The spam telemarketing calls these days are really irritating me. I had eight of them yesterday. There’s nothing you can do because they use a hijacked, “dead” number, and run a recording. If you trace the number, or call back the number has been disconnected — if you stay, and click to talk to a representative, they gather your personal data from your smart phone, then hang up. The FCC says that 50% of the calls you will receive on your smartphone this year will be spam and scam calls.
What can you do? Do not pick up, do not answer. Just hang up.
Nearly 31 billion robocalls were placed in the U.S. in 2017, up from the previous record of 29.3 billion in 2016, according to a report by YouMail, a call manager and call blocking service. More than 25% were scammers!
If you receive a call purporting to be from a company that you actually do business with asking for any type of personal information, hang up! And if you’re not certain if the call is legit, call back the company and double check the request. Taking the time to do this one thing just might save you hundreds, if not thousands of dollars. You can block the numbers if you have no plans for the rest of your life — there are billions of numbers.
Alan Friedman, who has been writing about phones, tablets and other mobile devices for PhoneArena since 2008, gives us a shake . . .
Earlier today, we got a phone call that came from a “Restricted” number. When we picked it up, a robotic sounding voice said “This is Verizon Wireless calling. Your account has been suspended.” The rest of the call explained how we could have the suspension lifted if we pressed “1” and gave some of our personal information to the rep on the phone. Immediately, we knew we were getting a “voice phishing” call, so we hung up. But what if you were unfamiliar with the concept of phishing?
I recommend you study this article, and make a note to heed the warning. I’m shocked nobody has come up with an app yet, but they should.
Voice Phishing will cost you hundreds or even thousands of dollars — do not answer!
… please let me know if you know any tricks that can help avoid these criminals! And, thanks for reading . . .