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  1. #1
    Super Member VR8's Avatar
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    Scam Phone Calls / TTY Services

    I thought this may be a good bit of information to pass along to any of the detailers in business. Over the last couple of weeks I've gotten 2 phone calls that start out with ...

    "Good afternoon, this is so-and-so from AT&T TTY Relay Services (or another phone company). I have a phone call for you from a TTY customer are you familiar with TTY services?"

    A long time ago I had a TTY (TeleTYpewriter) phone call at another business so I was familiar with the process. The phone company agent will tell you what the TTY caller is saying and then type your response to them. So after some introductions as to who was calling, the caller states that they are moving to my area and are looking for someone to detail their fleet of vehicles. I'll admit, I perked up when I heard the word "fleet"! It quickly fell into that "too good to be true" category when they said 6 Cadillac Escalades and 6 Toyota Camry's.

    Some of you may already know what comes next. The caller asked if I could "first do them a favor". "Uh oh", I said. Here comes the kicker, "The vehicle transfer company will not take my credit card payment. Would you mind taking my payment for the shipping and detailing, then pay the transfer company when they deliver the vehicles to your shop? I'll pay you $5000 today and you can give me back any money that isn't needed for the job".

    I quickly ended the call at this point because I know how the rest of that process would go. My business receives a payment for $5000. The next day they ask me for a small refund of some of that money for whatever reason ... and in the end their $5000 payment never completely goes through the bank and I loose the $5000 AND whatever smaller amount I had sent them.



    After I received the second similar call the other day I started to wonder what I could do to track down these scammers. Passing along this story was one of my first steps. I'll update if I find a way to help the phone company track these people down. Not sure if the phone companies would even care. Anyone else have a similar phone call?

  2. #2
    Regular Member john F's Avatar
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    Re: Scam Phone Calls / TTY Services

    These scam artists are finding new mediums to scam people everyday. I've yet to experience a relay scam call, but when I tried to sell an older car I used to have, the Ambassador of Nigeria offered me $30K for my $15K car.

  3. #3
    Super Moderator Meghan's Avatar
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    Re: Scam Phone Calls / TTY Services

    I actually had a call here at the office, when relay went in he asked for something crazy that we don't sell, I can't remember what it was but when I said no they just hung up.
    John is right the scammers are getting more and more crafty!

  4. #4
    Super Member James K's Avatar
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    Re: Scam Phone Calls / TTY Services

    I got these all the time at my old business. They were wanting turbos and other diesel engine parts. I just started hanging up right when I got the first line saying it was a TTY call.

  5. #5
    Junior Member jims_auto's Avatar
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    Re: Scam Phone Calls / TTY Services

    Got two of these last week. I told the operator to tell the person calling they will need to come up with a better scam as this has been mentioned on several detailing forums.

    Selected member of Air Force One detailing team 2007, 2008, 2011 & 2017 IDA CD/SV Founders Club
    www.jimsauto.net Ipswich Ma 978 356 7372

  6. #6
    Super Member SeaJay's's Avatar
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    Re: Scam Phone Calls / TTY Services

    The same exact scam was pulled on another detailer on a different forum I'm part of a few months ago. It's amazing that people do fall for these things.

  7. #7
    Junior Member Big Ed5150's Avatar
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    Re: Scam Phone Calls / TTY Services

    Yeah i remember these, used to get these at the car audio shop i worked at a long time ago.
    "Big" Ed Bausman
    Total Care Detailing

  8. #8
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    Re: Scam Phone Calls / TTY Services

    I've gotten these calls too. Probably about once or twice a month. I just hang up.

    On another note though I posted an ad on craigslist and I've been getting spam emails back about different sites and such. However when I search the email address they come from, say like on facebook, it comes up as just some regular guy. Are their email addresses really where the spam is coming from? I'm ready to send back some terrible email, but I don't want to blindside some poor guy if he actually has no idea whats going on.

  9. #9
    Super Member VR8's Avatar
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    Re: Scam Phone Calls / TTY Services

    I'm glad to see that most everyone is aware of these calls. Just like any other phone call scam, if they call enough people they are likely to get someone to bite.

    Quote Originally Posted by Spicy McHaggis View Post
    On another note though I posted an ad on craigslist and I've been getting spam emails back about different sites and such. However when I search the email address they come from, say like on facebook, it comes up as just some regular guy. Are their email addresses really where the spam is coming from? I'm ready to send back some terrible email, but I don't want to blindside some poor guy if he actually has no idea whats going on.
    Craigslist does generate a ton of junk mail. I've decided to skip that venue from now on. But there are many occassions where someones email account has been compromised and junk mail companies are using their address. I'm not sure how they do it so I send back a reply asking "Is this junk mail from you?" Often times it comes back as undeliverable.

  10. #10
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    Re: Scam Phone Calls / TTY Services

    Quote Originally Posted by Spicy McHaggis View Post
    I've gotten these calls too. Probably about once or twice a month. I just hang up.

    On another note though I posted an ad on craigslist and I've been getting spam emails back about different sites and such. However when I search the email address they come from, say like on facebook, it comes up as just some regular guy. Are their email addresses really where the spam is coming from? I'm ready to send back some terrible email, but I don't want to blindside some poor guy if he actually has no idea whats going on.
    It's called spoofing, you should know this.
    "Challenge yourself to live a better tomorrow than you did yesterday"

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