The bad guys are always trying to take your hard-earned dollars. “Neighbor spoofing” is one of the latest strategies used by scammers. Forewarned is forearmed!
HOW DOES “NEIGHBOR SPOOFING” WORK?
- Neighbor spoofing is designed to trick you into answering the phone.
- It is a form of caller ID spoofing used by scammers, telemarketers, and robocallers.
- The caller ID closely resembles your phone number.
- Our mental knee-jerk is fear that we will miss an important call from school or doctor, etc.
- The caller may pose as a debt collector or travel company.
WHAT DO THE BAD GUYS WANT TO STEAL?
- Your identity: by asking for your Social Security or account number.
- Your money: by getting your bank or credit card information.
- Your time: telemarketers and pushy sales.
WHAT CAN WE DO TO PROTECT OURSELVES?
- Block calls from your area code and local exchange. But that is a sledgehammer approach leading to possible missed real calls.
- National Do Not Call Registry: donotcall.gov
- Download an app: ex. RoboKiller. Do your research first.
- Ignore unknown numbers. An important call will probably go to your voicemail.
