Stay Informed. Stay Alert. Stay Protected.
Phone scams are a common method that fraudsters use to manipulate trust. Through spoofing or impersonation, they try to steal money and private information from people and businesses. In some phone scams, they will pretend to be friendly and help you, while others threaten or try to scare you. It’s important to spot these threats and prevent them from attacking you. Here’s what you need to know.
What is Spoofing?
Spoofing is a common type of phishing scam where a caller disguises their identity and pretends to be a familiar caller like a local number, a company, or a government agency. By following a scam script, criminals will try to steal your money or valuable personal information. This can result from scammers asking for PIN numbers, bank account passwords, ID information, Social Security numbers, credit/debit card numbers, or even pretending to ask for a donation. These are a few tactics they use to attempt to take your money.
Below are some ways to stay vigilant and prevent getting scammed:
- Don’t answer calls from unknown numbers. If you do, hang up immediately.
- If an unfamiliar number messages you with a link, don’t click it. Never click on unfamiliar links in your messages.
- Do not respond to any questions over the phone, especially “yes or no” questions.
- Never share personal information over the phone. This includes (account numbers, Social Security numbers, mother’s maiden names, passwords, etc.).
- Use caution if you are being pressured for information immediately.
- If you have a voicemail account with your phone service, make sure to set a password for it. Some hackers can spoof your home phone number and gain access to your voicemail.
- Talk to your phone company about call blocking tools as well if you aren’t familiar.
Business Spoofing
One of the most common forms of spoofing comes in the form of scammers pretending to be a manager, a business, or a government agency. This can be done through disguised email addresses, sender names, website URL, and, in line with this blog, phone numbers. For example, criminals may call your phone pretending to be your boss or a company you’ve done business with. They count on being able to manipulate you into believing the communication is genuine. This can lead to you sending money, disclosing personal or financial information, or downloading malicious software.
If you receive a suspicious call or message from someone pretending to be a business, you can do the following to protect yourself:
- HANG UP. If you have any suspicion at all, you should end the call. If it is a scammer pretending to be your financial institution, call the number on your account statements or on the bank’s website to confirm and report the spoof.
- Remember that companies will rarely contact you to ask for personal information, like your username or password.
- Do not click on any links in unsolicited emails or text messages.
- Carefully examine phone numbers, email addresses, and URLs before interacting with them.
Takeaways
There are many ways to avoid being a victim of spoofing. One of the most important strategies is to prevent it at the source. Be careful with what information you are sharing online or on social media. By openly sharing personal things about your life like pet names, schools you’ve attended, family members, and birthdays, you could be giving a scammer all the information they need to guess passwords or impersonate a person or business you’re familiar with.
If you do become a victim of spoofing or any other time of scam, do not panic.
