Somebody Really Wants to Scam Me. What Should I Do?

[+ Axiom2001]

Last week I was scammed big time while I was doing some banking via the net.  ...had my bank accounts and associated credit cards changed.  

On Saturday I went to Best Buy and purchased an Android, for I am a neophyte when it comes to cell phones.  

Today I rang American Express to ask about my card, for it was one of the initial ones that was hacked.  Unfortunately, I used my newly unprotected Android.  The voice asked for my number on the card; I rendered it.  The voice stated that it did not recognize the card and wanted my COMPLETE SS# which I know is definitely a NO, NO!  

I hung up, for my Gold card was compromised along with other cards which I'd cancelled and requested a replacement.

When I rung my sister a few minutes ago and discussed the aforementioned with her, my new cell went a little crazy.  That gave me the thought that I'd been hacked via the new telephone number that the scammer had received from my AMEX conversation.

Should I purchase a new phone and have the technician or seller put in some apps for protection?  

I know this is the beginning of an acute holiday time period, for when I made an appointment at the APPLE Store to change things in my email addressed that had been hacked--the mall was full of folks by 10:00 A.M.  It was a little daunting.

Well, guys, please be kind; I cannot afford an expensive cell phone but think about keeping my current one and getting support as I stated in the above: get that phone proofed by the man who sold it to me or by another techie in his department.

Advice is wanted!

[Guest MikeThomas]

Sorry, but I really don’t understand what happened to you.

[hungry4darkmeat]

First turn off your phone. Restart it in safe mode - you may need to wipe it and restore it from the cloud but first you need to change your passwords- so switch to a different device and reset all your passwords on email accounts and all financial apps  credit cards and other sensitive apps

if you change your passwords on a different device you should be able to take a breath.

next - Get lifelock immediately. 

then either get a malware removal app or wipe it and restore your data minus the malware 
 

[maninsoma]

1 hour ago, MikeThomas said:

Sorry, but I really don’t understand what happened to you.

I also don't understand it.

A brand new phone purchased from Best Buy wouldn't be compromised.  

I wouldn't waste money on LifeLock.  You can just contact the credit reporting bureaus and put a lock on your credit.  The only problem is having to remember to unlock if you decide to apply for a new card/loan.

[MaybeMaybeNot]

It wouldn't hurt to run this through chatgpt to get advice.  I can't imagine how your new phone got hacked.  Also, I would definitely go to where you purchased it and tell them what happened.  It is possible when you came AmEx, you Googled and got a number which was really a scam number? Did you call the number on the back of your card?

[+ cougar]

Anytime I need to deal with a company, I have found it was always best to reach them directly through their website. Be careful with trying to google a company to get their contact information as I have seen news reports about people doing that and not realizing they did not select the correct info on their google searchj. Good luck as I too am having a difficult time following your situation. 

[marylander1940]

On 11/30/2025 at 3:27 PM, cougar said:

Anytime I need to deal with a company, I have found it was always best to reach them directly through their website. Be careful with trying to google a company to get their contact information as I have seen news reports about people doing that and not realizing they did not select the correct info on their google searchj. Good luck as I too am having a difficult time following your situation. 

 Exactly what almost happend to me.

I have McAfee antivirus in my computer, something that is very common.... I got a new bill that didn't include the discount I always get in December when my subscription is renewed, it happened at least twice before.... as usual I googled McAfee number, called, explained the situation, and he started asking weird questions like full number of CC instead of last 4 words, etc....

It was a scam. 

They posted the number in google and paid to be among the first results after you search "contact McAfee antivirus". Thank God, I figured it out something was off and hang up the phone. I called the real company and YET the fake site was up for at least another week. 

[nomad]

Yeah you have to really careful.  The fake sites are very real looking.  If you aren't careful about checking the URL to make sure it syncs with the real one, it is easy to be fooled.  AI may make this worse in the future.  

[BigDMike]

Understanding that cell phones are expensive....I would have opted...if you couldn't afford to buy it outright....go to your carrier and get them to include a payment plan for the phone versus the cash outlay.  

Sorry I can't provide Android advice though.

I worship at the alter of Tim Cook