Ever received a weird call from an unknown number, a stranger, or at an odd hour? There are many sides to telephone scams — and if you’re not careful, you could end up losing lots of money. Criminals are becoming increasingly inventive in getting their hands on their victims’ money or sensitive data. Read on to learn about the different types of telephone scam and how you can defend yourself. Also discover how to use Avira Free Security to boost your privacy protection when surfing the internet.
What exactly is a telephone scam?
Telephone scams are very common, and they’re one of the world’s most popular types of scam. They involve criminals deceiving gullible people over the telephone where they pretend to be a specific person or organization to gain their potential victims’ trust. These scammers often claim to be employees of a bank, network operator, police, or a well-known brand. The scam falls under the umbrella of social engineering where perpetrators manipulate their victims into giving access to their accounts or sensitive data.
The overarching goals of telephone scams are primarily to obtain money and, in some cases, target someone to steal their identity (known as identity theft). The perpetrators claim that the victim is in payment arrears, technical difficulties, or there are security risks that need to be addressed immediately — playing on the fear that something bad will happen if you don’t take action right there and then. Traditional telephone scams are often particularly successful among older, less technically minded people.
The problem is that the true danger only arises if the victim acts on what the scammer tells them to do.
Who are the callers involved in telephone scams?
Telephone scams often involve foreign numbers run by call center operations in countries such as America, China, India, Turkey, Nigeria, or Pakistan. These fake or scam calls have been an annoying problem for many decades. They’ve also benefited from technological advances and are becoming increasingly dangerous.
One particular type of telephone scam involves robocalls
Robocalls are automated calls that use a pre-recorded voice. They’re not made by an actual person but by a computer. These programs call random phone numbers without following any real system. Most calls go unanswered or are unsuccessful — but there are always victims who fall for this scam.
This form of telephone scam works like a charm for criminals because no human intervention is required and everything runs around the clock and is fully automated.
What are the main telephone scams?
Hardly any other scam has as many sides to it as telephone fraud. Here’s a list of the most common conversation starters scammers use to deceive their victims on the phone.
Tech support scam
This is a classic among telephone scams, where telephone scammers disguise themselves as employees of big tech companies like Microsoft or Apple. The conversation begins with “Are you having problems with your computer?” accompanied by the offer of assistance. Remember that no one is monitoring your computer for any problems or malware. Such calls are therefore definitely scams.
What you can do: If you’re asked whether you have problems with your computer, you can safely answer “no” and hang up. Never give strangers access to your computer and never share sensitive data.
Call for donations
Scammers are becoming more and more creative at tricking potential victims. Cybercriminals don’t even stop at fictitious calls asking for donations, where they try to get your money through non-existent donation campaigns and by tugging at your heart strings.
What you can do: If in doubt, ask for further information and the website address. Alternatively, you can hang up immediately and — if the issue is important to you — check online yourself whether this fundraising campaign really exists or whether it’s a telephone scam.
Babysitter scam
With the babysitting scam, the victims are not the parents but the babysitters who offer to do the work. Scammers post their ad online and wait for a potential victim to come forward. As soon as a babysitter registers for the job, the scammers first request a money transfer via a telephone scam. They say it’s to buy essential equipment and other items for the job. Once the scammers have received the money, they never contact you again. As strange as this scam sounds, sadly it still works.
What you can do: Never respond to such requests. No family will ask you to give money to buy supplies. Just think of it: If a family doesn’t have money for such items, how will they be able to pay for a babysitter?
“Can you hear me?” phone scam
One really dangerous type of telephone scam is a call that begins directly with the question “Can you hear me?” Many people’s automatic response is to answer “Yes!” — and that’s exactly what the scammers want. The scam: By recording you saying “yes”, it is alleged that you agreed to a payment, purchase, or subscription — even if this is not the case.
What you can do: If you did say “yes” on the phone, don’t worry. You haven’t taken out a valid contract solely because you consented to it verbally. If you do receive a document in the coming days, you can reply to the sender and tell them that you haven’t taken out a contract and that you were duped into giving your alleged confirmation. In general: Never answer calls from unknown numbers and never answer yes/no questions from unknown callers.
Fake surveys
This scam involves random surveys, where you’re asked on the phone if you’re satisfied with a product or service. The scammers often lure you with vouchers as compensation for taking part — or even pay you for your time. All you need to do to receive the money is give your account details. They’re also needed so your bank can be compared with others to find potentially better alternatives.
What you can do: Hang up immediately — especially if it’s a survey about something you’ve never had anything to do with before. In general, always refrain from sharing sensitive and personal data over the phone.
“The lucky winner” phone scam
Just like fake surveys, you get a call telling you that you’ve won a competition. The caller just needs your account details for the winnings to be transferred to you. In rare cases, the scammers pretend to be the tax office and ask you to pay taxes on your new million-dollar winnings.
What you can do: If a call sounds too good to be true, it probably isn’t. What’s more, you won’t win any competitions you haven’t entered. It also makes no sense for you to pay taxes on any sums of money that haven’t even reached your account. It’s best to hang up straight away.
Banks, police, and other government agencies
Telephone scams in the name of official bodies and authorities are particularly dangerous because they seem quite plausible. Here, scammers often have some background information on you, which automatically makes the call seem legitimate. Often only one final detail is needed, which the victims readily provide. Classic examples include a bank that has all the information about your credit card except for the security number to verify it.
What you can do: The same applies here too: Never share confidential information over the phone — even if you received the call from someone claiming to be a police officer or bank employee. If in doubt or unsure, simply hang up and call the official customer service number or hotline. In doing so, you can be sure that you’re connected to an actual representative and that the call you received was genuine.
PayPal scams
With this scam, fraudsters pose as PayPal employees. As a conversation starter, you’re told you’ve sent a payment to a potentially fraudulent recipient. To cancel the transaction, you should press a number (often 1). What follows is a telephone conversation with an actual person or a computer voice. The goal is to get your PayPal login details.
What you can do: If you receive such calls, hang up immediately and contact PayPal using the official customer service numbers. Alternatively, log in to your PayPal account and check whether there are any pending transactions you didn’t make.
Grandchild scam
The grandchild scam is essentially a form of catfishing. This involves people (usually on social media) pretending to be someone else in the hope to gain something in doing so.
The scam in this case: The perpetrators pretend to be the grandchild of the person called. For this telephone scam to work, older people are preferred as they are less tech-savvy and often more susceptible to such scams. The scammer pretends to be a grandchild and asks the grandparents for money to get out of a sticky situation. It’s not uncommon for the telephone conversation to include background noise or voice distorters so that potential victims don’t immediately spot the scam.
What you can do: This scam only works if you have grandchildren in the first place. If you actually do, ask for further personal details. This way, you can quickly get to the bottom of whether the call is really legitimate. Alternatively, simply hang up and call your grandchild yourself.
Single-ring scam
One of the most common and most efficient forms of telephone fraud is the single-ring scam. Scammers don’t even have to go through the hassle of any role playing as the calls are fully automated. The scam: Random number combinations are called. Often there are no real phone numbers behind them — but if the number does exist, the phone rings briefly. So short in fact that the victim cannot answer and so calls the number back. This is exactly where the danger lies: The moment you call the number back, you confirm the authenticity of your number. It’s also a confirmation that you’d actually call back if you received such scam calls. This automated scam provides fraudsters with valuable information that they can use for future dastardly deeds.
What you can do: If you don’t recognize a number or caller, never call back.
The fake kidnapping
In the case of a fake kidnapping, you are told over the phone that someone close to you has been kidnapped. You may even hear commotion and screaming in the background, making the situation seem even more threatening and believable. With this scam, the fraudsters ask you to stay on the line to extract as much information and data as possible from you in this frightening situation.
What you can do: Even if it’s difficult: Stay calm. With a real kidnapping, the perpetrators would hang up as quickly as possible so as not to reveal their location. This makes it very unrealistic to expect you to stay on the phone for ages. It’s best to just get in touch directly with the supposed hostage by text or WhatsApp to see if they’ve indeed been kidnapped. If the people who claim to have kidnapped someone cannot provide specific details about the victim, it’s most likely just a hoax.
Cryptocurrency scam
The cryptocurrency scam is fundamentally about getting money from potential victims. The scammers often pose as lovers, legitimate companies, or even the government and demand secure money using a cryptocurrency. The approach with this scam is the same as others — but with cryptocurrencies, it’s impossible to get your money back. As soon as you make the transfer, you can wave goodbye to your money forever.
What you can do: Never send money to unknown people — especially not in the form of cryptocurrencies.
How do I protect myself from telephone scams?
Telephone scams are not only extremely annoying but also very dangerous. Cybercriminals employ an arsenal of tricks, and they’re extremely creative. So what can you do and how do you get the problem under control?
How can you stop a telephone scam?
Basically: Telephone scams cannot be stopped or eliminated. However, you can take some steps and follow our tips to protect yourself.
- Never answer unknown calls: Someone trying to call you from an unknown number? It’s best not to answer the phone if you’re not expecting a call. If you are expecting a call and the number seems legitimate at first glance, answer the phone with caution. Never answer any questions with “Yes!” unless you can be sure that the caller is legitimate.
- Block numbers: Do you often receive scam calls from a fake cell phone number? Block these numbers right away. Although this won’t protect you from telephone scams in the long term, especially since cybercriminals are constantly generating new numbers, at least no one will bother you from this number in the future.
- Never share sensitive data: No matter how serious a call seems: Never share personal, sensitive information over the phone — especially not when someone calls you.
- Verify calls: If you’re called from a familiar company or service provider but the conversation seems odd to you, hang up. Following that, simply call the official customer service number or hotline. This will help you determine whether the call was legitimate or an attempted telephone scam. The same applies when telephone scammers pretend to be close relatives.
- Apps to tackle telephone scams: Numerous apps are available that use denylist databases to directly block any phone numbers they recognize. But before installing, verify that this app is reputable and trustworthy.
- Be careful with your phone number: Never go plastering your telephone number all over the internet. Not every website and every service necessarily requires your telephone number. Your private number definitely has no place in public forums.
- Change your phone number: Do you often receive unwanted scam calls? Then you should consider changing your phone number. Use this fresh start as an opportunity to be more careful about how you share your number in future.
- By the way: Depending on the country in which you live, there are different ways to report scam calls. In the US, you can tell the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov; in Germany, you can report them to the Federal Network Agency, the Bundesnetzagentur. In each case, you simply fill out a form on the website.
How effective is caller ID against telephone scams?
With the help of what is known as caller ID, the caller’s name and number are displayed on your device when they call you. This service is convenient — but it also has its drawbacks. With VoIP, both the number and the name that are displayed can be spoofed. This improves the scammers’ chances of deceiving their victims. The deliberate manipulation of caller ID is a popular spoofing technique.
One potential solution could be to have caller IDs authenticated by an official body. This way, you can be a little more certain that the name shown on the display actually belongs to the caller.
Surf the internet more safely with Avira Free Security
Privacy is an extremely important asset. To protect yourself from telephone scams, be cautious when sharing your phone number. You should also protect yourself from the numerous dangers lurking on the internet so that cybercriminals don’t gain access to your sensitive data via manipulated links, emails, and websites.
With Avira Free Security, you can surf the internet more safely. The all-in-one solution protects you, your data, and all your devices on the network in real time. With the integrated VPN, you can also conceal your activities on the World Wide Web and surf more anonymously.