A phone scam is a well-plotted and designed deal in which scammers use telecommunication products or services to dupe telecommunication companies and their users so they can illegally rob them of their money.
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Common Types of Phone Scams
Phishing
Phishing occurs when someone impersonates your bank, the government, old friends, a person you may owe money to, or your employer. They use fake websites, e-mails, or phone calls to gain vital personal information. They then use the information to take out loans, access your bank accounts and even shop online. Obtaining the information from you is known as phishing. Once they use the information, it is referred to as identity theft.
Telemarketing Scams
In this method, they pretend to be a telemarketing firm to trick you into giving them your banking details with the pretense of paying you. They instead drain all your money from your account or even max out your credit card.
Prizes And Lottery Scams
With this, they call you and lie to you that you have won a huge amount of money, vacation, or even a car. They will then tell you that in order to claim your prize; you must come up with a small fee. They will then proceed to ask for your credit card information and defraud you of the money you already had in your account.
How To Recognize A Scammer
Various methods and ways elaborate on how to spot a scammer before it is too late. These methods are vital to helping stop scams and help others not to go through this awful ordeal that often lands many people in financial chaos.
- They Create A Sense Of Urgency: Because they are in a hurry and need to obtain the information as fast as possible before you realize it, they will create a big fake sense of urgency to blind you from checking their claims.
- Unexpectedly Contacting You: They always contact you first. If you receive any call, e-mail, or communication, you should always call the business or agency they claim to represent directly.
- Asking For Sensitive Information: They sometimes claim to be from your bank and that your account isn’t secure. It is a well-thought-out scheme to get you to reveal sensitive banking details. Financial institutions never ask for such information from clients. This information is key to helping you stop scams from happening.
- Overpromising On What They Can Deliver: Scammers will always try to use your desire to entangle you on their web. If a deal suddenly becomes too good to be true, there is a high chance you are likely to get scammed.
- Force You To Use Unusual Payment Options: Most of the payment options available online are very secure. If any entity pushes you to use an irreversible or non-traceable option, this is most likely a scam. These payment options include crypto payments, wire transfers, and gift cards.
How Do I Deal With A Phone Scammer?
- The first step is never to answer phone calls from unknown callers. It is how they woo you into falling into their trap.
- Never get into any deals or transactions that deal with wired money transactions. It is because wired money transactions are untraceable. You should only engage in such transactions when you are dealing with a party that you fully trust and that the deal is completely authentic.
- You should never reply to messages in which they are asking for financial or any sensitive personal information. It may be a phone call, e-mail, text message, or whatever form of communication they use; you should never reveal your personal information. Obtaining your information through this method is known as phishing.
- Never fall for the fake lottery scams. It is when they claim that you have won a big prize it may be in terms of money or even physical goods. They always claim all you have to do is pay a small processing fee. It always turns out to be a scam.
These are some of the best ways that elaborate on how to avoid scams. It would help if you remembered a key factor is to remain vigilant while on the web and in your daily activities.
In case you come across a phone scammer and they call you, you should ensure you employ the use of a call recording app. When you record the call, you can use it as evidence in a court of law. There are many call recording apps available for download. In case you are using an iPhone device, Call Recorder iOS applications are available. The main purpose of all these different but similar applications is to record calls. When selecting the application, you should always remember to select one that best suits your device
How Do I Recover From Being Scammed?
- It would be wise if you always began by reporting the scam to the concerned authorities.
- Always notify your bank and credit card issuer and cancel the compromised card.
- Keep documentation of the details that may be helpful to the bank or authorities, so you can make tracking the scammer easier.