Scam phone calls

Companies almost never make unsolicited phone calls to their customers. So, in theory, it should be easy to avoid being defrauded this way.

Unfortunately, scammers can be well rehearsed in making you believe that their phone call to you is a special case: that on this particular occasion, they really are who they claim to be. They’re good at keeping you talking and gaining your trust, and will make the situation sound urgent so you don’t have time to take a step back and start doubting their authority.

Examples

Some common scams that begin with a phone call include:

Coincidences

Sometimes, a scammer will get lucky by mentioning something that does apply to you. For example:

Number spoofing

Scammers may ‘spoof’ their caller ID to be that of a genuine organisation. The telephone system was not designed to prevent this sort of behaviour, so it’s possible to receive a scam call that shows up as the number of a company you trust.

For example, a scammer pretending to be from your bank might ask you to look on the back of your debit card where, sure enough, you’ll find the same phone number they appear to be calling from.

Summary

Remember: whenever you receive an unsolicited phone call about a problem with one of your devices or accounts, or where the caller asks for private information, you should assume it’s a scam.

In the unlikely event you hang up on a genuine caller, you’ll find out sooner or later via other means. Equally, a genuine caller shouldn’t be offended if you’re initially doubtful and challenge their authenticity, or take steps to verify that what they’re saying is true.