Problem
I continue to be the ‘victim’ of a phone scam designed to trick me into believing that the Australian Taxation Office is filing a civil suit “against my name” whilst at the same time issuing an arrest warrant.
My crime? Tax ‘avoidation’.
The call continues; ‘hold the line to speak to an operator’ – of which, I always do. Long wait while the dial tone switches over to the international carrier of which the caller resides…
“Hello New Zeal…. Ah… Australian Taxation Office.”
“Hello. Could you please cite the section of the legislation of which I am in breach?” I ask.
They promptly hang up every time.
Whilst it’s easy for me to identify the ruse, and indeed I’m sure it would be for most, I must admit that for a split instance at the very beginning of each call I receive my heart does drop minutely when a robo-message begins with “We regret to inform you.”
These calls are designed to deceive and if they did not work they would not exist.
Solution
The calls always appear to originate from local (i.e ‘Australian’) numbers — this is a continuation of the ruse in that there are devices used to divert the signal from a third party international carrier.
This is substantiated when you hear a very long dial tone for the ‘call to transfer to an operator’.
Convention tells us that we feel more secure in answering a call when we see the phone numbers identified in the calls we receive.
Why don’t we also have access to the location of those who wish to make contact with us?
An application on a smartphone that lists the geolocation of the person making a call to us, regardless of whether the signal is being bounced around to hide the international number of its origin, may go a long way in helping people who are susceptible into believing a phone scam by enabling them to poke holes in the logic.
I would find comfort in ignoring a call that my smartphone was telling me originated from a country in the world of which I have very little to zero contact with.
Perhaps to keep in line with privacy concerns, if the location identity was limited to a country of origin and simply named ‘where in the world’ — I suspect even this broad-based knowledge is enough to save many from a potential scam.
This story is part of an idea creation series inspired by Ted Hope. The purpose of this series is to promote discourse amongst entrepreneurs, artists and indeed anyone for the betterment of the community at large. You are free to use these ideas as you please.
