When you really stop to think about how often we communicate these days, it is quite amazing. It is not only the fact that we communicate, as that has been done for thousands of years, but it is the way that we are communicating.
More and more often, we are finding ourselves talking to people by using the Internet. We might chat with them or perhaps we might send them a message on social media.
Although that is true, we still use some of the tried-and-true methods of communicating, and that includes picking up the phone and calling someone. Even that has changed in recent years, however, with the development of the smartphone and the freedom it provides.
Although you have to admit that the telephone is one of the more convenient electronic items that we have, it is also one that can get us in trouble. I’m not talking about thumbing through videos on social media, I’m talking about scams that come through the phone and can take us for everything we have.
More than likely, you have seen your fair share of scams coming to you. It could be something that is offered through your email or perhaps a phone call that is trying to get your personal information.
This particular phone call may be a scam, but it doesn’t seem all that bad at first. It starts off with a simple question, ‘Can you hear me?’
The problem is, when you answer affirmatively to that question, it is being recorded. The phone call will end shortly after and you might not give it much thought, but now that they have a recording of you saying something affirmative, they can use it against you at a later time.
Sometimes, they may use your recorded voice to get you to agree to buy a service or product. They will call back again, pretending as if they are offering something such as a cruise or a free vacation. When they want you to pay for something that you didn’t agree to buy, they will come one with your verbal yes that was recorded earlier.
They then try to pressure you into accepting whatever it is that they are selling. If you don’t, they say that they will take you to court. Some people can’t handle the pressure and end up giving in.
Sometimes, scammers will call automated systems and use your voice to access credit cards or to make purchases. More than likely, they also have information from you from elsewhere.
What can you do to resolve this?
1. Check your accounts – check your credit card and bank accounts on a daily basis to immediately identify any unauthorized transactions.
2. Let it ring – if you don’t recognize the phone number, don’t pick up the phone.
3. Watch what you say – If you are on a phone call and you don’t know who is on the other side, watch how you respond to them. Don’t provide them with any information they could use and be cautious because they know how to get info out of you.
One police officer said that it is not difficult to get roped into this phone scam. She said: “We really want people to hear this. Say, ‘Look, I just heard about this scam on TV’ … and to hang up.”
That’s good advice.
