Top Phone Scams in 2022 and How to Protect Yourself

In the coming year, scammers will try their best to prey on you through your phone. In 2022, your biggest worry will be scammers posing as legitimate businesses. In order to protect yourself from these scams, you should always verify the number of the caller using a reverse phone lookup site. Here are some of the worst phone scams out there today.

Vishing calls

While it may seem that there is no way to prevent these calls from happening, there are ways to protect yourself from them. The first step is never to answer unknown calls. Doing so alerts the scammer and will lead to more calls. A more effective way to protect yourself is to ignore unknown calls and instead call the company’s official numbers or voicemails. Moreover, you can file a complaint with the FTC or local law enforcement if you suspect you are being scammed.

The goal of these scams is to obtain confidential information. Using social engineering, vishing scammers ask for financial and personal information. They may claim to be a bank or law enforcement official, or they may ask you to install the software. The aim of these scams is to steal your identity, so be careful about who you give out your personal information.

Giving to charity

There are several ways to avoid phone scams and fraudulent charity calls, including researching the organizations you donate to. You should try to avoid giving personal information over the phone, even to well-known charities. This is because many organizations use similar names, so you should be careful to check the organization’s credentials before you give your money. It is also good to check government websites for complaints and reviews about a charity.

If you receive a request for donations from someone claiming to be affiliated with a charity, check whether they are registered with your state or local police to make sure they’re not scammers. Unfortunately, most scams are difficult to trace. However, you can put the number on your Do Not Call list and register it with your phone carrier. Blocking the number may not be a permanent solution, however, because scammers are known to change outgoing phone numbers.

Vacation Fraud

One in three Americans has fallen victim to phone scams in the past year, according to TrueCaller, a research organization that tracks scams. One of the most common scams involves a caller claiming to be the winner of an all-inclusive vacation. However, the fraudster’s primary goal is to steal your identity and your money. They often ask for your credit card number to make a deposit or personal information to book a reservation.

The first step to avoiding vacation fraud is to always stay away from websites that require payments through wire transfers. These third-party websites are not trustworthy and often cost you more in the end. For this reason, it is essential to only book through a website that accepts credit cards and debit cards. This way, in case of any problems, the business can trace your payment and reimburse you for the charges.

Census scams

If you’ve received a letter from the Census Bureau claiming to be from the agency, you should be suspicious. These scams are designed to trick you into handing over sensitive financial information to them. In addition, the messages may contain malicious software, so you should be extra cautious about clicking any links in the mail. To protect yourself from such scams, you should protect your identity by signing up for identity theft protection services.

If you receive an email from the Census Bureau, do not click any links in the email and go directly to the official website. Check the address bar to make sure it says HTTPS://, which indicates that the website is secure. Also, be sure that the address bar contains a padlock icon. If you are unsure, contact your state’s Census Bureau Regional Office to verify the legitimacy of the email.

One-ring scams

If you’ve been receiving a lot of mysterious calls, you may be a victim of one-ring phone scams. The scammers will often call you from an unfamiliar area code and only ring once. The purpose is to get you to call them back and pay a fee. Typically, these calls will come from an international area code. If you’ve ever received one of these calls, it’s best to leave a voicemail message instead of answering.

Scammers may try to fool you by pretending to be a legitimate company. Never buy anything online or send money to an unknown number. Scammers can even make use of caller ID to trick you into believing they are calling from an unknown number. You should also avoid visiting unknown websites, as you could get infected by malware. And, finally, never call back numbers you are not familiar with – you might end up paying tolls and get charged for services that you never needed.

Government relief program scams

When searching for government grant information, it’s important to understand the difference between a scam and a legitimate grant application. A scammer will ask for money for little or no work. They might advertise in your local paper or in a national magazine and ask for one-time payments.

Scammers typically target government relief programs. They may use the government’s name to claim you can use a grant to pay for funeral costs or other expenses. Check out the Federal Trade Commission’s coronavirus page for news and scam alerts. The IRS also keeps a list of tax-related scams. Some scams also make use of your smartphone’s internet capabilities, so be careful with your personal information.

Conclusion

By understanding how scammers operate, you can better protect yourself from being a victim of fraud. Remember to always be suspicious of unsolicited calls and emails, especially if they are asking for personal information or money. If you think you are a victim of fraud, contact your local law enforcement agency immediately.

Rupali Gupta

Rupali Gupta is a blogger and professional writer who loves to write about technology and entertainment. Techzimo is one of her successful websites filled with great tech news, Know more about her on Youtube Facebook Twitter Linkedin Instagram