Avoid losing your identify to cell phone scammers
Lately, I’ve been receiving a bunch of phonecalls on my cellphone that are completely unrecognizable when I look at the number. All of which have had Unknown ID for their caller ID title. With the help of the following two websites:
I was able to determine that these folks are scammers. Just trying to trick you into giving your personal info. to them in the hopes they can rob you blind. Most of the numbers are disconnected in a few days so there’s no way to know where they’re really calling from. What’s even more disturbing is that everyone can do this. It’s called Caller ID spoofing. You can pay for an ID spoofing card which will mask your phone number and display and name and number you want onto a person’s caller ID. Most companies have a section of their website dedicated to their practices and say that they’ll never call and ask for personal information over the phone. Take a look at your credit card, bank, cell phone, and basically any other business that you deal with regularly to see what their policies are. Most offer numbers to call if you’ve been contacted by someone that is mis-representing themselves.
What should you do if you get one of these calls? First, start by asking questions - things like the person’s name, phone number to call back, etc. Some scammers will immediately hangup when you start asking questions. Next is to use one of the website listed above to test both the number that the rep. gave you and the one that’s on the caller ID, if they don’t match. Now it’s time to give the company a call. Call their hotline and report the number. This will allow them to track the number and help others from getting scammed. If you have given out information, you’ll be able to ask them what steps need to be taken so that the information does not get used. You can also sign up to get monthly credit reports and credit watches. With all of the calls I’ve been getting recently, this is definitely something I’m going to do. It’s worth the money to keep my identity.