Scam

I just received a telephone call (on my answering machine) from some outfit that claims I entered a contest called "The Great Outdoors Sweepstakes Giveaway". I entered no contest (and am registered with Do Not Call). I assume this is a scam of some kind, particularly since they want me to call "Tony Roberts" back at 1-877-370-4433 -- and there is a "time stipulation".

I have entered a complaint at the Do Not Call Registry about this.

Be aware.

(I have also gotten two calls recently from a carpet cleaning company that claims I am an old customer of theirs. I am not. Being an established customer is one of the reasons they are entitled to make a cold call to you.)

lol thanks. I had to lol over the name..

Thanks for the heads-up always like to stay one step ahead of these thieves! Um great outdoors give away A? and we will clean your carpets as we steal everything in your home! lol!

I really hate those calls - amazing how we can win a contest without entering one....daaa. Thanks for letting us know Pachy.

I don't get calls but get countless emails of stuff I've won. I am a billionaire 3 times over!

Wow - in some ways it is amazing how creative the companies can be to try and get around the do not call register.

Thanks for the heads up! They tend to increase their calls over Christmas from what I know so hopefully it will all slow down again soon.

Yeah, we get them too here in the uk, I had won a luxury cruise only I had to send £1500 first lol

I get a LOT of calls like this!!! I never answer the phone unless I want to talk to the caller. Caller ID is one method for recognition, and if I'm not sure, I wait for the machine.

I once got calls from some "Unknown Caller" (no phone number shown) 3-4 times a day for about 3 weeks. Never any message, until one day what sounded like a live person said I "won a contest." I never entered anything, so that has scam written all over it! There shouldn't be any such thing as "Unknown Caller", but they always find a way around things, don't they?

They want on to say it's in "my best interests" to call them back. No, it's in THEIR best interests.

I get so many 800 number calls, and they can't be blocked. I started getting hang up calls from someone with TWO phone numbers displayed. Never seen that before. I added this number to my block list (the number that showed where the number is supposed to be. The other number showed where TEXT is usually displayed). Also once got calls from some number whose ID merely said "California." Yeah, THAT narrows it down. Blocked them too.

My theory is that if something is important enough, or it's a legitimate company with legitimate business with you, they leave a MESSAGE. Not call all the time & hang up.

I don't know how scams fit into the Do Not Call criteria. I know that charities, political campaigns, and companies in which you have a relationship are exempt. I think surveys and researchers are also exempt since they are not selling anything. Scammers are also good at hiding where they are calling from or who they are. And BTW, for anyone who didn't know, Caller ID can be "spoofed" just like e-mail sender addresses. So be careful, everyone.

I've won the Nigerian lottery 5 times, I have a fortune waiting for me... as soon as I send them some good faith money lol xD
How dumb do they think we are?

Thanks for the heads up Pachy!

There's never anyone I want to talk to calling me from an 800 number, so I don't ever pick it up.

I can't believe they actually left a message on your machine though; I would have been personally offended had that happened to me.

Thanks again for the heads up.....Unfortunately, there are a lot of people who fall for these scams all of the time....

A site that I find helpful that I wanted to be kind enough to share is http://800notes.com.

Apparently, it used to be for just 800 and other toll free numbers, but now there are HUNDREDS, maybe thousands of numbers on there. You can read comments from people who also got a call from a particular number. And of course, you can add your own without registering with the site. It helps you see who these people are, even if you never plan to answer the call.

So if you get these calls, if you look it up here or even elsewhere, there's a 99% chance that a lot of other people are getting calls from them too.

Portfolio Recovery is a collection agency hounding innocent people with their calls by using outdated info.

And I just HATE "Unknown Caller". It kind of reminds me of a horror movie. Calls from "beyond the grave" always say "Unknown". LOL Or like if the phone is disconnected in a horror movie, but it rings anyway.

I've gotten too many calls to list the numbers here, but everyone be careful. Also, don't press any keys. Only a human can do that, and that validates the number to them. Like if it says Press 1 to be removed from this list, you might actually be "adding" yourself to something else without knowing it.

Like I said in similar thread awhile back, the only way you can be sure of who you're talking to in cases like this is if YOU initiated the call. I've gotten calls that "Time Warner". It COULD be them, but it could be a phishing scam. Besides, I don't want to talk to the cable company anway. They just want to sell me more services I don't want.

Quite a few people got the same call I did, and from "Tony Roberts" too!

Well, I only once got a scam phone call, and it was when I was in my hometown in Lithuania. They are really annoying, but in Lithuania most of scammers basically say this 'Mom, I got in a car accident and I need (insert amount of money here), can you please give me some?' I find it quite irratating.