I received a call Saturday evening (10/22/05) from a 'Steve' ID#4002 with a very thick foreign accent. He said I had been chosen to receive a $12,500 grant from the federal government and Bank of America would be transferring the money to my bank account. He English was terrible so he was very difficult to understand. I had to get him to spell a lot of what he said.
He said he would be mailing papers for me to sign so that I could receive the grant. But I got suspicious when he tried to verify my address and I he asked me to repeat the name of my state at least 4 times. Then I asked how he got my information and he insisted that his company was hired by the government to contact the people who were chosen to receive the grants.
Next he asked for my checking account number so Bank of America could transfer the money to me right away. I refused to give my number and reminded him that he said I would get papers to sign in order to get the grant. I told him I'd wait to get the papers to read and sign, then Bank of America could send a check to me. He kept saying it had to be a direct deposit so he kept asking for my bank account number. When I said no again, he asked what did he need him to do in order for me to give my bank account number to him. He said he would give me his bank account number, and bank name, and his address etc. Even though he didn't know me personally. I still said no and hung up. He called right back and asked me to say yes or no because he needed my account number or else I would lose the grant. I hung up. He called back again and I didn't answer the phone. I thought I was done with him.
Then yesterday (Monday) he called again and spoke with my daughter. He lied and told her that I had requested that he call back on Monday to get my bank account number. He was very aggressive and used several lies to try to convince her to give up my number. When she refused, he asked if any other family member was in the house who could give him my bank account number. She told him he would have to call when I was at home. He told her another lie saying their office is closed in the evening and he needed to get the account number at the time of his call. She refused, he was not very happy.
I'm glad my daughter had her 'radar' on and didn't trust
'Steve' or whatever his name is. Please remind your family members not to give out your banking and personal information
no matter how persistent the person is. They need to be stopped.
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