01/15/2020
Financial Education, Cyber Security
A new technology is being used to scam people over the phone. This technology is called line-trapping. Fraudsters will start by calling someone and telling them they have been a victim of identity theft and that they need to call the authorities. The person will then hang up and call 911 or the local authorities thinking they are talking to the police. The new line-trapping technology remains connected to your phone line and intercepts the call. The scammer will pretend to be the authorities you were calling.
Read on to learn about the ways you can prevent it:
- Always be cautious of anyone asking for personal information.
- Trust your instincts.
- Call a trusted phone number on a separate line other than the one you received the call on.
- Wait to make your call. Evidence suggests that the line-trapping technology has a time limit of several minutes.
- Don't answer calls from unknown numbers. Let them go to voicemail.
As technology advances, so do the tactics used by scammers. We become more accessible and more used to not doing things face to face. It is never easy to know what the scammer’s next trap will be, but we can always be cautious of giving out our information and trust our instincts. Report any suspicious calls to the
Federal Communications Commission.
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