It has been one of those days where I am having trouble picking a topic to complain about. Maybe it’s the heat, or maybe there are just too many things jumping around in my mind . . . all those pop-ups on my phone are driving me nuts. Maybe the fact that no matter where I go, the roads are under construction causing people to lose their tempers, or maybe the telemarketing scams that I get constantly.
Oh, yes, those scam calls I got from Google! You’ll like this. I have been getting recorded calls from several area codes with different women’s voices and names, telling
me that I am going to lose my Google listing if I don’t dial 1. Yes, I fell for this once, so I block these calls with an app – “Should I answer?” (which, by the way, works pretty well). Last week I got a real person, young and mannerly, telling me I have to “take ownership” of my Google listing, and if I wanted to change anything he would take care of it for me. I verbally made the changes and it was done, so I thought. He transferred me to an aggressive “salesperson” who confirmed the changes and said, after I dragged it out of him, that for $300, a once in a lifetime charge, the changes would be activated. I told him I wasn’t going to pay, so I ended the call abruptly.
Four days later a person called me and said he was working with Google and that I still didn’t have ownership, he would make the changes and, of course, charge me the $300. My terse response was “Why would I pay Google to change a free listing? If that’s the case, keep the damn listing, and stop calling me!!” He told me that’s the way it is, so he hung on up on ME! I thought that was not very “google-like.”
Paying for changes to a free listing did not make sense, so I called Dan, one of my computer gurus. He reminded me that Google does not call anyone, nor can anyone call them. So, obviously, this aggressive jerk was a scammer. Secondly, Dan sent me the link to change my listing which, by the way, took exactly 3 minutes. Oh, and yes, I took ownership of my listing in 2007, which I had forgotten.
Do the math. 100 people falling for this scam results in these people getting $30,000 which they could make in a day. This is only one of many scams out there, so be aware and don’t be quick to pay for anything.
By the way, I hosted a seminar on how not to be scammed or hacked on your phone and computer, given by Chris, my main IT guru. It was so successful that I am hosting another one for the East Valley on August 22nd at the Visionmaker Design Center. Email me to rsvp for this event – Nancy@NancyHugo.com.
