Passenger Trains > WARNING: Fraudulent Amtrak Guest Rewards phone call

Reported to another group:

> Has anyone else received a call from someone claiming to be calling
> from Amtrak Guest Rewards, offering free gift cards if shipping is
> prepaid? The call begins with a brief recording by "Julie," then a
> live operator comes on the line. Once the caller asked for a debit
> or credit card number I said I was not interested and hung up. I
> probably should have said I would have to think about it and asked
> for a callback number but I didn't think to do that.
>
> Sure enough, when I called Amtrak Guest Rewards they said they were
> not running any promotion like that.

Be forewarned.
 

Could you trace the originating state of the call from Reverse Phone number lookup and caller id ?

Most fraudulent phone scam operators are smart enough to disable Caller ID.

joemvcnj Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Could you trace the originating state of the call
> from Reverse Phone number lookup and caller id ?

It costs about $15 to get a device that will cause any number and any caller ID to appear on the receiving person's phone. Off course the FCC does nothing about it nor do the phone companies.

What that means is the phone number displayed and caller ID can not be trusted.

jst3751 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> joemvcnj Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Could you trace the originating state of the
> call
> > from Reverse Phone number lookup and caller id
> ?
>
> It costs about $15 to get a device that will cause
> any number and any caller ID to appear on the
> receiving person's phone. Off course the FCC does
> nothing about it nor do the phone companies.
>
> What that means is the phone number displayed and
> caller ID can not be trusted.

Yes.  That's how the scammers get "Customer Service" and "Credit Card Security" in their phony ID line

jst3751 Wrote:

> What that means is the phone number displayed and caller ID can not be trusted.

I was quite surprised one day to be sitting at my computer and the telephone rang. It's right beside me and the caller ID showed MY number. Yes, my telephone number was calling my telephone. It was Rachel from Card Member Services. This credit card scam has been going on now for over four years with nobody trying to stop it.

Reporting these scam telephone calls the the Do Not Call people is a total waste of time.

Ron

call spoofing ... i can call any one i want and put in any number i want to show on that person's caller ID and i can do it for free right from my cell phone ... no device needed ... its been around for years ... i found out about watching a movie with Diane Lane as an FBI agent and she was hunting a killer who was using call spoofing ... iforget the name of the movie ...

Out_Of_Service Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> call spoofing ... i can call any one i want and
> put in any number i want to show on that person's
> caller ID and i can do it for free right from my
> cell phone ... no device needed ... its been
> around for years ... i found out about watching a
> movie with Diane Lane as an FBI agent and she was
> hunting a killer who was using call spoofing ...
> iforget the name of the movie ...


You can do it from the very computer where you are sitting, now.  There are websites
that do it and anyone can Google them.  You enter the phone number you want to use
to make the call; the phony phone number and Caller ID you want to display, and the phone number you
want to call.  The system sets up a conference call, rings you; you pick up the phone, it dials the target
number, and displays the fake phone number and caller ID name.

I doubt that a telemarketing spoofer would use them, though; they have their own means of
hacking.

GenePoon Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Out_Of_Service Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > call spoofing ... i can call any one i want and
> > put in any number i want to show on that
> person's
> > caller ID and i can do it for free right from
> my
> > cell phone ... no device needed ... its been
> > around for years ... i found out about watching
> a
> > movie with Diane Lane as an FBI agent and she
> was
> > hunting a killer who was using call spoofing
> ...
> > iforget the name of the movie ...
>
>
> You can do it from the very computer where you are
> sitting, now.  There are websites
> that do it and anyone can Google them.  You enter
> the phone number you want to use
> to make the call; the phony phone number and
> Caller ID you want to display, and the phone
> number you
> want to call.  The system sets up a conference
> call, rings you; you pick up the phone, it dials
> the target
> number, and displays the fake phone number and
> caller ID name.
>
> I doubt that a telemarketing spoofer would use
> them, though; they have their own means of
> hacking.

i dont know what kinda spoof system the telemarketers use but their numbers are bogus whwn you call them back which is when i use call spoofing

Large telemarketing operations probably have Primary Rate ISDN phone service.  It's a digital service between the phone company switch and the customer's PBX.  They normally use between 23 and I think 479 lines in groups of 24 (minus one channel for control and signalling for all of the circuits, thus 23 instead of 24, 479 instead of 480.)  The PBX acts pretty much like a telephone switch, handling call screening (stopping calls to non-valid area codes or exchanges, etc...) or routing calls to the most cost effective carrier.  On the control channel the PBX sends information to the switch with instructions on how to handle the call.  Information such as the called number, the calling number, the caller name (Amtrak for example), the type of call (voice or data,) which circuit the call was coming to the switch on, and a few other items.  The PBX is set up with instructions on what information to deliver.  Most businesses will send their company name along with a valid phone number.  One example of a good reason they might not want to display the actual calling number might be a company that has a single call center to receive calls but several centers that call customers.  I worked in such a situation.  We had about 12 centers in 9 states.  Some would close during the evening or nights.  My center was open 24/7 but if we called a customer about their service, or another center called them, they got the same number to call back on.  They always got a valid number and a valid name and they always got someone that could answer their questions or get an update on the status of their problem.  Another example would be to display an 800 number for the customer to call back on.  There are no valid 800 number to place an outgoing call from. 

These telemarketers are not good neighbors either.  I know of one that moved into a building that was shared with another retail business.  They packed the place with desk and phones.  Now they take up just about the entire parking lot and the retail customers can't find a place to park unless it's at the far end of the lot.  I havent' noticed lately if the retailer is still in operation or not but the last time I was there (about a year ago) the manager was not happy at all with the parking lot situation.

As for "Rachel from Card Member Services,"  I wish they'd blow up the place where they call from.

John