Odds are this HAS happened to you.
A call comes through on your phone. The caller ID shows it is coming from the same area code AND the same
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first three digitals as your phone number. Your first though is that it has to be a neighbor or someone in the community calling. Sometimes it is YOUR number calling you!
However, when you pick up it isn’t a neighbor. Far from it. It turns out top be someone selling an exclusive vacation deal – just “Press 1” and you will get a fantastic price! This technique, called neighbor spoofing, uses an automated robocaller that generate a fake caller ID number that will almost match your number. It is an illegal activity to trick you into picking up and respond to their questions in an attempt to giving out or confirm personal information.
A robocall is a pre-recorded automated call, usually for telemarketing purposes. While some robocalls are legitimate (emergency weather alerts), many calls can be predatory or deceptive. In August 2017, the FTC issued a warning to Hurricane Harvey victims about a flood insurance scam in which homeowners were advised that their flood premium was past due. According to the Robocall Index, maintained by YouMail, 2.6 billion robocalls were placed in July 2017 alone! The FTC reports that robocalls are the top complaint received by the agency.
On the Do Not Call list? It doesn’t matter. The scammers are engaging in illegal activity so why would they obey the registry? What can you do? Unfortunately, the scammers will keep calling. But following the first two suggestions below are important in trying to reduce the number of calls.
Don’t Answer
When one sees a number they think is a neighbor the first reaction / behavior is to answer since there may be a problem! However, by simply answering such a call thinking it is a neighbor may subject you to even more calls. There is an underground market for phone numbers for individuals that pick up or respond to questions. Numbers on such lists on are used by robocallers with increased frequency.
Don’t Respond or Confirm
If you do pick up and you can tell it is a robocall, hang up right away. Do not engage the caller and certainly do not respond to any requests to press additional numbers. DON’T PRESS 1. Pressing any number, even if it is responding to their suggestion that doing so will take you off their list, only confirms your number is active and that they reached a live person.
Some people love to engage telemarketers for entertainment, but doing so may actually put you an their “call frequently” list.
Do Block
There is a reason it is called “spoofing.” It prevents you from knowing where the call is really coming from. It may be coming from out of the country! One approach is an block a particular numbers. However, by the time you do that the same scammers have probably moved on to a different number. While it do takes a bit of work and is annoying, you could systematically block callers, even though it will seem like a finger in the dike approach.