List your known ploys/scams

How about asking for gas money so someone can make it home. Recently on a trip in Ga I fueling up the Bentz when this gal came up dressed very hillbilly and said she was out of gas and needed to get home. Suspicious I asked ot see the car, what a heap, looked at the fuel gague and it was on MT. So asked how far home was, (about 35 miles) so I had her back it up to the pump and I carded it and pumped in $5.00 worth and left.

One more thing I have received two pishing scams in my e mail in the last two days. Both messages stating my E Bay account would be suspended within 24 hours if I did not log on immediately and deal with some issues.
No I didn't follow their link, I forwarded it to "[email protected]" and it was exactly what I thought it was.. a fishing expedition, the page that they have is very official looking the message sends you to a log on page that is identical to the E Bay one, but if you look at the header it is not their web site, E Bay is aware of this the BG in this instance is looking for your passwords why.. I don't know how much do you think they could charge to your account and have the stuff shipped to a different address before you figure it out.

"Excuse me do you know what time it is?"

A professionally dressed (suit and tie) guy was doing this to women. If they looked at their watch he syuffed them in their vehicle, drove them to a spot and raped them.

Knock...Knock

"Sorry to bother you but I just hit a deer and need to make a phone call."

Knock...Knock

"Hi I would like to vacuum any room in your house to demonstrate my product to you." My wife didn't let the sales lady in but did say sorry no time we're heading out the door on a trip. I was pissed to say the least. Turns out the gal is a ligitimate Kirby rep.

Ring...Ring

"Hi I'm with the fraud department of your <insert credit card here>. I need to verify that you still have the card in your possession. Can you please give me the three digit security code from the back of your card." The caller has your name and card number already, but not the three digit code that they need to really rip you off.

Ring...Ring

"Hi I'm with a survey company employed by your bank. We are conducting surveys of customers to better serve you." Ya, to better rip you off. Lot's of quasi-personal questions. I stayed on with them to see what they were fishing for. Nothing specific, just general stuff, so it may have been legitimate.

Guy walks up. Hey I think you tire back here is flat. They will be on the opposite corner as you so you have to come to them. Sometimes they have flattened it and sometimes not.

A variation on the bump and rob is the box and brake. You get boxed in and the car to your front short stops. Of course the accomplice car <the blocker> is the perfect witness to your driving incompetence.

Knock...Knock

Hi I'm with XYZ Contracting and I am replacing your neighbors <roof, siding, driveway you pick it> and I would like to offer you a free estimate on your job. I can do it at a discount because my crew is in the area and I can order the supplies for both jobs and get a bigger discount. The guy that tried me was doing roofing. My roof had been replaced less than a month before. I just started laughing and told him that and to get the F off my porch.

Now you have to watch for variations of that one with kids along. The kid(s) are instructed to go into your house and run rampant. The adult(s) will "try" to catch the kid(s) all the while they are all stealing everything they can.

"Excuse me...Excuse me sir/ma'am. You dropped this <waving a $20 or bigger>." The idea being to close on you and to put your attention on the money.

There are more, but I need to get to work.

-Scott-

There are many many scams.
The difficulty, for me, is my religious beliefs. I believe and accept that I have been commanded by Christ to help "the least of these", and that when I see a person in need, I see Christ.
This makes things very interesting and often difficult. On the one hand, I must protect my family and the innocent, and that is why I have guns. On the other hand, I must also be bread broken for others, as we say.
I cannot allow mere scamming or loss of money to stop me, but of course I am NOT obligated, or even allowed, to throw my life away in foolishness, or fail my family. My anger at being ripped off cannot be allowed to deter me. But I draw the line at safety. So I sometimes give a stranger money for some purpose, but I do not let them close to my family. It is tough.
RB

The scam that run here in SW GA for a while happened to me at 1:30 am one night last year. I live approx 3 blocks away from a major commercial blvd. and 6 blocks from a US Hwy. I had just finished watching a movie when I heard a vehicle pull into my driveway with it's lights off. I went to the secret place in the TV room and got the .38 stored there. At that time I heard a knock and a woman's voice, I peeked thru a side window near the door and asked who it was. She said her and her husband were about out of gas and needed gas money to get them to Florida (about 90 m so.) or could she borrow my phone to call her relatives in Fl. I gave her directions to the nearest Conv. store and told her to have them call the police for help in contacting her rel. She asked why couldn't she use my phone, I answered "You are not coming in this house and I'm not opening the door, I'm armed and my wife is on the phone with the police at this moment (they had reccommended that we send them to the well lit conv. store)." Her eyes got real wide and she ran back to the truck and the sped off.

Scott,

Thank you for your post, very eye opening to say the least.

Good thread, I enjoy your thinking Chris, opens up alot of things that I haven't really put much thought into.

Me, I used to be trusting (naive) when I was younger but now, with people I don't know or know but don't trust, I don't let them into the house, or have a cigarrette (even if I'm smoking, if someone asks for a cigg. or a light, I look them straight in the eye and say, "Sorry, I don't smoke").

If they come over to the house, at night (dark, and we know it gets dark early in winter) I don't open the door, turn on my outside light, and converse with them through the door, tell them to come back when it's light outside.

Paranoid, no. Aware (or trying to learn how to be aware), yes. But if people/anti's/whomever wishes to call me paranoid, so be it.

Wayne

One for the road:

Someone honks their horn and points to one of your tires to tell it's low or going flat. You pull over...you know the rest.

A couple for the house:

Knock, Knock!
Who's there?
XXXXXX pizza delivery...the door gets opened because someone thinks Mom or Dad ordered a pizza instead of fixing supper.

Knock Knock
We're doing a survey on...you know the rest.

If any repair person comes to your house, 99.99% or all companies nowadays have picture ID for their employees...especially the light company, phone company, cable TV or satellite employees. Demand to see it through the peephole...if you don't have a peephole, get one.

Not to bash any religious organization, but there have been reports of BGs posing as Jehovah Witnesses...there's NO limit to what someone will use to get close to you or get their foot in the door at your home. Like P95 said, the number of ploys or scams is only limited by human imagination.

Good thread.... I'm going a bit off topic but I think making your home less of a target helps too. I can't believe how many homes I see with no outside lights on, pitch black. I always keep the driveway and porch well lit at night, even the back entrance. I also bought a cheap wireless door chime system and put the reciever next to the bed so if any door is opened the thing beeps.

You have to watch out for the door to door church people as well, you'll have one of them preaching while the other one is trying to see what kind of TV you have! people seem to let their gaurd down when children or church is involved, so be carefull about any unexpected visitors no matter how honest they seem. I'm also suspicious of people who are "working" in the neighborhood. Someone posed as a repair person could be casing the neighborhood.

Just watch the show called "It Takes a Theif" a real eye opener...