Unfortunately, phone scams are becoming more and more common. Although most people think they would never fall for these scams, the tactics used by scammers are becoming increasingly clever, which has led to some people losing lots of money or even their entire life savings. Anyone could become a victim of these scammers, so to protect yourself and your financial security, here are five common signs of phone scams you need to watch out for.
Calls from other countries
If you’re not expecting a call from someone overseas, then you should never answer a call from another country. This is because there’s a popular phone scam originating in Japan called Wangiri, which means ‘one ring and cut’. In this scam, you’ll receive multiple calls from an unknown international number where each call cuts off after one ring. The idea is that you’ll become curious and return the call, but this is where you can lose a lot of money. Your call will be routed to an expensive premium rate number that charges high fees every minute. So, if you’re looking at your recent calls and you’re wondering ‘who called me from the uk?’, be aware that this could be a scam.
Scare tactics
Phone scammers commonly use scare tactics to make victims do what they want. For example, a scammer might pretend to be from your bank and claim that your account has been hacked, or they might pretend to be a law enforcement agent and claim you’re going to be arrested if you don’t take a certain action. It’s important to stay calm and think rationally – these organizations wouldn’t discuss these matters with you in this way over the phone.
False sense of urgency
In addition to making you feel scared, scammers will also try to get you to take immediate action. Since they’ve already created a sense of threat, you’ll be more likely to do as they ask, which means they could get access to your personal information. If they push you to do something immediately, this also means you don’t have time to think properly. Remember that legitimate organizations won’t use these tactics, so this is a definite sign of a scam.
Fake prizes
On the other hand, some scammers will try a different approach and claim that you’ve won an amazing prize. However, they’ll then ask for personal information in order for you to collect your winnings. This is an example of a classic fake prize scam – if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
Asking for sensitive information
Finally, you should always be wary if someone asks for personal or sensitive information over the phone. Once a scammer has threatened you or offered you a prize, they’ll then try to get the information they need to steal your money. Never give out this information over the phone if you want to protect your finances, and never let someone remotely access your computer.
With phone scams on the rise, you need to protect yourself by learning how to spot them. Remember to always block phone numbers from known scammers to avoid encountering them again in the future.
