Telemarketing and Phone Scams
Beware: The latest senior telemarketing/phone scam involves someone from Microsoft, Windows, etc. calling with an urgent request to rescue your computer from a virus which threatens not only your files but the whole system. The scammer threatens the senior with immediate disconnection if he refuses. Hang up.
Here are some warning signs of telemarketing fraud—what a caller may tell you:
-
“You must act ‘now’ or the offer won’t be good.”
-
“You’ve won a ‘free’ gift, vacation, or prize.” But you have to pay for “postage and handling” or other charges.
-
“You must send money, give a credit card or bank account number, or have a check picked up by courier.” You may hear this before you have had a chance to consider the offer carefully.
-
“You don’t need to check out the company with anyone.” The callers say you do not need to speak to anyone including your family, lawyer, accountant, local Better Business Bureau, or consumer protection agency.
-
“You don’t need any written information about the company or their references.”
-
“You can’t afford to miss this ‘high-profit, no-risk’ offer.”
If you hear these or similar “lines” from a telephone salesperson, just say “no thank you” and hang up the telephone. Source: ww.fbi.gov
Watch Out "Michael Raanan, former IRS agent says senior citizens are receiving phone calls from scammers who purport to be IRS agents. They claim to be calling about unpaid back taxes and proceed to threaten the senior citizen with arrest, lawsuits, suspension of their driver’s license and more.
'This is the biggest phone scam the IRS has ever seen and has already netted over $5 million after hitting all 50 states and now Canada,' Raanan says." Source www. bankrate.com
Solution
If the offer sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Legitimate offers will not be high pressure. Do not agree to anything to send money, such as shipping fees or prepaid taxes; if it is free, then you do not owe the sender a dime.