Know what you owe. You know your mortgage company, your phone company, credit card company, electric utility and anyone you regularly pay for services. You know how much you pay and when you pay. If you know you’ve paid your bills, and someone calls to demand payment, just hang up.
You can always call your service provider at the number printed on your bill. Every legitimate company that issues bills will have a way for you to contact them printed on your bill.
Legitimate companies will normally send you a letter in the mail if there is an issue with your payment. They may also call you, but you don’t have to talk to them. Just hang up. If you think you might owe the company money, call them at the phone number printed on the bill.
Several phone scams that have been operating recently:
- Caller claims to have detected a virus on your computer, tells you to go to your computer and they will walk you through several steps which give the caller access to your computer and your personal information.
- Caller claims to be from a solar company; don’t give them your electric account information.
- Caller claims your grandchildren/niece/nephew/cousin is in trouble, or hurt in an accident, or arrested, and if you provide money or a Green Dot card the caller will take care of him/her.
- Caller claims to be able to access an inheritance that someone left you. Caller asks you for a small fee or percentage to process paperwork.
- Caller claims you owe money and asks you to meet at the local CVS or other store to make payment.
- Caller claims to be raising funds for Ebola virus/orphans/widows/whatever; don’t give them your credit card or checking account information.
- Caller claims to be from the IRS, threatens legal action and arrest. Remember, once you give a scammer money, they will continue to call and harass you. Government agencies do not call or e-mail people; government agencies send letters via the U.S. mail.
- Do not provide personal, financial or account information to unauthorized callers.
- Do not provide Green Dot, Western Union or Moneygram payments to unauthorized callers.
- Never meet unauthorized callers at a local store or bank to make a payment – your personal safety could be at risk.
Scammers are difficult to recognize.
- Scammers can sound like really nice people on the phone. They may talk to you about your kids and grandkids, your church, shows you watch or where you live. Don’t tell them how old you are, or where you live, or where you bank or shop. Don’t tell them about your kids and grandkids. They just want your money.
- Conversely, scammers who call you may be very mean on the phone, threatening to call the police or take you to court. You don’t have to talk to them. Just hang up.
- Scammers frequently prey on the elderly and people who speak English as a second language.
- Scammers target businesses. Businesses usually have higher monthly bills and scammers will take advantage of that, claiming the business customer owes $1,500 rather than just $200. Businesses may have more than one person authorized to pay bills, and scammers exploit the lack of communication between employees and business owners.
- Scammers can make the name of the utility appear on a customer’s caller ID.
- Scammers can trick people by duplicating voice recordings and imitating utility phone systems.