These numbers date back to mid November 2023 when they started to appear on robocall systems as shown in the link below
Originally, both numbers had the identical ivr menu which was this on the below number
8007782042 SSA/Medicare
The number which the original robocall message directed robocall recipients to return their calls now clearly has a Publishers Clearing House message on it
8004590310 PCH was SSA/Medicare
I’ve called the number upwards of 40 times since last Friday when I first detected the change in menu and today, with no answer.
Interesting development into this SSA/Medicare scam.
I think this number was posted by @drwat on Saturday. I’ve left a few messages from a few different numbers and I haven’t received a cann back yet.
I love to mess with SSA scammers. Remember, just a few years ago, we’d get a dozen/day? Good times.
I hope you’re day gets better, my friend
What I presume is that, given the increase in PCH impersonation from Jamaican nationals and subsequent arrests, the scammers opted to instead pose as Medicare or Social Security advisors to steal benefits from vulnerable individuals.
This wasn’t the SSA number
That number had one of the typically ridiculous letterhead emails that did the rounds last Friday associated with this number:
8004651741 SSA
I take down hundreds of numbers daily, generally within less than 2 minutes on average and never wish to see more of them, irrespective of how many shitty black Corollas the ageing twaddle story contains.
I’ll find often a thousand toll free numbers a week which never make an appearance on the internet with a popup, text, email or robocall indicating their existence. With the capability to search a minimum of 10,000 numbers a day and as many as 30,000 across 24 hours. there are plenty of numbers taken down which never have a chance for a citizen to fall victim.
Popup numbers have by far been dominating the landscape for the last few months. Refund numbers would often be on almost every single number for several hundred consecutive numbers in a range, whereas lately tech support popups have done the complete flipperoo. There was almost 150 of them today which were not hard to locate in the few hours I wasn’t out cold fast asleep. In certain areas they continue to either work in an upward or downward direction different call centres occupy. The only thing that seemingly gets in their way of them utilizing every number, is those outrageous genuine legitimate businesses, value adding to society and the US economy by being so rude to have held onto numbers that impede their domination of the landscape in huge chunks of numbering plan real estate.
It’s not pretty to see just how many numbers they’ve occupied, for sometimes only a minute or two.
I presume they are either still investigating what they know and/or may have not received a well-detailed lead. As a more investigative scambaiter with a Bachelor’s of Science in Journalism, I work to try and generate as detailed a lead as possible by gathering as much data about the culprits as possible whilst properly citing my sources with appropriate screenshots and hyperlinks.
This also holds true for my recent thread on Cadre Informatics based on a lead I got from @richardharis. I simply published what I knew, with appropriate sources, and relayed the information to the FTC, Office of the Inspector General and the Texas Attorney General’s office.
That number was active Friday last week had the menu active all weekend but was shut down before the day began today.
It was being monitored for activity from the early hours this morning and would have been squashed if a heartbeat of life was detected.
SSA TFN’s are a day of issue thing only, much the same as 95% or so of the active tech support popup numbers. Most have a lifespan of no greater than 20-25 minutes running their normal course.
Hearing call centres clowns screaming their lungs out when every single number they have open and active being smacked is a real joy.
Methinks they protest too much for certified level 5 Microsoft techneesions.
I wish we could do something about the pakistani credit card scammers and their callcenter is Karachi. They had well over 100 numbers active today (probably a lot more). I report the numbers to Onvoy who, as always, does… exactly nothing. Even with my mini-flooder with 12 lines, plus whatever I can muster with a few cell phones, it does nothing. Last week they had 214 numbers, and that’s only what in aware of.
They’ve been active since October and they are only getting bigger. They’re always active (as witnessed by the other scum, busy on the phone in the background) I can surmise that they must be “successful”
They have heaven only knows how many numbers active every day.
My bet would be in excess of one thousand.
At times when I can spare the resources, I’ve set searches going for them from a single known number in multiple area codes and stopped with over 300 numbers, when no end in sight was apparent on either a start or finish number in the ranges.
They often keep numbers active for a day, two or three, while opening up more blocks in different area codes or ranges within the same area code.
They are a real problem mate, I fully agree.
As you can understand, even hitting them with full fury on a lot of numbers at once, they still hold the upper hand due to the sheer volume of inbound numbers.
But there is no funnier thing to hear than the good ol’ ViciDial “POP” or “HONK” going off repeatedly, hundreds of times in rapid succession, with a chorus of clowns all enquiring, “hello, hello, am I autibul to you”?.."Hello this side Jack, Steve, Sam, Peter, Rumpelstiltskin Badger Breath the third, how may I help you…errr hello?
It’s frustrating, indeed. With my mini-flooder and two cell phones running the infinite call app on a couple of free number apps each , it’s often enough to get single line Microsoft pop-up, Amazon, PayPal to abandon their number, especially if it’s a TF number.
I’ve known you for a long, long time (long before Scammer info, even) and I’m aware of your resources and abilities. And I think we’re all fortunate that you wear a white hat.
It’s sad that when they buy huge blocks of hundreds of numbers, repeatedly, their providers are willing to do precious little to kill their cash cow. I suppose it all boils down to money; the root of all evil.
Although I’m fully aware that I can’t do anything to stop them, I sure as hell can piss them off and make their lives a little more miserable than it ordinarily would have been. At least I can find some solace in that.
I’m going to see this movie this weekend, hopefully! It looks SO good!
It does implicate that governments know, and not only know, but willingly let it happen, and partake in the spoils. I won’t lie. That thought has crossed my mind several times. I’ve even had scammers tell me that in conversations with them. I’m leaning towards believing it.
Perhaps this movie will help more people become aware, and possibly hold people in power over the coals, demanding they fucking do something. I would love to see that.
