I got a call identical to this one way back in December, and hung up on the guy. Today when he called, I recognized the opening lines from his script, and since I was bored I decided to talk to him for a bit.
He told me that I was approved for a $5000 grant from the government, a grant is something that never has to be paid back. And not only was I approved for a $5000 grant, but I was going to get another $5,000 grant after this one, after I receive some information packet from him.
He asked if XXXX was my name, address and phone number (work, not home) - I replied yes. He then said he has to verify bank information, since this $5000 was going to be directly deposited into my account. He said "you have an account with Bank of America, don't you?" - I said no - not a real lie, since I only have a Visa with them - no checking or savings.
He said well what's the name of your bank? I told him Woburn Savings Bank (bought out by BankBoston way back in the 80's). He said ok can you pleae give me your account number.
I told him no, but if I receive the packet of information from him, and after reviewing it I deemed that this was legitimate, I'd call him back with the information (yeah, right, like that would ever happen). He told me that the packet goes out after the first deposit of $5000 but before the second deposit of $5000.
He then went on to tell me that they're not asking for routing numbers, just an account number, because after all, without a routing number or my authorization, nobody could get anything out of the account, right? LOL! I told him as a matter of fact I could get money out of his checking account with only the bank name and account number - my husband is a computer hacker (lie!).
He went on and on for 10 minutes saying he'd let me talk to his supervisor to prove this isn't a scam (yeah, how will that convince me? Talking to another thickly accented Indian man will NOT convince me of anything besides the fact that way too many jobs are being outsourced...), don't I realize that when I pay my bills via check that all that information ends up in the hands of a stranger (like if the gas company steals money from my account I won't be able to figure out who took it?)...
Finally he said "I get the impression you are not interested in free money". I told him "I'd love some free money, I just don't appreciate people trying to trick me and steal money from me. If he wants to send me a check, which I will promptly cash at an anonymous check cashing place, he has my address."
He replied "Thank you for your time ma'am, have a nice day."
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