My Experience with Phone Scammers
This article is meant to put people, particularly first-time travelers in the United States (US), on alert about phone call scammers. This is just my experience and there are many ways to deal with potential scams. This is not intended to be shared as a best practice.
The Call
Within my first week in the US as an international student and just a couple of days after I received my new phone and new number from my mobile service provider, I got a phone call from a number I did not know. Before I got this phone call, I had given out my new phone number to a couple of friends, used the phone number to open a bank account and some other accounts on a couple of websites. When I saw the phone call, I knew it could be anyone, so I did not have any initial suspicion.
The Conversation
I picked up the phone call and this is a narration of my conversation over of the phone. The person on the line informed me that he is calling from Amazon and that there was an issue with an order I had placed. The person asked me to provide my personal information so that he could verify my order. I told the person that I was not comfortable giving my personal information over the phone. I asked to know exactly what had been ordered because I had not placed any order on Amazon. The person informed me that a mobile phone and a wig had been ordered using my account. I informed him that I had not placed any such order and it would most likely be a scam. He mentioned that it looks to be a case of identity theft so he will be transferring my call to a law enforcement agent to assist me.
"Law Enforcement"
My call was transferred to another person who indicated that he is a law enforcement agent (but did not provide the exact department). He asked why my call had been transferred to him and I indicated that the previous person and I spoke about an issue of identity theft on my Amazon account. The person my call had been transferred to asked me to provide my personal information for him to assist me. He wanted to know my name, date of birth and residential address. I told him that I was not comfortable giving my personal information over the phone so he should direct me to his local law enforcement office for me to speak to an officer in person.
Red Flag: Angry Response
The person got furious and began threatening me - asking me if I knew why I had not already been arrested. He indicated that he was trying to help me, so I better cooperate with him in my own interest. I maintained my stand and insisted to be directed to a local law enforcement office to speak with an officer there. The person now asked if I had money to hire a lawyer and that getting legal representation in the US is expensive, so I better cooperate with him.
At this point, I informed the person on the phone that personally I am a lawyer, and that I will be able to represent myself. The call went cold at this point, and he hung up.
Outside Perspective
For a second, I was a bit agitated and worried. I called a friend who has been living in the US for some time shortly after the call to talk to him about it. My friend then asked me not to worry and informed me that this is a very common thing in the US. He advised me not to pick up calls from numbers I do not know.
And this was how I avoided a phone call scam in my first week in the US.
Learn About Avoiding Scams & Fraud
This was just one experience involving a phishing attempt to steal personal information.
You can learn more about coping with the wide array of identity theft, scams, and fraud with:
Or, you can enroll in our Protect course by following the steps below:
- Visit the Protect course
- Click the NetID Login button
- Log in with your NetID & password (requires 2FA)
- Under Self-enrollment (Student), click the "Enroll Me" button
- Complete the modules that interest you related to protecting your money
