jco613

Good morning,

Although I live near BDL now, I still have my South Florida phone number and as has been documented here, I've been a loyal WN flyer since 2005. Interestingly, I received a phone call from a 561 number (Palm Beach, FL) and a woman with a very thick accent (perhaps Indian) began telling me about how she was calling on behalf of Southwest Airlines. According to the phone call, they are opening a new reservations center in Deerfield Beach, FL and need people to volunteer to attend the grand opening. Those who volunteered would receive a free round trip ticket on board Southwest Airlines. At that point I hung up, thinking it was a scam. I have looked online and see no details from Southwest or local media about any new reservations centers in South Florida or elsewhere.

So I am wondering if this story I was told is true, whether they would solicit people to attend the grand opening, and if they typically reward those with round trip flights?

toomanybooks

Gotta be a scam.

birdiedouble

Looks like this has been going on for awhile:

http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-818-490-0017

pinniped

At least they're using a real airline now. I've gotten scammy calls/mailings in the past about free trips on American Airways, United Airways, etc.

One theory is that they do that kind of stuff intentionally, because they actually want semi-intelligent people to identify it as a scam before wasting the scammer's time. But it's still mildly amusing...

SanDiego1K

I've seen a lot of articles recently about scam phone calls that are solely meant to elicit you saying yes. They record it and then use it as proof at a later point of you having agreed to buy a product or a service.

http://clark.com/scams-rip-offs/can-...rning-hang-up/

ChiefNWA

I've been getting plenty of those recently as they leave voicemails. It's especially prevalent in Florida.

OnceARunner

My theory behind that is they are targeting elderly retirees.

AlastairGordon

I've never bought into this "saying yes" theory. After all if someone calls and says "can you hear me OK" you would probably answer "yes".

rsteinmetz70112

I have had a scammer tell me they had a recording of me saying yes to their offer and I know it was complete BS. I don't know if they actually had a recording. Legally I think it would be very difficult to validate such a recording.

joshua362

Saying yes to anything and actually getting getting payment are hardly anything to worry about. Reminds me where scammers would call individuals at large corporations pretending soliciting toner "reorders". Good luck getting that processed through A/P departments...

Critterlynn

I'd probably tell them f--- off. But then again I'd probably not answer the phone if I didn't recognize the number

alec_b

THIS! The single easiest way to avoid being scammed. I ONLY answer my phone if the number is saved in my phonebook. 100% of the calls to my phone go to voicemail, if not in contacts.

Plus, just because you got a call from a number in your home area code, does NOT mean the call originated there. It's incredibly easy to disguise a number on caller ID.

lougord99

Unfortunately, those of us who use the phone for business do not have this luxery.

jco613

not intended as a bump...I just got the call AGAIN! Nearly 5 months later! Wow!

jeffandnicole

The numbers dialed are completely random. I'm surprised you went 5 months between phone calls. I've seen the same number come up on a daily basis.

Not much of a big deal really. Just hang up...if you answer at all!