“Can You Hear Me?” And 4 Other Phone Call Scams
Written by
Laura Bogart
Edited by
Cory Dudak
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By now, most of us are aware that the “Nigerian Prince” emailing us to ask for our banking information so he can wire us a large sum of money isn’t exactly who he says he is. However, as scammers’ techniques are exposed, they often become sneakier in trying to capture our information.
In fact, if we’ve recently picked up a call from a random number, only to hear someone on the other line ask, “Can you hear me?”, we might have stepped into a new, very common ploy. According to Verify, robocallers and scammers often use yes-or-no questions like “Can you hear me?” to confirm that a phone number is active, and that someone will answer, which unfortunately leads to more robocalls and scam attempts.
While joining the Federal Do Not Call Registry and reporting “Can you hear me?” calls to the FTC can help reduce our exposure to these calls, here are four other phone scams to be aware of.
Spoofing
Some scammers will send an email or text from a source that, at a glance, seems recognizable. But as USAGov cautions us, fraudsters use email addresses or phone numbers that are off by even a single letter or number to lull us into a false sense of familiarity.
USPS Delivery Smishing
These texts can come as messages about failure to deliver packages, complete with links that compel us to enter personal and financial information. Remember, USPS won’t send texts or emails unless a customer has requested the service, and messages will never contain a link. What if we get this message when we’re actually expecting a package? We should visit the USPS website and enter our assigned tracking number.
Amazon Impersonators
These scam artists pretend to be representatives from Amazon, calling about supposedly fraudulent purchases or the need to update a linked credit card. Insurance Fraud: Playing on victims’ anxieties about overdue bills, these scammers will claim that they’re calling on behalf of a company about an outstanding balance for auto insurance, life insurance and health insurance. Sometimes, scammers take a softer approach, claiming to offer discounts, free prescriptions or other services in exchange for personal information like social security numbers.
Charity Scams
Unfortunately, fraudsters often have no shame exploiting our desire to support causes that are important to us, either sending texts or calling us as representatives from various charitable groups. Before we open our hearts, and our wallets, to any charity, we need to do our research: Using resources such as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and contacting the organization directly can help assure us that our donations are going to the right place.
Takeaway
While today’s scammer isn’t generally pretending to be foreign-born royalty in need of a hand, they can still be quite crafty. But armed with the right knowledge, we can keep our information out of their hands.
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