Here Phishy, Phishy, Phishy

For several weeks now, I've been getting occasional phone calls from an outfit calling itself "Allied Interstate." The phone calls are a recording, not a live human being, and say, "We are calling in reference to a debt." Then they give me a phone number with which I can return the call.

I figured that if it was a real debt that I owed to someone, an actual real live human being would be making the calls. At the very least, the calls would give some details, like whom I owe, and how much I owe. The whole generic, one size fits all nature of the recorded message--and the fact that I don't have any outstanding debts (thank goodness!) made me suspect that this is all just an telephone version of a phishing scam. I figured that if I did call the phone number given, someone would try to con me into giving out financial information better kept private.

They just called again, and as I was on the computer at the time, I decided to google them. Very first entry under "Allied Interstate," was "Allied Interstate Scam." It explained that there is a legitimate debt collection company by that name, but that someone else--overseas--is using their name to call people and con them into giving out credit card and/or bank account information. People have been told that they owe X dollars to various credit cards or businesses they once dealt wtih. However, if they call the bank or business directly to check if it is true, they are told that there is no outstanding debt. All just a scam.

I trust that most people of my f-list would see through the scam, but as the article I found through Google says, you may want to warn any friends or family that may be more trusting or gullible.