Can anyone tell me why the Selective Service would be calling me?

[Sheldon Cooper]

I'm a middle aged woman with two daughters in their teens and twenties. I got a voice mail, coming from a local number, from a man claiming to be with selective service and asking me to call him back. Any ideas on what this could be about? I'm stumped.

[NMDemDist2]

1. did you ever sign up on their website to be on the board?

that's why they called me

[Sheldon Cooper]

11. I actually did apply to be on the draft board.

About ten years ago - right around the time W invaded Iraq. If I recall correctly, I was turned down for the board. But, as others have suggested, I have a school aged daughter, so I'm guessing it's a recruiter for the armed services.

[jberryhill]

2. Google the telephone number

[Demo_Chris]

3. Human Engineering. I would not return the call

[Buzz Clik]

5. Human engineering over the phone?

[Recursion]

17. That's where most human/social engineering happens

"Hi, this is Fred from IT. We need to check something with the database; can you log in? It works, OK, what password did you use? Great, thanks..."

[Buzz Clik]

18. Hm. Odd use of the word "engineering". I envisioned something altogether different.

or, maybe

[Recursion]

21. Heh. It's a term in hacker circles, at least

Not sure how far it's spread among the normals.

[Buzz Clik]

22. Normals!?!

You make is sound so ... dirty.

[Recursion]

28. Heh.

You should hear the disgust with which I say "eww... hard copy" when somebody hands me a memo on paper.

[freshwest]

4. Got the list from the school, most likely. Had to deal with this some years ago. It's a recruiter.

[Go Vols]

8. prolly this ^^^

[etherealtruth]

19. yep ... same here

[freshwest]

23. It was a little bonus with Bush's NCLB legislation, IIRC.

I had a hell of a time getting rid of the one that called me. Ended up having to get a legislator to call his commanding officer to get him to stop. No reason given, and there were very good ones - would get him off the case, until several state officials called to stop it. Found out that some of these were returning vets. If they didn't meet a quota, they'd be sent back to Iraq - or so my BIL who was in the Air Force explained it. They needed those warm bodies for the war. Why they would start up again, I don't know, but it's work for some to do, I suppose. Sad.

[etherealtruth]

24. Absolutely horrid and sad

They let up easily when it came to my (now) 19 year old daughter (college student) ... my 17 year old son is visually impaired (he has keratoconus/ the military specifically identifies this as a condition that precludes one from entering) ... so they have not persisted.

[southernyankeebelle]

26. I got rid of the army recruiter. I told him my son is overweight and he is deaf. They

stopped calling. My husband was a recruiter. He never forced himself on any kid. He told them the truth and let them make the decision if they wanted to sign up.

[RandiFan1290]

6. A lot of phone scams going on

They like to use recent news to try and get personal info out of people. I would google the phone number first.
Be careful out there

[Buzz Clik]

7. Greetings.

[upi402]

9. School

My kid's school automatically reports.

I have to opt out.
The school's RWer secretary gets pissy, "I have to manually delete the records and your child wont be in the school's yearbook".

So you shouldn't have voted for W mam!

[bluedigger]

10. Ignore it.

It's BS. The Selective Service has less than 150 employees. I bet it's some local yahoo trying to foment hysteria over this week's announcement that women are eligible for combat roles.

[kestrel91316]

25. Ding ding ding!!!! You win today's prize for figuring out RW nastiness.

[nadinbrzezinski]

12. Phishing expedition.

They are getting more creative.

[TheMastersNemesis]

13. Look Up The Number Of The Selective Service Board If They Have One. And

see if it matches. If not contact them directly about the call.

[Sheldon Cooper]

14. Thanks everyone.

As you've said, it's probably a recruiter. His name is Commander Loza and I googled the number. It's from the US Navy office in Pittsburgh. I have a daughter in HS and I assume it's a recruiter. So, I won't be calling the Commander back. But it was weird because he asked for me specifically by name.

[wandy]

15. Suguest NOT calling the number you were given. You can still find out....

Blind calls can be a scam, but you're local Selective Service branch is real.
Get the number of you're local SS and call THEM! Ask them if they know anything about this call.
If the call was from them they can probably explain it. If the call was a scam they may be more than willing to obtain additional information and possibly take legal action against the scammer.
Contact the people you know to be the honest instution.
Although blind E-mails will usually be a scam, if a blind E-mail comes from what might be you're bank or credit union or other business you deal with, don't reply to the note.
Get the number from the phone book call them! Talk to a person.

[ellie]

16. They recently emailed me

about joining their board.

[Dash87]

20. SSN number phishing scam, I bet.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

27. It could be a phishing scam as others suggest, or if your kids are in HS they're hitting you up.

They called me trying to get their hooks in my daughter. So, all in all I'd just ignore them.