In today's world, phone scams are quite popular. Phone calls are made from unknown numbers, or messages with malicious links are sent, which are hard to get rid of. Anyone can become a victim of such a plan, especially someone not attentive to the details of a conversation who has never encountered such «scams».
Most transactions today are tied to phone numbers:
- Internet payments, utility bills,
- bonus cards in various stores,
- banking transactions.
A phone number is required everywhere.
Often, having obtained a database of phone numbers, scammers start calling and looking for a potential victim. They usually pose as employees of banks, stores, pharmacies, credit organizations and offer services that require you to enter your bank details or disclose passwords, logins, and e-wallet addresses.
How they scam over the phone
Using a method of fraud like phishing, criminals often make phone calls, prompting the victim to act quickly, and may also pretend to be bank employees.
They most often use methods like:
- phone messages about bank deductions,
- requests for forwarding a confirmation code,
- calls from police stations asking for help,
- calls with hang-ups, forcing the victim to call back,
- calls from the bank's security service,
- mailings with various promotions and bonus programs.
These methods have a common name - social engineering, which is now widely used on the internet and phones.
Becoming a victim of one of these methods, you should remain calm and not fall for all the offers. It is necessary to think over the situation or consult knowledgeable people.
Phone Frauds
Another no less dangerous way of fraud is SIM card swapping. In this case, scammers try to steal a phone number. With an SMS confirmation, they attempt to connect to banking and steal and withdraw as much money as possible from the account. It happens this way. The scammer contacts the necessary mobile operator, stating that the blocked or lost SIM card needs to be restored. To do this, you must name the phone numbers recently called from the lost number. The next step is that, having obtained information, the scammers withdraw funds in online banking. Such schemes often work with prepaid tariff plans, with contract tariff plan holders this does not always work.
Protection from Phone Scammers
To avoid becoming a victim of phone scammers, you should remember a few rules:
- do not take everything said over the phone literally;
- always be cautious, do not make rash and quick actions, especially when rushed;
- ignore all the information provided, hang up, and think it over thoroughly, they can always call back;
- remember that neither police officers nor bank employees ever conduct serious conversations over the phone, such actions require personal presence;
- check phone numbers by referring to resources where you can find information;
- always be on guard when calls occur during non-working hours, whether it is the police, banks, or the prosecutor's office.
Vigilance and attention to details are the first and main ways to protect yourself from phone scammers.
How not to fall victim to a scammer's call
There are several life hacks that will help avoid scammers:
- do not trust everyone who calls from the bank;
- do not engage in long conversations with scammers;
- avoid saying phrases like «No» «Yes»;
- the conversation should not last more than 5 minutes;
- be polite but attentive;
- do not react to phrases with threats;
- be careful when disclosing your personal data, especially banking secrets (bank card number, its expiration date, the three-digit code on the back);
- avoid messages about codes or passwords to confirm actions in online banking.
Fraudulent Calls
In today's world, almost everyone has a mobile phone, so scammers have become active in the field of phone calls. Often, scammers buy or steal subscriber databases. By calling through the database, they find a victim who may respond. Fraudulent calls are aimed at collecting information about the victim, their personal data, relatives, and funds that can be stolen. The main feature of such scammer schemes is to intimidate the victim, extract as much information or money as possible, which is the scammer's main source of income.