Today I got the most recent of several phone calls from heavily accented callers claiming to be from the (nonexistent) Government Grants Department. They verify my name & address (which they already have, whoopee, it's in the phone book) & ZIP code (which they can easily look up) and say I've been selected for an $8,400 grant which "you never have to repay", etc. with some token excuse for my having been selected for a grant I never applied for. They won't send a check, however, but need my acc't number from my bank or (ludicrously) credit or debit card (silly, no way to credit me with money via those acc't nos.). Sometimes they would require me to phone a sup'v back. Today I was more vulnerable than most times because I actually have been expecting a transfer via ACH from a remote client for a somewhat variable amount in the thousands, and I might've thought setup info to be required; I guess scammers are hoping to luck out like that sometimes, and if I hadn't gotten previous phone calls like this swindle or been paying close att'n to what the guy was saying, I might've blurted out the info.
I never give them acc't nos. But what I'd like to know is how their scam works. Are they just trying to clean out my bank acc't? Would my name, address, phone no., and acc't no. (for the bank acc't, not credit or debit cards) be sufficient for them to do that, or would they need to combine it with some other info? Are these details something I'd have to ascertain from my bank? Or are they trying to use my banking info to further some other scam?
I never give them acc't nos. But what I'd like to know is how their scam works. Are they just trying to clean out my bank acc't? Would my name, address, phone no., and acc't no. (for the bank acc't, not credit or debit cards) be sufficient for them to do that, or would they need to combine it with some other info? Are these details something I'd have to ascertain from my bank? Or are they trying to use my banking info to further some other scam?
