Even though the use of mobile phones has a whole lot of benefits, it has as well brought much insecurity in the community. The news about scam calls are all over the world and more so at Utah in the US. The report shows that these calls trend increased to 187 million in 2017 from 158 million that had reported in the previous year, and the number is expected to be more as the year passes.
Most of these scammers target business people and the whole community at large. They take advantages of the less informed people to get their identification and other credentials to go and withdraw their money from various financial institutes. The government has tried their best to get hold of these scammers, but it isn’t an easy task. The callers make use of Utah Fake ID, therefore, making it hard for the government to search for them.
Citizens are however advised on how to protect themselves from the scammer calls through the following ways:
Not answering unknown calls
One way that you can avoid being a victim of IRS callers is by just ignoring any new number calling on your phone. Write and save names of your friends, colleges, and family so that you don’t miss their calls. It might not be the best of the ideas because you can miss an urgent call such as an interview call, but you’ll be sure your safe from scammers.
Know the official numbers
Some of the official emails and phone numbers that you should know are your bank numbers and tax revenue contacts. This will help you detect a scam call that is pretending to be from these institutions.
Hang up if you don’t trust the caller
What would you do if you realize you’re speaking to a con? One thing that would make you doubt your callers are; threats; no genuine customer care caller would dare threaten their customers. On the other hand, scammers will talk very fast and instruct you to answer them very fast or else get no help from them at all. If by any chance you encounter such as caller and mistrust them, hang up your phone immediately. No matter how courageous you might feel you want to talk and identify them, you may end up sharing with them more information about you than you should.
Know what you should not share over the phone
Another way to avoid scammers is by knowing exactly what information your tax revenue would ask you over the call or via a message. For example, no bank should demand to know your Personal Identification Number (PIN) one on one, leave alone over a phone call or a message. So see what you can share and what is meant only for you.
Other than the above caution, the same technology can help you to get out of trouble with these robocalls. If you own a smart device, you can download apps such as Rob killer and Hiya not to receive any of these callers. Some devices also identify spam calls, and you can as well put your phone in silent mode to avoid receiving any calls and be safe.
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AFP
