I got a call tonight from a man with a very heavy Indian accent. There was a lot of noise in the background where he was and his accent made him very hard to understand. He said I had been given a government grant and wanted to confirm my information. I didn't like the sound of what he was saying because it sounded like a scam. I asked how he got my information and he said his company was contracted by the federal government to hand out grants to 50,000 taxpayers selected every year.
That really sounded wrong to me and I kept asking questions. Then he asked me for my checking account information and that is where I balked. He kept saying it was okay and that they couldn't take any money without my permission and they needed the account number to deposit the money. I kept balking so he said he would give me his information. He said his name was Jack Williams and I said "you're kidding, right?".
I have never met anyone with such a pronounced accent and such a ludicrously American name. If anything, that really convinced me that this was a scam. He gave me an address that I couldn't understand except that he said he was in Winter Park, FL. He kept trying to reassure me that he was legit and asking for my checking account number. I told him to hang on for a minute while I got my check book and just put the phone down for a minute. Eventually I could hear him calling "Hello, Marli?" and I realized what had been bothering me. I picked the phone up again and told him I was back.
Then I asked him again how he got my information and he said it was from my tax return. I asked him how they had my first name spelled and he spelled out "Marli". Marli is my nickname, my tax return and all of my ID has my full name of Marlene. I pointed this out to him and kept saying that he didn't know how such an error could have occurred. I asked to talk to his supervisor, he put me on hold, then came back and said the supervisor was busy but he would call me in 4 or 5 minutes.
That was two hours ago and no one has called - probably because they know I know they are a scam. If anyone ever manages to effectively go after these guys, I would be happy to help bring them down.
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