Request Opinions on Phone Scam

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Hello I'm New here! Joined: 03 Sep 2014 Posts: 1

Hello. I'm new to the forum and this is my first post. I realize that this forum is about scam baiting and my question is not exactly on that topic, but it seems like a good place to ask for advice from others who know a lot about scams. If I am out of line with my question, please don't flame me -- just tell me and I'll move on.

Last night I had a phone call from 301-375-0132. They said they were from Direct Buy and I was a semi-finalist for whatever award and a chance to win a $50,000 remodeling makeover. I was skeptical but continued because I do sometimes enter my name in these sweepstakes at the stores. I asked where they got my number and they were ambiguous (said a marketing firm or something, I couldn't fully understand her).

Although I was skeptical and usually don't fall for this stuff, she did manage to get some information out of me. She got my first name, age, e-mail address, and that I'm married. When she asked for my last name I put an end to it. (Said she needs to verify that they are giving the award to the right person, but they don't have my last name to check it against! ...)

Using only these four pieces of data, I tried searching online to see what I could find about myself. I was able to turn up my last name and address.

So, my question is with the following information, am I at risk of credit or identity theft? What can they do with this information? I'm concerned because I gave up my e-mail address and age that they might have found something to exploit. I don't normally let this out. The name and address are listed in the white pages, so I'm less concerned about that.

1. first and last name.
2. address
3. age
4. marital status
5. e-mail address

I will appreciate any input you can offer. I don't know if I should try to take any action or not. My online accounts are well protected with solid passwords (I use a password manager), but I'm worried about other possible exploits (I don't know what's possible).

I'm glad I found this site though! I'll be reading the forums and learning about scam baiting. I really despise scammers and would love to have some tools to fight back!

Posted: Wed Sep 03, 2014 3:47 pm

Welcome MickeyTheMouse. It sounds like you did the sensible thing by cutting the call off when you started to get suspicious. Under such circumstances it is only natural to worry that they already got enough info to do you wrong in some way.

In my experience the most likely consequence is that you may get contacted either by phone or email for other questionable opportunities, whether by this same organisation or others to whom they might sell "promising leads".

Identity theft seems less likely - there are thousands upon thousands of people for whom name, address and an associated email address are publically available (and googling them will very often give an accurate indication of age, mostly by companies who want to sell you more detailed records). In short, the information you gave them is not very compromising, and in any event there is not much action you can take at this point besides taking a cautious approach from unsolicited opportunities or "winnings".

I am sure others will mention it too, but I advise against trying to bait them, as they have your personal details - one of the first things you'll notice as you read here is our focus on baiting safely & anonymously.

Wannabe Baiter Joined: 07 Oct 2010 Posts: 82

I had a call from one of these companies a while back asking for my name and other info, i gave them completely bogus information, now when i get a call asking for that person, i inform them he/she passed away and i'm the new owner of the phone and make up a completely new identify everytime.

Ive kept this going for a few months now.

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