Scammed!

/ roughwighting

scammed iPhone, grandchildrenI’m home making dinner and my cell phone rings.

I check the number and groan. Phone scammers now send calls using the same area code and first three digits of a nearby town. In my case, each call says “Groton.”

No one in Groton is on my address list.

I ignore the call and sauté the onions before the phone rings again. And three minutes later, again.

Just about ready to throw the phone in the drawer and lock it up, I notice that the “scammer” has left a voice mail message. Weird. Scammers never leave a “calling card,” so to speak.

I listen. A young voice says, “Hi Margery. This is Clark. I just want you to know that I have a ….” The voice hesitates and I hear a female respond in the background. The mother, I guess, and then the young person adds, “a gizmo for my birthday. Call me back!”

Oh, I think, how cute. This kid thinks he’s calling Margery, whoever she is – a friend of the family? And wants to tell her all about his gizmo. Whatever that is. And the kid’s name is Clark, just like my grandson’s. scammer, scammed, iPhone

I feel sorry that the young boy thinks he’s left a message for Margery, and Margery will never answer. So, I return the call. The young voice answers with an uncertain “Hello?”

“Hi!” I say. “You left a message for Margery. I am not Margery. You got the wrong number.”

Stunned silence on the other end. Then the boy says, “Ohhhhh kayyyyy,” sounding immensely confused.

“Bye!” I hang up, feeling unsettled.

Ten seconds later, my phone rings again with a number I recognize – my daughter’s. “Hello!” I say liltingly.

“Mom. Why did you tell Clark you’re not his Madre?”

My heart sinks toward my wobbly knees. “That was Clark?”

“Yes, he told you he was Clark.”

“But I thought he asked for Margery.” As the words fly out of my mouth, I realize he asked for me, his Madre. “Well, why is the phone number from Groton?” I retort, trying to defend myself.

I hear my daughter’s exasperated sigh. “It’s the phone number for his new Gizmo – you know, a smart watch for kids.” Gizmo, iPhone

I want to tell her she is speaking gibberish. I want to tell her that I thought I’d been scammed. I want to tell her that back in the day gizmo meant an object whose name you couldn’t recall. Instead I say, “could you please put Clark on the phone?”

grandparenting, grandson, scammed, iPhone, Gizmo

Clark and me, his Madre.

Thank goodness my 9-year-old grandson has a sense of humor. “I got worried when you told me you weren’t my Madre,” he confesses with a smile in his voice. “Can I call you now on my Gizmo?”

169 thoughts on “Scammed!”

  2. Oh this is just TOO good!!!! I cannot stop chuckling. What a fabulous little inter-generational humorous vignette! When you wrote that the “kids name is Clark just like your grandson” I thought hmmm that might be a clue hahaha 🙂

    Hey I am continually asking my kids (all grown up) to do this that or the other w regard to my phone … I would never manage otherwise!

    Best post! Toooo funny.

    Peta

    Liked by 3 people

    • I know, I know, I shoulda figured something was up when the “stranger’s” name was Clark. But I was so focused on NOT getting scammed…. that I got scammed big time. 🙂

      Like

  5. I should have read your post backwards, bottom to top. Then, I too would not have been scammed. Your grandson looks like a whippersnapper, and you are beaming. Now where did he get those sweet dimples. 😀

    Crazy fun, Pam!

    Liked by 3 people

    • I’m glad you read this top to bottom so you could be as puzzled as I was. I mean, really, can we blame ourselves for being confused? ;-0 Clark is a whippersnapper and his dimples get deeper when we bake, which is what we were doing in this photo. 🙂

      Like

  6. been there, technology s movng so fast..our language is mving fast too. you tube how english was spoke n the 15th century

    Liked by 2 people

  8. Too funny, Pam. There are so many phone scams, I wouldn’t have answered either, but so funny that you didn’t recognize the message either. I’m glad you got it all sorted out. Adorable photo.

    Liked by 2 people

  17. Good one, GBCC (Cape Cod),

    Never heard of a ‘Gizmo,’ but then again, I’m 70!

    I took a walk with a friend yesterday who told me that her 95-year old other called her early this week from her cell phone to tell you that she had a computer virus expert on her landline who was helping her take care of it. The ‘expert’ was on hold while Loretta (the 95 year old) asked Susan (the daughter, my friend) if she should give her any personal info, credit card info, etc. EEEKKK. A real serious scam! These ‘experts’ ought to be imprisoned.

    Poor Clark. Traumatic for him (but funny story).

    Enjoy the Cape.

    Xoxo, GBMV

    Sent from my iPad

    >

    Liked by 2 people

    • It was very muggy this morning; we’ve just enjoyed some marvelous thunderstorms to clear the air. And Clark? He’s so patient with me. (He just shakes his head sometimes – “that Madre.”) 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

  20. I am SO glad this played out the way it did. Stupid scammers have us all a mess about phone calls. Used to be wrong numbers were ways to be polite to one another and wish someone a good day. Now we are terrified to answer our phones!

    Liked by 2 people

    • A story that began like a slap to my forehead (what were you THINKING), ended up being okay thanks to a 9-year-old’s sweet acceptance of his rather addled grandmother. 🙂

      Like

    • My guy has responded to the scammer problem by turning his phone off – and keeping it off. Thus, he misses out on phone calls by grandchildren on their Gizmo. Me? Now I’m on Gizmo-alert every day. 🙂

      Like

  24. I’m glad your “scam” turned out to be a legitimate call from your grandson. Scammers have gotten very sophisticated. My mother has received calls from my “son” twice now; calls in which he greets her stressfully as “Grandma” and says he’s in trouble and needs money. Unfortunately, she has answered him by name because the connection isn’t very clear and then they have his name and proceed. He says he needs her to wire him money. But I am so proud of her. She very cleverly said, “Okay. But what’s my name?” And they hang up.

    Liked by 3 people

    • I think your story about your mom is what makes me most angry at these scammers. Besides annoying the heck out of us and taking time away from important phone calls (like from a Gizmo …. haha), they prey on those who aren’t as tech savvy. I have an extremely intelligent friend (as in brilliant) who is 89 years old and in tears because scammers call her daily about kidnapped grandchildren, etc. She refuses to NOT answer the phone because she has friends/family all over the world who call her often. Some kind of regulation needs to occur!

      Like

  25. Oh my goodness one just can’t win! First we learn to ignore the scam calls. Then one tries to be kind and then …ugh! Well it looks like you are still his Madre after all. Isn’t being human a challenge sometimes? 🙂

    Liked by 3 people

    • Gizmo! I mean really, how’d they come up with that name? Well, I’ve received several “texts” from Gizmo since my faux pas. Maybe grandson thinks that’s safer with me. 🙂

      Like

    • Chuckles are good. Clark is all-boy (think jumping in dirt piles and muddy puddles, playing Frisbee with his dog, and eating a dozen cookies in ten seconds and still being underweight. And…. being kind to his clueless grandmother. A keeper. 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

  31. Funny! We had a bizarre experience we tried to Skype with the grandkids. Nothing seemed to work. Fortunately my step-daughter is savvy and walked up through (several times as we’re old dolts). Now it mostly works. Mostly. Hmmm…I wonder if they have gizmos.

    Liked by 2 people

  32. Oh My Goodness!! Poor Clark! No wonder the confusion though. I constantly get Scam calls on my cell. Fortunately, I can block them on there, but not on my landline *groan* YES! We still have a landline because we have to have it for our DSL Internet. And when we first moved here, the cell service was unreliable (and still is) so we had to have a way for the hospital to contact my hubby when he was on call. I like having a landline. It comes in handy. And we have our second line for our fax machine which you still can’t do with a cell. So there’s that.. I’m glad you got it all sorted! ❤

    Liked by 3 people

  34. Welcome to the digital age, Madre! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been interrupted to the point of madness by scammers. It’s only because you are such a good person that you saved the day!

    Becky Schwenk Sent from my iPhone

    >

    Liked by 2 people

  36. I now hang up whenever I think it’s a scammer. Sometimes I get a little overzealous and hang up on calls that are important. Cute story.

    Liked by 2 people

  41. OMgosh! I never would have guessed it. His smart watch. I knew perfectly well what gizmo you were talking about. Thank you for the educational post. And, too funny:) Blame it on the scammers. We automatically have our guard up:)

    Liked by 2 people

  42. I thought Gizmo was a character that didn’t like bright lights? From the movie Gremlins! I had a similar incident to the one Browsing the Atlas but on my land line so I get your concern. But the story was so cute and funny, I just read it to my daughter. She loved it too.

    Liked by 2 people

  47. Phew … glad that confusion was sorted out! 😀 Scammers are responsible for a lot and our keen sense of awareness and expectation of such calls is one major element in our lives! I bet you and Clark had a fantastic chat over his new gizmo! Madre and grandson reunited over the airways! Xx

    Liked by 2 people

    • Scammers confuse all of us, even when we think we’re being hyper aware! Urgh. I notice Clark is texting me from his Gizmo more than calling. I think he’s worried I’ll tell him I’m not Margery. 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

  48. That’s hilarious, Pam, but I would have done just as you did. I’m very wary of calls from numbers I don’t know. I hope you and Clark have many wonderful conversations on his Gizmo! 🙂

    Liked by 2 people

  50. Ha! Our cell phones can certainly get the better of us! But I’m glad your grandson has a good sense of humor. And I have a feeling that this incident will end up being one of those family stories that is told again and again…..

    Liked by 2 people

  51. There are so many scams–some of them even leaving messages. I can see how you could get confused. Is Gizmo a real thing? What exactly is it? I just spent the week with my daughters and the grandchildren, including my eleven-year-old grandson. I have a lot to learn from him.

    Liked by 2 people

    • Gizmo is a real thing – a kids’ watch phone. Sort of looks like an Apple Watch but chunkier. My grandson can count his ‘steps’ on it and communicate via text and phone with the phone numbers his parents put on there. In his case, the parents’ and the grandparents.’ Yes, we will be constantly learning from our grands, no doubt. 😉

      Liked by 1 person

  53. Haha! I’ve never heard of a Gizmo – wow, that’s quite a story. I get robo and scam calls all the time. It’s so hard to know what’s the real deal. I’m glad it’s all figured out for you and I hope you put your grandson’s Gizmo number in your contacts! 😉

    Liked by 2 people

  54. That’s so funny, Pam! But also sad, as this is what spam now does to us. We either don’t want to pick up, or we want to tell them to f*** off!

    This thought reminds me of having dealt so many times with people (businesses) who don’t know what they are talking about or that don’t want to help you, which makes me apprehensive about their ways from the beginning, while sometimes, you actually do get someone who cares and then that person will be offended. It’s a tough world!

    Liked by 2 people

    • This is so WEIRD (in a good way). I finally had time to check out some blogs and have been reading your latest posts, commented on one, and then just after I left it saw that YOU were commenting on MY blog. I love synchronicity. Much better than any GIZMO out there. 🙂 It is a tough world, but when we ignore the ‘not so nice people’ we find that it’s also a soft, wonderful world. xo

      Liked by 1 person

      • That is so cool that we were reading each other’s blogs at the same time and thinking about each other through our screens. Maybe it’s because we are so close together now. Physically, if not mentally. 🙂

        I have a lot of posts sitting in my inbox as well and have been dying to catch up!

        Liked by 1 person

  55. That’s almost hilarious Pam. Sadly, the spamming phone calls are as confusing as fake news. I wish we could go back to our good world without technology. I’d have no qualms about typing on a typewriter. 🙂 x

    Liked by 2 people

  58. Not surprised at the confusion! I can barely follow what’s going on today except for the thousands of &^^#$^)(*^(&^$(&^ marketing calls we get, from numbers all over the country but always with a voice that says “Hi! This is Jason!” I’d like to strange Jason personally. No, I don’t need a new warranty on a car we sold five years ago, I do not need an alert button, etc etc. What I need is some relief from all these callers. I might answer a robocall about that!

    Liked by 2 people

  64. Pingback: Author Inspiration and This Week’s Writing Links – Staci Troilo

  67. Oh Pam.. this is a gem.. I have tears running down my face laughing, I had to read this out loud to hubby who also laughed.. Having a eight year old granddaughter who had a fitbit for Christmas.. I was the same when I asked Her What is a FIT BIT ? .. lol.. 🙂 🤣😁🤣

    Liked by 2 people

    • By the time your grandkids are old enough to have a Gizmo, it will be something else, with a name that you won’t recognize and you’ll have NO IDEA what they’re talking about. 🙂

      Like

Comments are closed.