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Scam? Some guy calls about credit card charge from non-active domain I own

by kencalhn
7 replies
Hi -

This is a first; some guy left a voicemail saying he wants to know 'why I'm using his credit card', and he references a non-active domain I own (it's not even in my main business niche, it's in a completely different one). I've never even heard of this person, much less charged him or even know anything about him or his credit card. He left a voicemail on the number that's in my whois registry contact info for the site (it's my standard vm number for all my sites).

Any idea of whether this is some scam? I left a return voicemail saying he's referenced a non-active domain I own (I've just owned the domain for a decade, along with hundreds of others, it's not even a live site) and I've never charged him for anything. It could be he was charged from a similar-sounding site, or just some phishing attempt; never heard of this before though, thought I'd ask. Suspicious because of no specifics, he just said i charged his credit card, nothing about any amounts or dates, and it's not even an active/live website.

thx...

-k
#calls #card #charge #credit #domain #guy #nonactive #scam
  • Profile picture of the author Heart Cardio
    Could be a scam or he could think that you are someone you are not, and he has made a mistake. I would just let it go and if he returns your call, then think more about it. It is really hard to say these days as anything can be a scam.
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  • Profile picture of the author kencalhn
    I finally got hold of the man on the phone, and he said some processing site I'd never heard of in california charged him and referenced my website's ip/domain name... not sure what to do, this is an odd situation; I suggested he contact the police and his bank to provide them with details. He said he turned it over to the fbi since it's interstate, seemed agitated; hung up when I asked him to let me know the investigating officers' information, since I want to follow up if necessary. I left a second voicemail to let him know that I'd like to be of help and if he has any contact information for law enforcement I can call them to follow up.

    So it appears that's a new cybercrime; people may illegally reference a domain name you own (like a phishing attempt) when making unauthorized charges to someone's credit card. I will likely turn this over to my local police for investigation.
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  • Profile picture of the author kencalhn
    what I do is often just go to law enforcement for help, which is an unexpected move from those who would scam... I'm the first on the phone to the police, as they're usually quite helpful in my experience, when it comes to dealing with scams/frauds/etc. and tends to stop bs cold in its tracks. good points about things they look for. I treat any unsolicited/unverified activity as suspicious. So I respond thoughtfully, responsibly, then back it up with contacts to police for followup, which is helpful (plus for peace of mind). I've known many LEOs/police over the years, the vast majority are very helpful. Biggest decision to to consider before contacting police for help is, is it civil vs criminal?; as police focus on criminal activity not civil issues.
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  • Profile picture of the author CyberAlien
    I could see this being a scam in two ways - both of which you're caller would have been involved in.

    1. He could have been planning on asking you to pay back that money until you recommended he contact the police about it and then backed down which is why he got off the phone quickly.

    2. The original voicemail could have been a recording to get you to call back which verifies that it's a valid number that he can use for spamming. The only reason that doesn't make sense though is because he actually answered when you called back.
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  • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
    Banned
    Yeah, like Chase said, it's possible he is the scammer and trying to extort the "credit card charge" from you. It was good that you mentioned the police. If he is the scammer, that's likely to make him back off and move on to the next victim.
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  • Profile picture of the author Paul Gram
    Ken,
    This is really weird because the same thing happened to me today. They actually sent me an email via a contact form on one of my sites and the funny thing is, it's for a website where I don't even sell anything lol. Crazy scammers everywhere I guess.
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  • Profile picture of the author theory expert
    Banned
    First the romance scam and now this? Ken you seem to magnetize scammers,lol.
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