Hey, you... blog reader... can you hear me now?
Yes? Good! I have a question for you...
Give a man a fish and he eats for a day - teach him to fish and... his spouse will yell at him for all the wasted time!!
But seriously, Phishing - the attempt to get information out of someone by tricking them online (see my blog post "Gone Phishing") has gotten so much more sophisticated lately. As a matter of fact, the latest scam uses your own voice to create a false transaction record for telephone marketing!!
Let me explain...
You answer your phone and a telemarketer asks "can you hear me?"
You answer "Yes!"
Bang... they have you!!
Now even though you don't buy anything, they take your "Yes" - which they have recorded... you know, the opening line... This call is recorded for quality control - and create a whole phone conversation that never took place. It sounds something like this... "Hello Mr/Mrs/Ms Soandso, I am Dewe Cheetem and this call is being recorded for quality control. It's a bit noisy, can you hear me? (You Say YES) GREAT! Would you like to buy a full sized sedan for only $55,000 for 200 hundred monthly payments? (They put your recorded "YES" in here)." So, when you get your bill and you challenge the charges, they play the recording back to you.
Now, of course, this is fraud, but most people are so embarrassed that they never inform the police.
So, what do I recommend you do? Well, as the police and the BBB recommends - just hang up! Yep, don't say anything! If you don't know the person, just hang up!
CBS News did an excellent piece on this topic and you can watch the segment here.
And while you are at it... re-read this blog post and check out how false news stations are now making news!
Bottom line... be very careful and keep your wits about you.
Can you hear me NOW?
Yossie
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