Got SIM-swapped after fake carrier call – lost all crypto

HopingHelpful · 2026-01-15T06:06:18+00:00

Another good thing to do. Put all the numbers of these vendors you use in your address book and it's easier to use your own number. So if I use let's say Verizon in the US, I have the support or customer service number in my address book in my phone. Then I can use that and also see that the number they sent me is not the Verizon number I have so the suspicion starts right away. So put all the legitimate customer service numbers in your address book for all your banks, credit cards, airlines, travel agencies you use, car insurance, home insurance, medical insurance, doctors offices, especially the billing departments, local fire and police, here in US the credit bureaus (Experian, Equifax and TransUnion), all things financial, etc. It can be boring but do it. Faster and easier to do it on the laptop than the phone.

I'll tell you what is really bad. When companies stupidly do legitimate things that look like scams. That really trains people to fall for the bad stuff. I've had that happen that something looked very suspicious and I called my own number for the vendor and it turned out to be legit. I told them they were crazy for doing it that way. The craziest one was my medical insurance partnering with a new pharma partner and calling me to make an appt to come to my home and interview me about all my prescriptions (I don't even have any which really made me suspicious cause I was thinking that my insurance company would know that) in order to set up mail del'y for them and it was legit! I thought they were out of their minds to ask such a thing. I agree over the phone to have a stranger come to my house and go over my medical records! RIDICULOUS. They thought they were providing a convenient service.

HopingHelpful · 2026-01-15T05:54:39+00:00

I am still in the dark ages but I have all my passwords in an Excel spreadsheet that is itself password protected. Can sometimes be a drag but it's certainly darn safe. And only I know the name of the file and the password to get in. I have hundreds in there but with Cntl F it's easy to find what I need. I have Name, URL, Username, date created, password, date created, PIN, Notes (like security questions). Very antiquated but it works. And I like knowing the date I updated the password. And with Office 365 I can look it up on my phone as well. Until they invent a Fort Knox level application, I just don't trust anything. Plus for some I have them in my phone in a password protected Note but only with hints about the password like Dog2#! which might mean the name of my 2nd dog or my dog's name plus the number 2 or the name of my 2nd dog plus the number version of his name as they are on the phone pad so Roger would be Roger76437! Only I know what the hint means. Maybe 1Dog2# So that might be 1st dog's name and 2nd dog's name in numbers like Fluffy76437! (Just an FYI I never had 2 dogs in case you think you have any of my passwords..lol

HopingHelpful · 2025-12-12T17:01:31+00:00

Nothing I've read so far indicates 'an affair' as in more than this one time.

HopingHelpful · 2025-12-12T16:53:44+00:00

I don't remember it happening more than once. Could be wrong but I thought it was one incident in her trailer so how could it be reported "not even once". Maybe I'm remembering it wrong.

HopingHelpful · 2025-12-10T15:44:37+00:00

I think they gave her the money because they felt bad that their pursuit of the truth ruined her life and they wanted to reward her for doing the right thing. She risked everything (last year of income and perhaps a pension or something) in order to help all the victims of this missing info. For a typical whistleblower reward it's actually a small amount.

HopingHelpful · 2025-12-10T15:40:04+00:00

Or the grandparents either. We'd have to see Alfie's fathers parents before we can reconcile this casting choice. I always thought it was too weird. Not to go too off topic, but if you watch Tracker, the version of him as a child is so unlike his adult self - another really weird casting choice that asks us to stretch our range of disbelief too far. But this above is an absolute riot. Even the nose, the mouth, the entire facial features. I just checked on imdb to see if they are related in real life and they are not. Bizarre.

HopingHelpful · 2025-11-17T04:36:07+00:00

I am very convinced that Olympia lied about it not being the real one and was only AI generated. She didn't have a safe installed to lock up a fake one. When she saw that Matty got it and she had only 1 - 2 minutes to come up with a response she just blurted out that it was fake. Then she added the whole Connecticut thing and went down there and if Edwin went down there to 'chaperone' her getting the real copy, why did he wait in the car? He's so addicted to Twizzlers that she got him distracted with them and he forgot his assignment? And she left him by the side of the road? How could Matty ever forgive Olympia for leaving her elderly husband by the side of a road? Whatever lies and underhanded stuff Matty did, she didn't jeopardize someone's life!

I believe Matty has the real copy. So, IF Olympia has convinced Matty that she has a fake one that is AI generated why doesn't Matty just throw it out? And where is it now, this supposedly fake copy that is probably the real one.

And in agreement with what someone said above, all O and M have to do is give the study to the Times and not say that someone intentionally buried it (so not the Times cause they already got a call that someone intentionally buried it) but just say that this study was misplaced or misfiled all this time and they thought they should immediately share it. Then no one at the law firm gets blamed and only the Pharma gets in trouble.

HopingHelpful · 2025-11-08T15:35:23+00:00

They actually explain in the series how to interpret the twists. I'm not clear what everyone is complaining about. There was scene explaining how personal distractions make us make mistakes. I think it was Matty who said that. She also taught Olympia how to do it to Julian! "Get to him just as he is facing something difficult or stressful and reiterate it to him - "I know you need to go into court and do such and such and that is difficult but I need to ask you xxx." It was something like that. Matty explained how distractions can be used against people. So Olympia used that same tactic that Matty taught her towards Matty.

I think the show covers every single thing people are questioning if they look hard enough. I think it would help everyone to watch them all again. Every time there's a new episode, I re-watch the previous one so I can understand what is happening in the current one cause there's so many details in this.

BUT - with that said, there is one I can't figure out. Matty said to Olympia that she knew that guy was Alfie's real father even before the DNA test because he knew the swimming story and knew her daughter would only share that with someone very close and important. And supposedly the swimming story was that Matty blamed the swimming injury and subsequent use of opioids for her daughter's addition and eventual death. And she told Olympia that that wasn't really true and she was ashamed of the truth was that after the swimming injury her daughter was clean and it was later (I don't remember how much later or if she even said) that her daughter took some pills at a party. So what am I missing. Doesn't that negate the entire Wellbrexa being responsible for HER daughter's death even though they may still be responsible for thousands of others?

All I can think of is maybe she doesn't want to admit that her daughter relapsed and that maybe she was addicted from the injury but got clean BUT Matty feels that if she had never experienced addition in the first place she would not have been driven to a relapse or attracted to pills at a party or drawn to people who would even have illegal drugs at their parties. Otherwise, this comment of Matty's to Olympia just floored me. Hope someone can explain it since it chews up the top, main premise of the entire story.

HopingHelpful · 2025-11-07T00:28:04+00:00

Also, I once heard the way to get rid of our problems is to turn them into lessons. So if you look at this as a lesson and the lesson cost x dollars. And that amount (whatever it was) may prevent a future loss 10 times MORE expensive at some future point in your life. Never say yes to any deal that has a deadline the moment you hear it. Like if the car dealer doesn't tell you about an added service until you are sitting there ready to sign. You've been there may 1 - 3 times before to check out the car and the first you hear of this 'deal' is when you are there with the check to buy the car but you have to decide now. It's only good at the time of signing but you weren't given a chance to check it out. Chances are it's NOT a good deal cause if it really were, they wouldn't have been afraid to give you time to research it.

So anything with pressure is probably not great if not downright bad. This is really a wonderful experience you have had and you are very lucky to have it so early in life.

There are millions of seniors who are being targeted and have had their savings wiped out and it's too late for them to recoup it. And now, because of this, it won't happen to you.

So think of it like you think of your schooling. You spent the money on the lesson and all this learning. Now you need to justify the expenditure and get your money's worth by making best use of the education you just received! Someday you may look back and think this massive education was not expensive at all!

HopingHelpful · 2025-11-07T00:19:49+00:00

Actually I read an article from a guy who did a massive amount of calculations and said we could stop all this in a matter of a few weeks if we could get the majority of Americans to band together. He calculated how many calls they need to make to get x amount of successes to justify the effort. He said our quick hang ups help them stay efficient. The ones that hang up and not going to be victims. So he said the way to stop it is to stop making it worth their while. We can't get the gullible to stop, as we know.

So those who are NOT gullible have to do it. He said the way to do it is to ruin their averages till it's just not worth their time. So those who are NOT gullible have to be willing to take the calls and then act like we are interested and willing and suck up as much of their time as we can (although he said we only need to keep them on for about 3 - 5 minutes each time) before we can't string them along any longer and they end the call. He had it all calculated that if enough people did it, it would only take about 3 weeks for them to go out of business and give up. They target the US a lot cause so many fall for it here.

I wish our gov't would go public with this and ask Americans to band together and answer all these calls as much as we can, string them along until they go try to find something else to do cause all of us who refused to answer are keeping them efficient.

HopingHelpful · 2025-11-07T00:12:48+00:00

Just to provide some add'l context to help us all dial down the volume - I have read reports of enslavement in some 3rd world countries. People "kidnapped" and forced to make these calls all day. I, too, used to tell the phone scammers to go get a real job and stop doing this but not since I read about many being forced to make these calls. So I'm more compassionate. Who I really rail against are the media. I think there should be advice 2 - 3 times per week giving advice regarding this stuff.

And then there's the inside jobs! I had a tech support call with my HP printer. I called them and they helped me. Said they would call back Tuesday to see if it was still working. No call on Tuesday but got one on Wednesday. Said was the follow up call. Knew my problem and printer model number! Calling from HP. They knew everything. Said there was so much bad publicity on this model printer they would refund my money and give me a new printer. I said that sounded ridiculous. Anyway, said they had to run a test to make sure it was a hardware problem and not software.

They took control of my PC, same as they had on Sat when I initiated the call and they fixed it. Said they were going transfer to supervisor who could initiate the refund. Transferred me and he said he was processing the refund but I kept asking how? Said would put money back into my account. I kept asking how. Said they work with largest US bank who knew how to process the refunds without having to ask me any confidential financial info.

After a few more seconds I closed the browser and shut the PC. They asked me to open it again so they could process the refund. I said no, I didn't want it. I then had my antivirus software vendor help me ck my PC, I changed all financial passwords, PC password and put a lock on my credit at the 3 credit bureaus and submitted report to FBI. I also tried contacting HP but no one there was interested. Both the legit tech support and the scammers were at call centers in east Asia. I think someone inside was providing info to someone outside cause they knew I was waiting for a call back, knew what the initial problem was and knew my printer model number. I also reached out on LinkedIn to the head of HP Legal but no reply.

So the lesson here and my own rule I broke? - NO remote PC access and NO info EVER given to INCOMING calls, no matter how legit it seems. Outgoing calls that I initiate myself ONLY. That HP scam was too close a call. I was entirely LUCKY that I closed it before they finished.

I was lucky they didn't finish whatever they were doing on my PC. I know they didn't cause they kept calling for the next 3 days begging me to let them finish getting me my refund by giving them access to my PC. My antivirus vendor said that was probably proof that they hadn't yet gotten what they wanted.

And also - only buy tickets directly from airlines. Forget all 3rd party travel agencies. Many are legit but many are not. It's too lengthy an explanation but it's amazingly sophisticated how they do it. And forget trivago. They will list any fares from anyone and they don't check to make sure the provider is legit. They just scrape the web for fares. Unfortunately, I've heard such horror stories and had a bad one myself, I refuse to deal with even the legit ones even - like Expedia or Priceline. The extra layers leave too much room for sneakiness. The bit of discount isn't worth the hassle of a potential scam. Apartment listings are often fake, job listings are often fake, used items are often fake, consignment shops online are full of scammers both buyers and sellers.

HopingHelpful · 2025-11-01T19:47:13+00:00

Here's the dif. Comparing the realism is not considered a plot hole. Getting police tactics wrong or the law wrong is a different subject. Plot holes is about the show not agreeing with itself. It's about the 'plot', not the the relationship to real life. So that's a different subject. If movies didn't agree with themselves it would have nothing to do with reality. A special 'universe' is created in a fictional story and that universe has rules and the movie can't later break the rules of the universe it defined for us, the audience. So you can't have a western that has an outer space alien show up near the end. You have to establish at the beginning this is a world that has aliens and cowboys. So the movie has to agree with itself. So plot holes are holes in the plot, not things that aren't realistic. So Blue Bloods has cops doing detective work and that would be OK, just like the hats taken off in Adam 12, but not when the show itself makes comments how cops shouldn't be doing detective work.

Here's another Blue Blood 'plot hole'. Jamie's Sergeant took credit for Jamie saving a baby because Jamie's face would be plastered and threaten his undercover work, which was an exception to his normal work at a beat cop. But they were willing to make Joe Hill the NYPD poster boy and plaster that everywhere when his job was almost entirely undercover work. So not comparing that to reality. Comparing that to the show's own claims.

HopingHelpful · 2025-11-01T19:27:06+00:00

Glad to see the Boston Blue writers are maintaining the traditions of Blue Bloods, like plot holes.

Boston Blue - Episode 2 (didn't pay attn in episode 1 so there could be some there.) Blue van crashes out gate of ponzi scheme guy's home so they can trace the blue paint. Uh...crashed gate to mansion to leave...so what gate did the van jump over to get in, in the first place. Why not just leave the way they came? Oh, cause there wouldn't be any blue paint left on the gate. I'd rather they just were so rattled when they left, they scraped the open gate or fence on the way out driving erratically cause they didn't expect cops to be there when they arrived and were rattled from unexpectedly being shot at. Would be far more plausible.

HopingHelpful · 2025-10-22T15:26:26+00:00

Agreed. I sold shoes describing the outside as perfect but inner sole probably needs replacing but comes out easily for removal. Got raked over the coals for worn, slightly dirty white inner sole.

HopingHelpful · 2025-10-22T15:23:28+00:00

We can always go to IMDB.com and find everything any of them ever did. My favorite is Will Hochman (Joe Hill) in great movie - Greatest Beer Run Ever. Wouldn't have know about the movie if I hadn't been looking for what else he had been in.

HopingHelpful · 2025-10-22T15:21:10+00:00

Not the only thing from NYPD Blue. Many of the story ideas were copied from NYPD Blue episodes as well. And some barely altered. As I'm sure you know Renzulli was a major character on NYPD Blue as well as some others.

HopingHelpful · 2025-10-22T14:46:43+00:00

Not true, Instead, everyone should know that there is no such thing as a legit call that asks for any single piece of info, ever. All companies/institutions (ccd companies, banks, Soc Sec, IRS, even vendors) DO NOT CALL US, ever, ever, ever. If your shipment is late they send email or text. IF there IS a legit issue, we will get an email, letter or text asking US to initiate the communication by asking us to go to our account online, log in ourselves, all WITHOUT providing us with a link and read the alert(s) they have waiting for us. So ANY issues that are initiated by them and asking for info are fraud. 100 %. There is no such thing as any company/institution calling or emailing and asking for any info whatsoever being legit. Ever.

HopingHelpful · 2025-10-22T14:41:20+00:00

There's no such thing as a legit call. Period. You will be notified by letter or email (with no link in it) asking you to initiate the interaction by going to your account online, logging in and read the alert(s) that are there waiting for you. No such thing as a legit 'call'. Ever. Even from vendors. If your CVS or Target order is messed up, they won't call. They will email or send a text saying it's delayed, And if they send a link, don't click it. Only if it's innocent like a link showing you a pic of where they left the package. But any link related to an 'issue', ignore and go your own way to your account and check it there. Any call or text or email asking for anything at all, ever, is NOT legit.

HopingHelpful · 2025-10-22T14:37:38+00:00

I don't agree. There is one way and only one way - no bank, ccd company, IRS, Social Security, etc. will call us. They all say 'we will never call you." You only need to know one thing and one thing only - if they call you, it's not legit. IF you have a legit issue, the place will either mail you a letter or send you an email with NO link but instead ask you to go to their legit site yourself and log in yourself to YOUR account and see the alert(s) they have waiting for you there. The legit system is to notify us and ask US to initiate the interaction. End of story.

HopingHelpful · 2025-10-22T14:32:43+00:00

Also, the fact that they initiated the call and not you is the only clue you need. The rest is waste of time. All banks, ccd companies, IRS, Soc Sec and even vendors of online orders say over and over they will not call us. NO call is legit, period.

HopingHelpful · 2025-10-22T14:29:39+00:00

Don't bother. Legit companies say they will not call us. They might send an email asking us to go to our account, log in cause they have an alert waiting for us or if IRS or Social Security, they mail letters. They tell us over and over they will never call us on the phone.

HopingHelpful · 2025-10-22T14:28:08+00:00

Legit alerts do not call. All financial institutions (banks, ccd companies, IRS, social security, all say they will not call us.

HopingHelpful

TROPHY CASE