5 Most Common Phone Scams Exposed
If you have ever fallen victim to a phone call scam, the experience probably left you agitated at the scammers, or even upset at yourself.
Nearly 9 in 10 American receive at least 1 unwanted phone call each month, some of which from scammers, according to a recent survey commissioned by CPR Call Blockers. About 14% of Americans received more than 30 unwanted calls each month.
According to the poll, which surveyed nearly 1,200 Americans, 11% have been victimized by a phone scam. Of those Americans targeted by scammed, 1 in 5 said they lost between $500 and $10,000 as a result.
Here are the 5 most common phone scams:
1. IRS Scams
According to the IRS, about 3,000 Americans have paid an estimated $14 million as a result of fake IRS scams between October 2013 and January 2015. The IRS has been proactive at stopping these scams, warning taxpayers that the IRS will never contact them by phone without a written letter beforehand.
Still, the ire of the IRS is still too much for many Americans to resist, and IRS phone scams remain the most prevalent and successful, with 1 in 3 scammed by a fake IRS call, according to the survey.
2. Credit/Loan Scams
According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), credit and loan scammers will promise advance fee loans, payday loans, or make offers to lower your credit card interest rates and protect your credit card information from scammers. Sure signs that offers of loans are suspicious are a promise of no credit score check, and refusal to disclose information about fees upfront.
3. Lottery/Sweepstakes Scams
You've won! But not really. The 3rd-most common phone scam technique is offers about lottery and sweepstakes winnings including money, jewelry or vacations that aren't actually real. Seniors are a common target for these sweepstakes scams, according to the FTC. Phone calls are a common tactic, but official-looking letters with seals, stamps and identification numbers are another way that scammers grab personal information.
4. Banking Scams
Instead of offering you low interest rate loans or a reduction of your current credit card interest rates, scammers are increasingly going straight for your checking acｃounts or savings acｃounts by pretending to be a representative of your bank.
Scammers posing as ‘technical support' representatives of, for example, Wells Fargo or Bank of America, may say there is a problem with your acｃount and you must allow them access to your computer in order to resolve the issue. They may even try to charge you for ‘technical assistance' after they have successfully uploaded malicious software to your computer.
5. Automated Message Scams
The ultimate ‘robocall,' automated messaging scams threaten that cardholders' debit or credit cards have been frozen. In order to get your personal information and log-in credentials, these robocalls purporting to be from your bank or card issuer are the easiest and cheapest way for scammer to get access to your acｃounts. They are also, fortunately, the least effective. According to the CPR Call Blocker survey, about 16% of consumers say they were the victim of an automated message scam.
The FTC's No-Call Registry is no road-block to scammers. According to the YouGov survey, about 60% of respondents say they've received calls from scammers despite telling them specifically to stop calling.
Article Source: https://get.com/blog/5-most-common-phone-scams/
Image Source: https://get.com/media/uploads/phone-scam-3254793213.jpg
VOCABULARY WORDS:
1. Scam (n.) ~ a dishonest scheme a fraud
2. Ire (n.) ~ anger
3. Tactic (n.) ~ an action or strategy carefully planned to achieve a specific end
4. Malicious (adj.) ~ characterized by malice intending or intended to do harm
5. Purport (v.) ~ appear or claim to be or do something, especially falsely profess
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION:
1. Are phone scams also common in Korea? What kinds of phone scams have you heard of?
2. Have you ever received a scam call or message? What did you do?
3. What do you think is the best way to protect yourself against these scammers?
4. Does your ｃountry have strict law against this kind of crime? What do you think is the best form of punishment for this offense?
