Originally published 7/28/2018. Updated 10/11/21.

I want to start this post, How Do Phone Scams Work? Avoid Becoming a Victim, off with a little trivia.

So, here's your question. What costs 1 out of every 3 American adults an average of $502 each, totaling $29.8 billion per year?

The answer is phone scams.

How Do Phone Scams Work? Well Enough to Bilk $29.8 Billion Out of People!

Yep, phone scams cost the United States over $29.8 billion every year. Worldwide, the amount of money lost on phone scams is just crazy. Now, what is worse is that phone scams are on the rise, and phone scammers are attempting to become more sophisticated.

So, in this podcast, which you can listen to above, I’m going to play you the actual phone scam message that was left for me twice in the past few weeks. That will help you educate others on how to spot these scams and avoid becoming a victim.

Now, as I said, I’ve been targeted at least twice in the past several weeks by phone scams. Usually, if you have good situational awareness going on and are alert, you’ll be able to spot a phone scam when the scumbag scammers target you. But it helps when you understand - how do phone scams work?

 

Your Phone Rings - Mr. Phone Fraud is Calling

You look down and wonder, “What’s the unknown number that’s calling me?” Hmmm, you don’t know, but don’t want to miss an urgent call, so you answer. That’s the call I received earlier this week. The fact is phone scams are increasing. Not only are phone scams on the rise, but they’re becoming such a problem tha

t the law enforcement community now issues warnings about them regularly.

So, what’s the answer? No matter how cool it would be, we can’t give up our phones and start communicating telepathically with one another. Maybe we can start using carrier pigeons, or with the new technology, carrier drones?

Then again, maybe it’s just easier to adjust our mindset and learn how to defend ourselves against the criminals who prey on the good nature of others.

The #1 Thing to Do When a Scammer Calls

Relax.

The first thing you need to do is relax. Criminals, in this case, the phone scammers, bank on the fact that nervous people tend not to be as cautious as relaxed people. One of the first things to remember when you're considering "how do phone scams work?" is that they're going to try to make you nervous and add a sense of urgency to their scam.

So, if someone calls you with what at first sounds to be bad news, relax and avoid getting upset and sucked into the scam. Think about it like this: if a stranger called you and politely asked for $500, what are the chances you’d give it to them? That’s why the phone scammers try to make the call sound urgent or an emergency.

An excellent way to shift your mindset to help you relax when answering the phone is to accept that any incoming call could be someone committing phone fraud. With that, the likelihood of a call

 being a scam goes up exponentially if the person on the other end asks you for personally identifiable information, also known as PII.

How Do Phone Scams Work? They Want Personally Identifiable Information (PII)

Often, when asking for your PII, phone scammers will add in that sense of urgency to make you nervous with the hope you’ll give up your information. Also, the person committing phone fraud may ask you to confirm some information that they know, as in when a company representative will ask you to provide the last four of your social security number for security reasons. It’s always good to remember that it’s easy to be manipulated, so you have to pay attention and maintain your situational awareness.

How do phone scams work if you mistakenly give your PII to the scammer? They can use it for things like opening bank accounts, applying for loans and credit cards, renting property, purchasing cars, etc.,