Sometimes a telemarketing scam is blatantly obvious. A
company you have no connection with calls to retrieve a payment for a service,
or a company will ask for money up front to do a service for you. But
sometimes, a scam can seem like the real deal, and you can accidentally give
away important information.
We recently had this problem. After discussions with our
bank, we received a call from an undisclosed location regarding our merchant
account. The individual on the phone claimed to be with our bank. Since we
recently had discussions with the bank, the call did not seem odd initially.
After talking to the individual further, they requested that we fax copies of
our statements to them that we were inquiring about. Immediately we thought it
was strange that an employee of the bank wouldn’t have access to the
statements, so we called our local bank to verify that the call was legitimate.
And it was a good thing we did! Our local bank called the number they gave us
and it turns out that the caller had no connection with the bank whatsoever.
Immediately we told the person we were not interested and to not call us again,
and the issue was resolved.
Unfortunately, things like that happen every day. And even
worse, you might not realize that the call is a scam and you could accidentally
give private information or funds to these scam artists. To avoid a bad
situation, ALWAYS ask where the caller is from and how they received
information about you. Ask for a phone number and call it. If the caller is the
real deal, they will not mind holding while you check the phone number. If the
caller asks for information they should already have or money up front, it is
probably a scam. Contact your local representative of the company if possible,
and double check that the caller is connected with the company. In any case, if
you sense that there is anything odd or strange about the phone call, it is
best to hang up. The FBI website has a
list of common “pick-up lines” that scam callers might try to use on you. (http://www.fbi.gov/scams-safety/fraud/fraud#telmkt)
We recommend reading through the ‘Common Frauds’ section to become educated
about common scams that you could fall victim to.
To avoid falling victim to a scam or identity theft, it is
important that you take your privacy seriously. Don’t give away private
information to anyone that you do not know. Don’t throw away any documents or
receipts that have your personal information on them; this includes your name,
phone number and address. As the old saying goes, ‘Better safe than sorry’.
If you have been involved, or have come close to believing a
scam, comment below and tell us your stories. When did you realize it was a
scam? Did you report the person, or how was the situation handled?
