums. It must be a computerised setup.
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i tend to agree with you phil there are too many of them to be real people...ive knabbed 3 this morning already... also thanks to members who are hitting the report button if they spot any being posted...

lyn
 
I recently had a ev home charger installed in which i had to scan a QR code, which got me thinking that it might make it easier for the scammers to lure folk onto dodgy websites? QR codes seem to be getting more popular so maybe some techie on here can tell us if they`re trustworthy.
 
Smudger said:
QR codes seem to be getting more popular so maybe some techie on here can tell us if they`re trustworthy.
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Short answer. No

A bit longer. QR codes are fine in principle, they usually encode a URL that you might get wrong if you had to type it manually. The horrible bit is that YOU can't read the URL until the code is scanned. You (hopefully) would avoid scammersteaparty dot ru, but how do you know if that is what is encoded on the QR code stuck to the front of a parking meter over the top of the real one to make payment(!) easier.

They are trustworthy if they are part of printed material from someone you trust. Not if they have been stuck on as an addition. Excellent in, for example, museums where they can take you quickly to additional resources for an exhibit.

I, and you, can print a QR code with almost no effort.

Tech got me where I am today, I am not sure about letting it take me where I want to go.

Andrew.
 
mw0njm. said:
www.safesportid.com

QR Codes and safety. Are they reliable?

Why have we decided not to use QR codes in our Safesport ID bracelets? We explain our reasons here
www.safesportid.com www.safesportid.com
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Pete, I thought this was an insightful article until it got to the part about what they are not saying. Maybe I’m old fashioned (I know I am old) but it seemed like a sales pitch, I get that. But engraving the information on a bracelet flys in the face of our digital future!

PS. When I typed in old, oldMohawk came up automatically :) , so the question is oldMohawk scamming my iPad or is that Microsoft tracking me? :cool:
 
Quick Response Codes (more commonly known as QR codes) are two-dimensional barcodes that can point you to an online destination such as a website or download link. They're essentially hyperlinks in image form - you may have seen them inside magazines and newspapers or at the top of business cards. amazon uses the to send you return info. grrr
To interact with a QR code, you point your phone camera at the shape so your device can act as a scanner. A message with a clickable link will pop up on your mobile sometimes they are a pain, i dont have a smartphone. plus i like to know what i am clicking on these days
 
Richard Dye said:
Pete, I thought this was an insightful article until it got to the part about what they are not saying. Maybe I’m old fashioned (I know I am old) but it seemed like a sales pitch, I get that. But engraving the information on a bracelet flys in the face of our digital future!

PS. When I typed in old, oldMohawk came up automatically :) , so the question is oldMohawk scamming my iPad or is that Microsoft tracking me? :cool:
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i thought that Richard. even after clearing history etc.google still remembers names i have used in the past it shows they track you grrrr. my dad once said" pete dont trust anyone":cool:
 
My iPhone can scan a QR code and list the contents before I do anything with it. I used it once to find the content of a QR but can't remember how I did it. :)
 
oldMohawk said:
My iPhone can scan a QR code and list the contents before I do anything with it. I used it once to find the content of a QR but can't remember how I did it. :)
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Scanning a QR code is simple even on my not very expensive Moto but are they safe?
 
Attackers can embed malicious URLs containing custom malware into a QR code which could then exfiltrate data from a mobile device when scanned. It is also possible to embed a malicious URL into a QR code that directs to a phishing site, where unsuspecting users could disclose personal or financial information.
 
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