Fell for air duct cleaning scam. How can I protect myself?

September 19, 2024 10:06 AM

I gave my name, email and address.

A scammer posted in my neighborhood Facebook group about duct cleaning, and like a chump, I reached out via private message. Before I came to my senses, I had already shared my email, address, and full name. Luckily I realized it before giving out my phone number.

Is there anything I can do to protect myself from identity fraud at this point? Has anyone also fallen for the air duct cleaning scam and lived to tell the tale?

posted by winterportage to Computers & Internet (7 answers total)

I think worst case scenario they may reach out to you for the scam part of the scam, you've given them no financial information so far and all the info you did share is pretty public. Or you may end up on more scam mailing/emailing lists. I would just be extra vigilant for further problems and ignore them/turn them away on the off chance they show up at your house.
posted by Eyelash at 10:13 AM on September 19 [1 favorite]

If this just happened, they might not have copied that info out of the chat yet. Just in case, unsend the message and block them.
posted by limeonaire at 10:15 AM on September 19 [1 favorite]

Your name and home address are likely in public records. Your email address is probably easy to obtain from data brokers, and probably isn't necessary for identity theft anyways. I don't think you have increased your risk in any significant way.
posted by mbrubeck at 10:15 AM on September 19 [30 favorites]

The air duct cleaning scam (link is to YouTube explanation) isn't a scam in the normal sense. It's actually a crappy lead generation attempt usually performed by low-paid workers outside the US; then the leads are passed on to actual companies inside the US. They're actually trying to get paid to do your ducts; it's just a sketchy way of getting your attention.

I "fell for" the car detailing version and lost money but gained a clean car; nothing bad happened.
posted by chesty_a_arthur at 10:20 AM on September 19 [13 favorites]

The scam isn't identity theft -- it's taking your money for a deposit, never showing up, and then disappearing off the face of the Earth.

That said, I froze my credit ten years ago when mail kept disappearing from my apartment building and it gave me a lot of peace of mind. Worth taking a look!
posted by mochapickle at 10:22 AM on September 19 [6 favorites]

I interacted with one of those posts in my neighborhood (shared the same info, minus email address, then realized it was a scam) and all that happened was I got another message or two about getting my ducts cleaned and I responded “you are a scammer” and blocked them. Nothing you’ve shared is really sensitive and these guys aren’t in the identity theft business afaik.
posted by MadamM at 10:31 AM on September 19

Have you ever searched yourself in an incognito window with your name and phone number? If you're in the US, go ahead and try it.

When I do mine (even just last name and number) some site has a TERRIFYING amount of information about me, without logging in, without paying, without any barrier.

I've frozen my credit not because of this but because of my fucking ISP requiring SS numbers which got hacked. But do be aware of how much is out there.
posted by Snowishberlin at 11:44 AM on September 19 [2 favorites]