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I just read about an excellent script to use when one gets a call purporting to be from a financial institution that is, “every time a financial institution calls: “Where are you calling from? Thank you. I’m going to hang up and call back.”
Then go find the institution’s phone number (from a statement, the back of the credit card, or by typing in the URL of the website itself and finding it on the website; you can’t just search for the website because scammers can manipulate search results) and call the institution yourself.
Financial institutions (banks, credit card companies, brokerage houses, Social Security, the IRS, and on and on) will never call you and ask for information.
This is probably good advice for call from utilities as well.
We ditched our landline last year. On our mobiles we use an app from the carrier which helps screen unwanted and malicious calls. I can’t tell you the last time I spoke with a spammer or scammer.
I’m very quick to say, “Can you hold?”, and then simply hang up.
Or just don’t pick up or if you do, hang up and not call back.
Good thoughts, everyone. Chris
I recently noted a meeting invite entry directly on my iPhone calendar. No phone call, email or text received to present it or request it, whatever it was. This was a first. Instant delete.
For phone calls, best not to answer for the reasons presented here by others. Technology has been available for some time now to “learn your voice” to the point that an entity can voice-pose as someone you know on a call, perhaps from a “grandson” that needs $500 right now to get out of a bad situation. Sure sounds like him! Silly as it sounds, we’ve setup a family password phrase as a second check to help assure it’s really who you think it is in your family that’s calling. “The rain in Spain falls…….”, that kind of thing.
It is much quicker, simpler and safer not to answer calls from unknown numbers in the first place.
My phone seems to filter almost all scam calls and texts, but I still ignore calls from numbers not in my address book. If it is a genuine call, the person will leave a message.
Texts are becoming the vehicle of choice for scammers. Again, ignore any text that’s not from a friend or an entity with which you do business – and be wary of the latter.
In iOS there’s a setting to filter messages into separate lists of known and unknown senders. Of course this means regularly creating a contact entry with numbers for new businesses or friends, including ones used for 2FA text codes.
Wouldn’t you make new entries anyway? My memory isn’t good enough to recall the numbers otherwise.
I totally agree and that’s what I do as well. Engaging with a scammer is dangerous since some of the scams have a lot of experience figuring out what works, making them very effective and convincing. I think the best advice is to not give them that opportunity.
In addition to the due diligence you suggest, there is a pretty good tool to thwart the scammers. “Silence Unknown Callers” is an option on I-Phones, and I suppose Androids as well. All of the people and entities important to me are listed in my “contacts”. Any caller not listed is sent straight to voicemail, if the call is legitimate they will leave a message; Scammers rarely do.
As I’ve mentioned before, I do the same on my I-Phone.