‘Tis the season for lots of online shopping.
I’m a big fan. Sorry, brick-and-mortar retailers. If I can avoid the crowds and the lines, I will. It’s online shopping for me.
So when I received a call saying I had to complete the payment for an online order, I paused.
But only for a second. As a consumer reporter, I’m always on the lookout for scams so I can share what I learn with our readers.
This was an attempted scam.
I always advise readers to be very careful when answering phone calls from numbers they don’t recognize unless they’re expecting a specific call. You can let it go to voicemail, and if it’s important, the caller will leave a message.
But, I always answer my phone. It’s usually a call from a source, company or a government official about a story, and they’re not all in my contact list.
And every once in a while, a call is fodder for a column. Like this one was.
There was the telltale pause before the call connected, a red flag that this was coming from some kind of a call center. The caller spoke very quickly, with urgency, and it was hard to hear him because of the background noise. It sounded like he was in a raucous room with dozens of other people, speaking just as loudly and as quickly as he was.
I couldn’t make it all out, but after asking him to repeat himself several times, I learned I had ordered CBD oil and gummies. (CBD is short for cannabidiol, an active ingredient in cannabis which is commonly used in products to treat chronic pain…
