The Startling Facts About Telemarketing Fraud
You might think that telemarketing fraud doesn’t affect you, or those you love. But staggering statistics reveal that phone scams are absolutely rampant.
It’s true that 80% of victims of telephone scams are elderly citizens. Some have interpreted that to mean that only the lonely and elderly are the most at risk of being defrauded by phone. But that’s simply not true. A few decades ago, telephone sales were far more common than they are today, meaning that those from an older generation are more used to telephone sales than others. Back in the day, good deals could frequently be found through door-to-door salesmen or telesale bids. But these days, if someone is calling you with a deal that’s too good to be true, it probably is.
Did you know that $40 BILLION dollars a year are lost to phone scams? That might seem like a crazy-high number, but it’s true. And if you think it’s only the gullible that fall for phone fraud, think again.
An average of 17.6 million Americans are targeted by phone scammers. The scammers will use nearly any subject to convince their victims to hand over their cash. From fake charities to phony lotteries, no subject is out of bounds from fraudsters hoping to make a quick buck. The majority of fraudulent calls originate from Nigerian phone scammers, who claim a whopping $12.7 billion dollars a year off phone scams.
The majority of victims were actually contacted through their cell phone, rather than landlines. Men are more likely to be the subject of scam calls, as 21.9% of men receive scam calls compared to 17.7% of women. Out of the men and women who combed their phone bills, 37% found that they had been billed for fraudulent charges.
We may be familiar with swindles like the IRS scams, or “long lost Princes” hoping for us to cough up the dough in return for riches in the future. But as technology advances, scams become more pervasive. The one ring scam has been increasing in popularity, and poses many concerns to the average consumer.
How does it work?
First you’ll receive a phone call from an unknown number. True to their name, they’ll ring once and hang up. If you call the number back, you’ll be put through to an international number who will charge you premium rates, and drain all of the dollars from your account. You won’t find out exactly how much has been charged, until your phone bill knocks the wind out of your sails.
Scammers make big paychecks out of defrauding innocent people, so they’re not about to quit the practice anytime soon.
The easiest way to prevent scam callers from stealing your hard earned cash is by being aware of them. Never answers calls from unidentified numbers. If you want to know who called you, use a Reverse Phone Lookup to safely identify unknown callers. Only when you know that the caller is someone you can trust, answer or give them a call back.
Check out this handy infographic to discover the startling facts behind telemarketing fraud!
Originally published at phone.instantcheckmate.com on June 25, 2015.
