Phone Fraud - How to Protect Yourself

Recent research completed by consumerHow to Spot a Telemarketing Scam
advocacy groups estimates that phone fraudTelemarketing schemes have several things in
affects 92% of American adults and is a thrivingcommon:
$500 billion a year business, generating 148 million
junk calls every single day. Phone fraud is often1. The victim has never heard of the company
broadly referred to as "telemarketing," however,and has no way of checking on its reputation.
although all phone fraud occurs through2. The victim has no way of checking out the
telemarketing calls, not all telemarketing calls leadmerchandise before committing to the sale.
to fraud.3. The product or service is pushed as something
What is Telemarketing?that satisfies the victims needs and can't be
"Telemarketing" is a broad term which describessupplied locally.
both legitimate sales calls from local businesses4. The victim must produce payment up front
who are selling goods and services andwith no provision for a refund. The worst of
(unfortunately) a wide variety of telephone-basedthese schemes employ a non-postal service
schemes intended to separate victims from theircarrier to pick up the victim's money and deliver
money. Unscrupulous telemarketers havethe goods in order to avoid postal service scrutiny
irrevocably hurt the industry for many legitimateand prosecution for fraud.
businesses, as consumers are forced to alwaysScamming the Elderly
be suspicious of fraud.The elderly often fall victim to telemarketing
Types of Telemarketing Scamsschemes, especially when they are in need of
Telemarketers target specific groups such as thecompanionship. In most, if not all, scams against
elderly, the unemployed, immigrants, and peoplethe elderly the same telemarketer will often call
with poor credit and sell them overpriced goodsan elderly person day after day, building a
and services which may (or frequently may not)relationship with the victim, until the victim thinks
be delivered. A few of the most popular scamsof the telemarketer as a friend, not a stranger
include:who is trying to sell them something. And sell
The Call Back Scamthey do, often bilking the elderly out of their
These schemes require victims to call 900 or 976entire life savings.
numbers and pay exorbitant charges in order toThe elderly must be especially careful of a widely
get "secret" or "rare" information that often turnspopular scam for custom fitted motorized beds
out to be valueless. Alternatively, the scam mayand chairs. In this scam the telemarketer assures
start with a caller leaving a vague message aboutthe victim that Medicare will pay for the
being in trouble and needing the victim to call back:equipment or reimburse the victim after they pay
"Hi, it's me, it' been a long time I know, but I'm infor it. This is simply untrue, and many elderly are
big trouble and I really need your help. Call mescammed out of thousands of dollars in these
back at...." The call back scam works becauseschemes. Elderly people in need of medical
many Americans are unfamiliar with telephoneequipment should buy from a reputable local
charge structures and they don't realize they canmedical supply store.
be charged eye-popping telephone fees to scamHow to Protect Yourself from Being Scammed
artists.Protect yourself from telemarketing fraud by
The Charity Scamsimply refusing to engage telemarketers in the
With this telemarketing scam a phony "charity"first place - hang up the phone. Register all of
representative calls saying they're from local policeyour phone number on the national Do Not Call
or fire station or some familiar sounding charityRegistry. Purchase "telemarketing stopper," a
and they ask for a donation over the phone.device that intercepts auto dialers and
When the victim asks for a solicitation in the mailtelemarketers. Do not return calls that tell you
the telemarketer says that the charity can'tvague things like "this is your credit card calling
afford the expense of sending out printedand you must call back" or "this is your bank
material and they begin to pressure the victim tocalling" if it really were your credit card or bank
make a donation with their credit card over thethey'd say the name of the card or bank.
phone.The bottom line: be suspicious. Never buy from a
These scam artists are almost always charismatictelephone solicitor, always be the one to initiate
and engaging, making their victims feelthe call. Never call back a number that is left on
comfortable and even convinced they are whoyour answering machine, always look up numbers
they say by tossing out the names of thefrom your bank, credit card, etc and use the
victims' neighbors or sprinkling the conversationnumber on your statement to make a call to
with local details, etc.your bank or creditors. Never return calls from
You Have Won a Prizepeople you don't know. Never give sensitive
In the "You Have Won a Prize" telemarketinginformation like credit card number, bank account
scam victims are told that they have won a prizeinformation, social security number over the
and all they need to do is pay hundreds of dollarsphone. If telemarketing calls are a problem,
for delivery and taxes on the prize. In reality theespecially for elderly victims, call your phone
"prize" is either worthless (like a $5 watch) or,company and switch to a private unlisted phone
more often, it never materializes.number.