Have you ever answered your phone and instead of a LIVE PERSON you hear a RECORDED MESSAGE? Well… you have been ROBO-CALLED.
Millions of people everyday get scammed by these robo-calls with offerings of lower credit card fees, auto warranties, personal loans, business loans, anything and everything.
Aside from being annoying, these robo-calls can be dangerous to the unsuspecting person receiving the call, and to the owner of the robo-call, it is so unbelievably easy and inexpensive to set up a robo-call that it is well worth the money and the risk to execute a robo-call.
Technology today has made it so easy in fact, that the owner of the robo-call can be located anywhere in the world, making it very difficult for you to track down the owner of the robo-call and sue them for constantly ringing your phone, or worse, try to get your money back after you have been scammed.
There are apps out there that can help prevent robo-calls from ringing your phone, some are free and some you have to pay for, unfortunately, YOU DO NOT KNOW if the ‘FREE’ app is going to misuse your personal information until it is too late, regardless of what their ‘user privacy policy’ or ‘terms of service’ might say.
Apps are created and owned by ‘humans’ and you never know when an app creator may go crooked.
Smart Phones themselves come with certain features built right into the mobile phone that can be programmed to identify unwanted phone calls. This may involve storing ‘unwanted phone numbers’ onto your phone directory.
Unfortunately, this action of storing ‘unwanted phone numbers’ may compromise you mobile phone privacy as the ‘unwanted phone number’ itself may contain trojan features.
Look, the least expensive and most effective method of protecting yourself from being scammed by a robo-call is by simply using common sense.
DO NOT ANSWER A PHONE CALL from a number which you are a not familiar with. If it is someone you might know, and if it is important, that person should leave you a message.
If you do answer a robo-call, DO NOT ANSWER IN THE AFFIRMATIVE by using words like ‘Yes’, ‘Yeah’, or by using your name such as ‘This is (your name here)’.
Some of your personal credit card companies or your personal bank may use ‘voice-activated’ technology systems and your recorded voice saying ‘Yes’, ‘Yeah’, or ‘your name’ may be used to access certain personal information technologies related to you.
DO NOT PRESS ONE (1) to speak to a live operator and DO NOT PRESS ANY NUMBER OR SAY ANYTHING to get your number removed from a list. If you do, then you may be inviting further unwanted calls.
None of today’s technology is no match for your personal common sense.
All technology can potentially be compromised.
YOU are the most effective defense against getting scammed, whether on the phone or face-to-face.
If you believe, know or have experienced an attempt to be scammed, you should definitely report this attempt to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) by calling 1-888-382-1222.
You may also report such an attempt online to the FTC, just make sure that you do not include to much of your own personal information, however, you should include as much information as possible on the alleged scammer.
Copy and Paste the FTC link to your browser:
https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/#crnt&panel1-1