I Got One of Those U.S. Customs Agent Scam Calls…It Just Gets Sillier and Sillier
I'm starting to wonder if getting on that no-call list would actually work. These robocallers, telemarketers, and fraud/scam perpetrators seem pretty diligent.
Alaska, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Maine. I haven't gotten calls from ALL 50 states, yet, but I wouldn't be surprised if I get there. And it's wearing me out.
Most times I just let it ring or I respond with an auto-text. Sometimes I'll send a custom text back that says, "Please leave me alone!" But that has about as much impact as "ring the doorbell and run."
Well, today was a red-letter day in my little world of annoying phone calls. And, honestly, I have to hand it to whoever came up with this one.
The phone rang and I noticed it was from the 615 area code. Since that's Nashville and I have friends there, I answered it...only to hear a robotic female voice announce herself as a representative of U.S. Customs and Border Protection. She proceeded to tell me a box of drugs and money with my name on it had been intercepted and that I needed to "press 1" to speak to an agent and give him or her my banking information.
You know, now that I think about it, I said these people were DILIGENT, but maybe that wasn't the right word. I mean, since I keep getting the calls, you COULD say that, but this call was just plain SILLY.
And what's more, there MUST be people who follow through and actually "press 1" to speak to an agent, as ridiculous as a call like that should sound to ANYONE. Otherwise, I wouldn't have gotten one. I mean, I can't be the first to get a bogus call from U.S. Customs.
And I'm not. I went to the CBP's website and found a report from February that warned us about calls like this. And, what do you know, the EXACT verbiage used by the phony caller today is in that story.
But I will say this. I'm glad I answered and let it play out. I got a big laugh out of it.
So that's something, right?
Oh, hey, I gotta go. My phone's ringing. I wonder what I've done now.