Hi, tufterese, and welcome to the Community!
Confirming your suspicions are correct: these are scamming and phishing attempts, and that unfortunately many variations and mutations are floating around "out there."
My nerdy child did not realise that these annoyances can be avoided by "locking down" your account/profile (privacy settings, audio call and video call) such that you receive calls/IM's from people on your contact list only. Doing so makes you invisible to these malcontents even though true friends, family, and colleagues will not be able to find you easily on Skype, either. Please do remember to Save your settings (the Save button appears at the lower right corner) before you exit each screen or window, otherwise your settings will not be applied to or remembered by your account.
Best regards,
Elainem77
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-> Please send Private Messages only upon request.
-> Good reads:
Devise good passwords and
stop password attacksand http://krebsonsecurity.com/2011/05/krebss-3-basic-rules-for-online-safety/
and this one, too: http://www.rd.com/slideshows/internet-security-how-not-to-get-hacked/
