Wednesday, May 7, 2008

1-800-I-DON'T-THINK-SO

The phone rings this morning and I look at the caller ID. It is a 1-800 number. Normally I don't answer these, but I just hit the 'talk' button. Don't ask me why. I think I just wanted the phone to stop ringing so I could drink my coffee in peace before it got cold. I say, "Hello?"

On the other end I hear this woman hurriedly announce her name and ask if my name is Karen M#$#%*n? I say yes and then she says "Blahblahblahblahblah you owe $24,900 blahblahblah." WTH? I almost dropped my coffee mug.

As I pick my chin up from off of the floor I say, "Excuse me?"

Then she repeats slower saying, "You owe $24,900 in student loans."

I say, "Ummm. No I don't."

She says, "Is your name Karen M%#$#$n?"

I say, "Yes, but it wasn't when I went to school."

She says," Was it Karen L##%#$?"

I say, "No. It was Karen F#%d."

She then asks for my date of birth. I give it. Then she asks for the last 4 digits of my social security number. (I don't think so.) I told her I didn't feel comfortable giving her that. Then she asks if she can have my address so that I won't receive any mail from them in the future. I start to give it to her and then don't finish.

So, what is that about? Just because my name is Karen M#%##n doesn't mean that I'm your Karen M$$%n !!!!! I have a VERY common last name. I think there are 4 of them in just the small town that I live in, so there have to be a ton out there.

It really rattled me. I think I had heart palpitations. Seriously.

Now had it been a credit card company saying I owed that much to J Crew, then that's a different story. Just kidding, honey! (Husband reads my blog. Don't want him to have a heart attack.)

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Whew...scary!! Sounds like a scam I guess?

Kate said...

Yikes! That would leave me pretty rattled too!

Erin said...

Yeah, sounds like they were trolling for identity theft. I'd keep an eye out on your credit report and such for a while.

Somewhere Between Pinot and Pacifiers said...

OMG-Stuff like that freaks me out!

Ned said...

That has happened to us several times. We have a very common last name, as well as hubby's first. Yeah I am calling about that check you bounced...Usually middle name verification is all it takes to end it.

I'm a Mom!..? said...

It's crazy how careful we have to be now. I almost got taken by a Paypal scam not too long ago.

Tickled Pink And Green said...

I can almost guarantee you that was a SCAM. And I have to admit, a pretty good one. People would be so rattled to hear that and "clear their name" I can imagine them giving out all sorts of information. Thank goodness you caught yourself. I'm in agreement with the other commenter who said keep a watch on your credit report.

Buford Betty said...

Haha... that has happened to me too - my name is rather common.