A former scam victim has revealed her tried-and-tested method to avoid being ripped off by criminals.
A report published earlier this year claimed that 56 million US-based adults had been scammed out of $25.4 Billion by fraudsters.
Phone scams especially are on the rise, with two billion spam calls being made last year, according to data from Truecaller.
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Moreover, reports claim those experiencing a con report an immediate negative impact on their mental health, which increased if they were swindled out of their hard-earned cash.
When it comes to dealing with scams, there is a lot of conflicting information floating around the internet.
However, Charlotte Vogel, an operations research analyst, is a former victim of a Facebook scam and she’s detailed exactly how she deals with spam calls.
Taking to Quora, the popular social question-and-answer website, Vogel claimed that you should never make ‘threats back’ to scammers if you speak to one on the other end of your mobile.
This is because you may accidentally be offering up valuable information.
“It may be tempting to bring out the big guns like ‘I'll get you, I'm a lawyer’ or ‘How dare you, my dad is a cop’ or ‘Just wait until my Army husband, Bill, gets home’,” she wrote.
"But think about what you've just said. Yes, more information about yourself."
The scam victim claimed that cyber attackers will use ‘nuggets’ and ‘snippets’ of information about you to help construct more convincing scams that could catch you out in the future.
As the information piles up, Vogel claims you are no longer a random person on the end of a phone line.
“You’re Jane Smith, [Social Security Number] 123-45-6789,” she ranted.
“You're a lawyer, and your dad is a cop. You live at 123 Elm Street, Anytown, USA 12345 (since that address matches your phone number). Your spouse’s name is Bill, and he works for the government."
To avoid becoming a target for potential thieves, Vogal has issued a simple method for avoiding ongoing issues.
She said that while ‘telling off’ a scammer may make you feel good, it’s better to simply put the phone down on them.
“Understand that these people are thieves,” she added. “They are preying on vulnerable people - typically the elderly, students, and immigrants - who they feel they can bully.”
“These are not nice people. Your threats, bad language, telling them off? They’ve likely heard and said worse. You’re not fazing them one bit. Don’t waste your time.”
According to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), you can also avoid being scammed by keeping informed on the latest cyber threats.
The FDIC also states that you should keep your phone software updated, implement strong passwords on your tech and be wary of attachments sent by unknown senders.