According to researchers at First Orion, the percentage of phone calls in the United States estimated to be scam calls will increase from 29.2% in 2018 to 44.6% in 2019. This means when you get a call from an unknown number it’s highly likely to be a scam.
While it may seem easy to spot a phone scam in under three words, researchers at Truecaller found that one in every ten Americans fell for a phone scam in 2018, averaging $356 in losses per person. That’s $8.9 billion in just one year. They also found that those without college education are LESS LIKELY to fall for a phone scam while parents with children under the age of 18 are MORE LIKELY to be duped. This is a lot of people and a lot of money.
Here’s what you need to know about phone scams to protect yourself in 2019:
Free vacation scams are on the rise faster than any other phone scam. If an unknown number calls you announcing you’ve won a free vacation or have the opportunity to get a free vacation, just hang up. It’s a scam.
The second-fasted expanding phone scam warns marks who answer the phone offers urgent help, urgent news, or urgent action regarding your credit card debt. Again, if you get an unknown and unexpected call regarding your credit card debt, just hang up.
Phone phishing scams are similar to email scams in that the goal is to trick you into divulging PINs, credit and debit card information, bank account information, and other personal financial and identifying information. Banks will never ask for your PIN and the IRS will not call you. Scam calls will even use local area codes and prefixes to lure marks into a false sense of security.
If you aren’t sure whether or not the call is legitimate, hang up and call the organization back on their legitimate phone-line to verify the call.