According to the Federal Communication Commission, illegal and spoofed robocalls are one of their top consumer complaints. With that statistic in mind, it should come as no surprise that one of our members recently experienced one of these calls.
Wednesday, March 9th a Homeland Credit Union member phoned in to let our call center representative know that our number had been spoofed and someone was calling to ask for sensitive account information. Thankfully the member called in and a fraud situation was avoided, however, this is not always the case.
Here are five tips to help you stop unwanted robocalls or phone scams.
- Don't answer calls from unknown numbers. If you answer such a call hang up immediately.
- It may be difficult to tell that the call is spoofed right away because in these situations it looks like it's coming from a local number.
- If you answer one of these calls and the caller or recording asks you to press a button, hang up immediately. This is how scammers identify potential targets.
- Never respond to any questions, especially those that could call for a "yes" answer.
- Use caution if you are being pressured for information immediately.
Read a complete list of tips from the Federal Communication Commission.
