According to Comparitech, scam calls are rising year-on-year with a 118% increase from 2020 to 2021. In 2020, the UK was considered the most spammed country, with 59% fraudulent calls and 48% sales calls. This data is startling as phone scams are on the rise due to advancements in technology, as it gives ample ammunition to scammers to exploit different features of the device and use it for their benefit.
Marketing and fraud calls are widespread; some people also report ‘my own number called me’! In this scenario, it is obvious to feel threatened and get confused about whether it is a scam or just an error.
Let’s find out more about this!
Table of Contents
Why Do You Get These Calls?
If you’ve ever received a missed call from your own number and you’re clueless, why is it so? Here’s the deal! The honest answer is that the spammers are ‘spoofing’ you by using your number to take out important information like your social security number, bank account number, or more instead of stealing sensitive details.
| Yorkshire is the most targeted British location for spam calls is with 66% cold calls.
Scammers usually spoof your phone numbers using computer programs and imitate the local area code or the entire number and call you. Out of curiosity, many people pick up the call, reveal credit card details, and get robbed by these scammers.
To steal money or essential information, scammers plan medical alert device scams, credit card scams, social security number scams, and many more.
What Can Happen If You Become the Victim of Such Calls?
The motive of the spam calls is to trick the recipients into stealing money or significant information that can be of great use. If someone falls into the trap, there is a chance of losing a huge sum of money or even identity theft.
Threat of Identity Theft
When you see that my own number called me, you might pick up the call out of curiosity. In this scenario, the spammer may pose as a government official or might ask you about your Medicare number, credit card details, or Social Security Number (SSN), which can be misused and put you at risk of identity theft.
Risk of Higher Phone Bills
If you get a lot of spam calls, you might have to pay a hefty amount of phone bills, as some mobile network companies also charge for incoming calls. Some scammers also lead to ‘mobile cramming’, which results in additional charges to your phone bills; this includes service fees, voicemail, and miscellaneous charges that may burn a hole in your pocket!
Money Matters!
Once these scammers get your sensitive information like credit card details, account details, passwords, and other security questions, they will most likely try to steal money from your bank accounts. Hence, this scam is a threat to your hard-earned money!
Possibility of Tech Support Scam
Many scammers pretend to be technicians from top tech companies like Apple, Microsoft, etc., and inform you that your system has a technical problem that needs to be repaired remotely. For this, they will tell you to perform a diagnostic test and ask for payment in return for fake gift cards, which may cause some severe damage in terms of money and safety!
Safety Threat of Online Account
As most of your personal accounts are on your phone, spammers often use different phishing techniques and rob your money by making big purchases using your online accounts. This can cause you a lot of trouble as the login credentials of all accounts are already there on your mobile.
Spammers May Record Your Voice and Misuse It
When you pick up a spam call and answer, their system records your voice and misuses it later to make changes in your bank accounts, change passwords, or scam your friends and family members. This can be severely dangerous as they may cost you monetary damage.
What To Do If You Receive Such Calls?
Now that you’ve understood the severity of the situation, it is understood that you don’t have to give in to the details if you ever receive a phone call; however, some other simple ways will save you from a big fraud. Here are some of our suggestions-
Don’t Answer/ Hang Up the Call
The sensible thing to do in this situation is to avoid such calls; if you do, hang up as soon as you realize it’s a spam call. Try not to say anything so that they can’t record your voice. For this, you can use third-party apps to help you detect an unknown number of spam callers.
Block The Numbers/ Join Do Not Call List
Once spammers know your number, they will try to call you from different numbers; try to join a do not call list and block some unknown numbers that you think are fraud and spammers.
Never Give Personal Information
It is important to be mindful while talking to someone calling from an unknown number. Even if they ask for personal details like credit card numbers or bank details, don’t mention any sensitive information there and then tell them to get back to them after confirming with your bank and concerned authority.
How to Report?
If you receive too many nuisance calls or have had an encounter with a spammer and would like to take a counter action, here’s what you can do –
Protect Your Online Accounts
Secure your accounts by protecting your passwords and enhancing your two-factor authentication. When you realize that you’ve been scammed, it is important to contact concerned authorities and protect your online accounts immediately.
Freeze Your Credit Card
You can contact your bank and immediately freeze your credit card so that spammers cannot misuse it. By taking this action, you can create a barrier and prepare a safety net so that even if spammers have your data, they cannot harm you in any way.
Report to The Legal Authorities
You can contact legal authorities in case of any mishap so that any situation can be solved in the right way at the right time. You can explain everything to the customer executive and resolve your issues there and then.
Conclusion
Phone scams are highly prevalent across the globe. There are different types of errors and scams, but when you see my own number called me, it’s time to be watchful. With advanced technology, scammers use different ways to fool people and commit fraud related to credit cards, online shopping, and other thefts.
In this scenario, there is a threat to identity, risk of higher phone bills, loss of money, and chances of tech support scams. However, if you fall into the trap of scams, you should immediately contact legal authorities for further investigation.
Apart from this, it is important to be vigilant and try to ignore all the spam calls. You can also protect your online accounts, freeze your credit cards, and use third-party apps to detect these spammers. As technology evolves, so are different techniques to fraud people, so it is important to be aware of all these scams and be alert as soon as you realize that there could be a problem. If anything happens, immediately contact the concerned legal authorities concerned.
FAQs
Can someone fake a real phone number?
Faking a real phone number is similar to spoofing, wherein scammers use the caller ID, displayed on the screen. Scammers use different techniques to steal money or sensitive information, like Social Security Number or credit card details and later misuse it to steal money and other malpractices.
Did my phone number get leaked?
Your phone number can get leaked through online databases, which makes it vulnerable to stalking or spam calls. Data breach is one of the simplest ways any phone number gets leaked. All the marketers may sometimes share information and that’s how it gets circulated among the spammers.
