New scam demands you stay on the phone
The invention of the cell phone/smartphone may go down in history as one of the greatest inventions of all time. While it seems like just an everyday thing to us now, these phones have given us communication availability at all times. However, with almost any tool or invention, there are those looking to take advantage of being able to reach you anywhere you are.
Plenty of scams that find victims today do so over the phone. The majority of these scams will use pressure tactics to try to get you to make some kind of untraceable payment to them. Most of them will ask for payment through either wire transfer services like Moneygram or Western Union or gift cards to big box stores or giant online retailers.
Even if a scammer finds a victim who believes them, there’s a chance that the scam could be detected one they hang up. In the past, store employees, bank tellers, and even police have stopped victims from losing money in these scams.
Now, according to a report from the Detroit Free Press, scammers are increasingly attempting to keep victims on the phone for as long as possible to walk them through every step of the scam.
For example, let’s say that the scammers is posing as a police officer and tells you that you have a warrant out for your arrest. They say that you need to pay a fine or you’ll be arrested. Now, they’ll tell you that if you hang up the phone you’ll be arrested. They’ll then stay on the phone with you as you go to a store or bank to get your money. If the teller or store employee starts asking questions, the scammer will tell you exactly what to say in order to avoid suspicion.
The best way to protect yourself from these kinds of scams is to always keep in mind that no legitimate company or agency is going to ask you for payment in untraceable means like cryptocurrency, gift cards, or money transfer. No police department is going to call you and threaten you with arrest if you don’t pay a fine. Most legitimate transactions like this are done through the mail.
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