Phone scammer: how to identify and where to contact

Phone calls are one of the most popular tools for a scammer who seeks to take over your personal data. 

Which numbers are best not to answer calls?

The activity of phone scammers in world is such that it would be a safe option not to answer calls from unknown numbers at all (unless this is specific to your work), since the likelihood that this is a scammer or spam is very high.

If you don’t cause harm by the very fact of answering the call (the story that supposedly you can’t answer with the word “yes” because they will steal a voice sample and then confirm the money transfer is just a horror story), then what you really shouldn’t do, so it is to call your banking data - CVC codes and codes from SMS. No bank will ask them.

Fraudsters can change the number

Fraudsters using special IP telephony services can substitute a number that will look like your bank number. In order not to fall for the bait, there is only one recommendation: at the slightest suspicion, interrupt the conversation and call back on your own at the number indicated on the back of the card.

It is also not recommended to call back to unfamiliar numbers, especially to short and starting with numbers for paid services. You can be charged for this, and if you end up a victim of a scam, the fact that you called first will not be in your favor.

Fraudsters can encourage them to call back by immediately dropping the call after the call so that the victim does not have time to answer.

How to check if this number is being used by scammers?

In most cases, caller ID apps (including their available free options) are successful at flagging a call as suspicious. The base of the determinant is replenished due to user feedback. Fraudsters call a huge number of people, and, as a rule, the number they use is quickly marked as malicious. In addition to scammers, determinants well identify sociological surveys, spam, telemarketing of banks.

If you give the identifier access to your contacts, you need to choose only well-known and proven services that you trust, with good reviews and high ratings.

Called by a scammer? Contact the police.

Even if you did not succumb to the tricks of a fraudster, his actions are still a crime. Where to contact if you received a call from an intruder? If it so happened that you became a victim of such a call or revealed the intent of the caller at the stage of the conversation, write a statement to the police.