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It would be nice if legitimate, even beneficial, telemarketing calls could be easily identified from the unsolicited, fraudulent ones. From customer loyalty cards to databases filled with our online searching and buying patterns, our personal information is available everywhere, to everyone, including fake telemarketers. Perpetrators of fake telemarketing calls can create personalized pitches making it hard to recognize a fraudulent call. Often, seniors can be targets because it’s assumed they have the finances, and scammers are keen on taking advantage of the potential vulnerabilities of elderly victims. Seniors are also a favorite target because they make over-the-phone purchases at a rate of twice the national average. [1] Awareness is your first line of defense. If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.
Here’s an overview of a few of types of phone scams and tips on how to avoid becoming a victim of fraud.
Some common phone scams
While the following list isn’t inclusive of all phone scams, these are some of the most common. Familiarize yourself with each to help spot a scam playing out on the other end of a phone call.
The Pigeon Drop
Criminals use the lure of stating a large amount of money was discovered bearing your name. The catch is the con artist asks you to pay a fee or “good faith” payment to claim the non-existent money.
Relative in Need
This scam plays on a senior’s concern for a loved one. The con person claims that a family member is in the hospital or in jail. The criminal requests money to help the family member.
Car warranty
This scam occurs often through robocalls and the scammer offers an extended automobile warranty. A caller, or prerecorded voice, informs the vehicle owner that their automobile’s warranty has expired, or soon will. A scare tactic is often used warning of the problems they can face without a warranty. Another detail that usually makes this type of scam appear legitimate is the amount of detail the caller has about the vehicle. Don’t be deceived. Data collection companies could provide access to motor vehicle records online. [2] Scammers do all this for one intended goal, to gain your personal information and your money. This “warranty” is found to be useless for you.
Can you hear me?
A caller or robocall will ask “can you hear me?” The scam call ends after capturing a recording of the “yes” response. The scammer now has a voice signature to authorize unwanted charges on items like stolen credit cards.
Is this Mary?
This tactic is similar to the “Can you hear me?” scam. Once the intended victim answers the phone, the caller or robocall will ask “Is this (your name)?” The purpose of the call is to elicit the response “yes.” The dangers of the “Can you hear me?” and “Is this (your name?)” scams are the same.
Charity
This is one of the more common telemarketing scams, in which the scammer poses as a charity. The “telemarketer” has no connection to the charity they’re claiming to represent. In other instances, criminals represent fake charities. These types of calls typically occur after a natural disaster. [3]
Do you know who this is?
The following story illustrates how a version of the relative-in-need scam works. Although the characters and events in this story are fictional, the circumstances are all too real.
Margaret is a proud grandmother of 14 grandchildren. Not all her grandchildren live in the same city, so Margaret is especially happy to receive their occasional phone calls. With so many grandchildren, it’s not always easy for her to recognize the voices on the other end of the phone. So, when she received an unexpected call one day from a young lady who said, “Hi Grandma! Do you know who this is?” Margaret guessed it was her sixteen-year-old granddaughter. “Is it you Cynthia?” she replied. The scammer answered yes of course and proceeded to give Margaret a sob story about the trouble she was in and how she urgently needed money. Margaret loves her grandchildren and would always do whatever she can to help them. Without hesitating, she agreed to send the imposter money, a total of $5,000 USD. The preferred payment methods of criminals in this type of scam are money transfers or gift cards.
In this case, the scammer is pretending to be the family member. It’s always better to contact who the caller is claiming to be directly. If she’d done this, Margaret would have been able to verify that Cynthia was not in a real emergency.
Tips to avoid telemarketing scams
Here are seven easy tips to help protect yourself from being scammed:
- Check a business’s background and reputation through the Better Business Bureau.
- Don’t give into pressure to make a quick decision during a phone call.
- Never give out personal information over the phone when receiving unsolicited calls, especially from unknown callers, or if you are at all suspicious.
- Hang up on unsolicited robocalls and don’t follow the automated prompts.
- When, after answering the phone, a robocall or a person asks, “Is this (your name)?” or “can you hear me?” Do not reply “yes.” Train yourself to first ask who is calling, and/or reply with “This is she/he” and “I can hear you.” Do not say “yes.”
- Block telemarketing calls by registering your number on the Do Not Call List.
- Use phone apps, or built-in capability from your mobile phone carrier, to identify spam calls. And if you get a spam call, block the number.
If you think a call might really be from a legit caller, find their phone number from a reliable source (i.e., billing statement, website, back of credit card etc.) and call that number. Same is the case for the “relative in need” scam. Call the relative claiming to need help, using a phone number that is real, to confirm whether the story is true.
From promises of a car warranty, to a too-good-to-be true offer of found money, scammers are creative, don’t let your emotions dictate your actions. By implementing these best practices, you can better protect yourself and your assets against scammers. If you are suspicious a call may be a scam, report it to state, local, or federal law enforcement agencies. [4]
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Don’t answer the phone if you don’t recognize the number, Let it go to voicemail..if it’s important, they will leave a message
I DONOT answer my phone at all! I also don’t use it for anything except outgoing calls with rare exceptions: i.e. no apps, no shopping, no web, no payments. I also rejoiced when I found that my CGM is incompatible with my phone. I have no need to carry it with me. When I give my number to someone that may call me, friends, relatives, business offices, I always tell them that my VOICE MAIL GREETING IS IN FRENCH, just wait until it stops and THEN leave the message.
I once answered it and it was a scam that was collecting for a fund for deceased and incapacitated law enforcement officers, and their families. I had seen a notice on local news that this was a scam and it is illegal to solicit money for Law Enforcement officers. I made a snap decision and decided to dangle the carrot of a large contribution, in exchange for a street address to sent a $100,000 check. The “gentleman/scammer” wouldn’t give me an address, but the carrot dangled for quite a while, keeping him/her/it from scamming someone else.
Another occasion I answered the telemarketer by informing the caller that, I was a detective investigating the brutal murder of Mr. Broccoli Free Zone and I then started the interrogation via phone and demanded personal information from the (very un-wise) caller. I Closed the interview informing him that he will likely be visited at his place of business by the FBI in relation to this murder.
There was a local fellow a while back who would “scam the scammers” and post the story on Nextdoor.
One time he screwed with a telemarketer for over 10 minutes. The TM told him his car warranty was expiring. He responded with sure, I’ll get coverage! When asked for his make/model he told them “1972 Schwinn Stingray”.
I do not answer phone if it’s not last 4 digits of family or friends answering service is a great daily screening device!!
My home phone is actually a Voice Over Internet system (Magic Jack) and has an answering system that intercepts calls and requires that the caller press a specified random digit to connect to the party they are calling. So when the phone rings, I know there is a real person on the line and the Caller ID will determine whether I choose to answer. It sure beats getting all those robocalls at suppertime. And, the price is about 1/10 that of the service provided by the ISP.
I get so many calls I just don’t answer anymore. If I turn off the filters my phone rings constantly all day. I remember when having the phone attached to the wall was inconvenient. Now the phone’s become a torture device. Putting them on the “block caller” list doesn’t even slow ’em down. Here’s one of the few places regulation would be useful!
Thanks for sharing this, very good article. And it is important to realize that many of these calls are from foreign countries & not USA calls.
The do not call list does NOTHING to stop scam calls. I have been on that list since it first started and verify it annually and still get 10 to 40 calls a day. Reporting the calls does nothing to stop them, most are from disconnected numbers or fax machine numbers, the companies they are pretending to be from don’t care either. I have found if it is a live person a air horn will at least slow down that one, words great for political calls also.
#1- never buy anything from anyone who calls you on the phone or knocks on the door. (Girl Scout cookies and band candy/chocolate excepted). IF you called them and they call back- ok- verify it is the same people!! Your phone listens to you. #2- See # 1 – #3- See #1. Yes, you might miss out on a great deal. but 99% of the time you stopped a scam.
The trouble is, so many of these telemarketers and telemarketing companies are ignoring the Do Not Call Registry with no adverse consequences. It’s not as bad as it was in the 1990s, but every day I get several calls that my caller ID identifies either by simply a city or by something like “NAME UNAVAILABLE” or “UNASSIGNED.”
Sometimes I attempt to sell something via Craigslist or some other ad system. So I need to answer the phone even if I don’t recognize the number.
When a person comes on the line and I realize it is a scam call I say, “We don’t respond to ANY telephone solicitations. Please don’t call us again.” Then I hang up before they can respond.
Outgoing message on my answering machine: “We don’t answer calls from numbers we don’t recognize, so if you need to get in touch with us, leave a message and we’ll get back to you. If you’re a telemarketer or scammer, you’ve just wasted your time.”
If you have an iPhone you can go to settings, click on phone, and then click on silence unknown callers. This will send all calls directly to your voice mail unless the number is in your contact list in which case it will ring as normal. You will receive a notification on your home screen that you received a silent call but the phone will not ring. I was so happy to learn this.
Use answering machine to landline phone, screen calls, then delete