Phone scam

[dmanrevived]

Got a weird call just now and wondering if anyone else got the same call.

The man asked me if he had reached [my number], and I answered yes. He then told me if I remember entering in a promo back in April at some mall, of course not. Apparently I had won one of the four prizes: 42" LG HDTV (caught my attention :chuckle), a $1000 gas card, or two other getaways that I don't remember the details of.

Normally, I would've just hung up, but I do tend to enter in random giveaways at malls and such, and it'd suck if I actually did won and hung up.

So I kept listening, and he asks for my marital status and if I was between 27-69 (weird age group). I'm not, so he said I have 10 days to find a family member in that age group and call back to claim the prize. I ended up getting the contact number, and he claimed he was calling from "Premium Club" in Mississauga.

I'm probably not going to do anything about it, but did anyone else get a similar call?

[CanadaGTO]

http://cache.gawker.com/assets/resources/2008/04/scam.jpeg

[GHANNAH86]

Hey,

I would say it is a scam. Found some information about them on the redflagdeals.com forums . Check it out here. (http://www.redflagdeals.com/forums/showthread.php?p=7176629)

[dmanrevived]

Looks like I won't be getting a new HDTV! :chuckle

[openuser]

http://www.spikedhumor.com/articles/132554/The_Real_Hustle_Unlucky_Winner.html?page=2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqN2EiG8nLQ

Watch these :)

Key thing to catch from the first vid is "You will not win any contest that you did not enter"

[Scottobot]

I actually followed up on a similar call a couple of years ago. Here's what happened:

They say you've won one of 5 prizes. You have to go to their office to draw a ballot to determine which prize you've won. You set a date and go.
You are greeted by a number of smiling hotties who make you feel like you've just entered a happy paradise. They give you a free meal, and hook you up with one of their staff to chat you up during dinner. Our guy was a comedian. He was actually a nice guy. The objective is the guy's supposed to get you to relax and feel buddy-buddy with everyone and everything that's going on. Following dinner you are subjected to an hour-long presentation about how it's a great idea to buy a timeshare property from them. Following the presentation you are placed in a seat across from a high-pressure salesperson who pushes a $10000 timeshare sale on you. You say "no thank you, I just want the prize I was promised". They say, "no problem, I'll just get the manager to give you your prize code. I'll be right back." You sit for 15 minutes. Another sales person comes. They say, "I'm sorry, the manager's busy right now. But I just wanted to make sure you were told about this fabulous opportunity..." You endure another pitch. You say "I already said no, I'd just like the prize I was promised please". They say, "no problem, I'll just get the manager to give you your prize code. I'll be right back." You sit for 15 minutes. Another sales person comes. They say, "I'm sorry, the manager's busy right now. But I just wanted to make sure you were told about this fabulous opportunity..." All the while every couple of minutes they announce some lucky couple has just purchased a great vacation property in some glorious location, and the couple (presumably actors) giggle and dance like they just won a game show.
It goes on like this until you go insane. Our fourth sales guy was a real slick (read: greasy) bastard. I am normally very patient and polite but after 3 hours I was furious. This guy tried everything. Tried to make me feel stupid ("I can't believe you've never heard about this incredible vacation place"). Tried to make me feel guilty ("Sir, we gave you a free dinner. At least have the courtesy to listen to what I have to say"). When he said "let me do my job" I said "I've let at least 3 or 4 other people do their job, the answer is no. Why do you think I'm going to change my mind now? I just want the prize you promised me and I want to leave". After one more sales pitch and another flat 'NO' he got up and stormed off. Again we sat. Eventually we got our prize code. The hoochies that were so friendly earlier now glared at me like I was a well-known mass murderer as I gave them my code. They handed me a drum full of tickets and I drew one. Now I'm giving them a lot of credit by assuming that there actually is a ticket in the drum for the T.V. and each of the other prizes. But all the rest of the tickets are for a free hotel stay somewhere (Orlando for us, I believe). You have to find your way there, and I when I went through all the restrictions on when you're allowed to go it turned out there was only one week in the year that you could actually go. So I imagine if you actually take the free hotel stay, you'll be lumped in with a bunch of other saps who took the offer, and you'll be tied to a chair and forced to listen to more presentations.

Of course, that was just my experience. You could always check it out for yourself if you don't mind wasting an evening.

The exact same company has been calling me again for the last week or so. I guess they think I won't remember this horrible experience. Their office is in Woodbridge, by the way. Called the Gifting Centre or something.

[bhrm]

I actually followed up on a similar call a couple of years ago. Here's what happened:

They say you've won one of 5 prizes. You have to go to their office to draw a ballot to determine which prize you've won. You set a date and go.
You are greeted by a number of smiling hotties who make you feel like you've just entered a happy paradise. They give you a free meal, and hook you up with one of their staff to chat you up during dinner. Our guy was a comedian. He was actually a nice guy. The objective is the guy's supposed to get you to relax and feel buddy-buddy with everyone and everything that's going on. Following dinner you are subjected to an hour-long presentation about how it's a great idea to buy a timeshare property from them. Following the presentation you are placed in a seat across from a high-pressure salesperson who pushes a $10000 timeshare sale on you. You say "no thank you, I just want the prize I was promised". They say, "no problem, I'll just get the manager to give you your prize code. I'll be right back." You sit for 15 minutes. Another sales person comes. They say, "I'm sorry, the manager's busy right now. But I just wanted to make sure you were told about this fabulous opportunity..." You endure another pitch. You say "I already said no, I'd just like the prize I was promised please". They say, "no problem, I'll just get the manager to give you your prize code. I'll be right back." You sit for 15 minutes. Another sales person comes. They say, "I'm sorry, the manager's busy right now. But I just wanted to make sure you were told about this fabulous opportunity..." All the while every couple of minutes they announce some lucky couple has just purchased a great vacation property in some glorious location, and the couple (presumably actors) giggle and dance like they just won a game show.
It goes on like this until you go insane. Our fourth sales guy was a real slick (read: greasy) bastard. I am normally very patient and polite but after 3 hours I was furious. This guy tried everything. Tried to make me feel stupid ("I can't believe you've never heard about this incredible vacation place"). Tried to make me feel guilty ("Sir, we gave you a free dinner. At least have the courtesy to listen to what I have to say"). When he said "let me do my job" I said "I've let at least 3 or 4 other people do their job, the answer is no. Why do you think I'm going to change my mind now? I just want the prize you promised me and I want to leave". After one more sales pitch and another flat 'NO' he got up and stormed off. Again we sat. Eventually we got our prize code. The hoochies that were so friendly earlier now glared at me like I was a well-known mass murderer as I gave them my code. They handed me a drum full of tickets and I drew one. Now I'm giving them a lot of credit by assuming that there actually is a ticket in the drum for the T.V. and each of the other prizes. But all the rest of the tickets are for a free hotel stay somewhere (Orlando for us, I believe). You have to find your way there, and I when I went through all the restrictions on when you're allowed to go it turned out there was only one week in the year that you could actually go. So I imagine if you actually take the free hotel stay, you'll be lumped in with a bunch of other saps who took the offer, and you'll be tied to a chair and forced to listen to more presentations.

Of course, that was just my experience. You could always check it out for yourself if you don't mind wasting an evening.

The exact same company has been calling me again for the last week or so. I guess they think I won't remember this horrible experience. Their office is in Woodbridge, by the way. Called the Gifting Centre or something.


Great write up.

A co-worker of mine actually did the Orlando thing as they were visiting relatives anyways. They just did it for a free lunch in Orlando and they do a second round of high pressure sales again and again. They resisted because they knew what was going on, but did take the freshly baked cookies, and resisted 6 hours of pressure. They couldn't afford it anyways.

Here's the kicker: The presentation is done in a huge compound golf course area, only way in and out is to wait for the shuttle bus that comes every 2 hours.

[iconicrocket]

The time share scam reminds me of the movie Glengary Glenross. lol.

I've got a couple of those scam phone calls too. I just hang up immediately.

[ds2chan]

http://cache.gawker.com/assets/resources/2008/04/scam.jpeg

lol.. you should use that as your slogan for your store.. well, minus the uncle scam part..

[iconicrocket]

I remember winning a plasma tv once, the guy offered to send the $1000 tv to my house for a $100 delivery charge. So I told him, I'll pay for shipping and handling if he gave me $300 for it, and I'll give him the tv.