What To Do If You Said Yes To A Phone Scammer?
Phone scammers have become increasingly cunning as they use a strategy in which they deceive or attempt to persuade you to answer the call. That “yes” could signal the start of fraud. We will delve more deeply into the details of the whole scam and discuss how to avoid falling victim to it.
Wondering how this fraud operates? For more information, see this article! To convince you to take the phone, scammers frequently dial local area numbers. Once they've given you permission to call them back, so you've greeted them, they'll ask, “Can you hear me?” hoping to get a “yes.” Unbeknownst to the same callers, the con artist is secretly recording you responding “yes” in order to use it in future fraud attempts.
They utilize the “yes” tape to authorize fraudulent activity on credit cards, phone bills, and utility bills. How is this possible? So, if they videotape you responding “yes,” does that mean they have your verbal consent to proceed with something? Those who already know your phone number, maybe your name, or other details, allowing them to go through a few locations as though you were requesting extra charges or other things. The process is as follows:
You get one call from someone asking, “Is this___?” in an attempt to get you to respond, “yes.” Also, “Can you hear me?” Once you answer “yes,” their con artist records your speech and utilizes the tape to pass itself off as you when executing their schemes.
Some Tips On How To Stay Clear Of This Trick
- Avoid being fooled by the use of local numbers and numbers that look like they are being local by fraudsters; pay special attention to the phone numbers. It is recommended to ignore calls from unknown numbers as well as let them go to voicemail. The best approach to avoiding this is to simply not take calls from numbers you do not recognize.
- Hang up—acceptable it's to do so if you have suspicions. Be wary of this scammer trick if a caller asks you to press a button and cease receiving calls because it's frequently a recorded one.
- In case anyone becomes a victim of fraud like this, go over your bills and records carefully. If you notice any strange charges, look into them further to verify whether they were real or fraudulent.
- If you will be using a blocking company, if your mobile company offers a robocall screening service, sign up for it! In case they don't have one, suggest they get one. Another option is the RoboKiller app. There are numerous additional apps available that you can utilize to prevent fraudulent numbers.
- Register the phone number with the National Do Not Call Registry to avoid telemarketing calls. You may do this for free with either a home or mobile phone.
- Appeal to the FCC: When you accept a call that turns out to be a scammer call, check thenumber and paste it into a complaint to the FCC. To receive the FCC customer advisory on the scam, go to this link.
How To Report Phone Scams
Gordon advises you to submit a complaint at ReportFraud.ftc.gov only with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) whenever you get a call that looks like phone fraud. Share both the number displayed on the caller ID and any additional numbers you are given when instructed to contact someone back. Gordon claims that the FTC analyzes such information to track down, identify, and prevent illegal callers. In addition, avoiding getting robocalls and spam calls from the beginning can also be achieved by understanding how to do so permanently.
Look through the credit reports again to search for any unusual expenses as a result. The earlier a problem is identified, the simpler it will be to fix and stop what are genuinely unauthorized charges.
We're already being advised to hang over an obtrusive call that asks “Can you hear me?” or asks a similar question hoping to garner a “Yes” response, similar to how we're instructed to hit erase when we receive junk mail that instructs us to follow a link.
Even if ideal, don't answer the telephone at all to offer con artists more reason to believe that a real person is on the other end of the line.