How to stop spam calls and protect yourself from scammers: 8 ways

Automatic calls are not only annoying and distracting from your daily activities, but they can also seriously damage your finances. In this post from Rider 's Digest You will learn how to permanently get rid of unwanted calls and protect yourself from scammers who may try to get your personal information out of the phone.

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Automatic calls are so popular because it is a simple and inexpensive, and most importantly, an effective way to communicate with a potential client. So many companies use it, said Jeff Galak, assistant professor of marketing at the Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon University.

However, not having people making these calls and replacing them with robots increases the risk that your contacts will end up in the hands of a marketer, or worse, scammers.

How to get rid of annoying calls will be discussed further.

Here are 8 effective ways:

1. Register в Do not call registry

This is the first step to protect yourself from annoying robocaller calls if you live in America. To do this, you just need to register your number with the Do Not Call Registry. You can do this by calling 1-888-382-1222 (just make sure to call from the number you want to add to the register), or visit the website donotcall.gov and add each number manually.

2. Block numbers

The second method involves blocking every number from which robocalls call. Most smartphones have a feature that allows you to block calls from a specific number. "Try doing this consistently for a week or two, and you'll see a drop in the number of calls you receive," advises Michael Alexis, CEO of TeamBuilding.

3. Stop answering calls

“Good advice: stop answering unknown numbers. This way, your line won't be seen as "active" and they'll stop calling, says Grant Aldrich, CEO of OnlineDegree.com.

4. Use apps to block robocall calls

For example, applications Mr. Number and Hiya. “I would definitely recommend this as a way to reduce the number of robocalls that bother you. This won't avoid them completely, but the app will block the call and tell you it was spam,” explained Rex Freiberger, CEO of Gadget Review.

5. Set your phone to Do Not Disturb

You can activate this mode in the smartphone settings. This saves you any calls from unknown numbers, while you can always specify which phone numbers you want to receive calls from, advised Julia Campbell, cybersecurity expert.

6. Contact your wireless carrier for assistance

Verizon, the largest US cellular operator by subscriber base, has introduced new services to help customers avoid illegal theft. The new Call Filter service offers spam alerts and new anti-robocall protections for its wireless clients.

The Samsung SmartCall service informs you that the call you are receiving comes from a well-known robocaller. Google also has a spam blocker that will alert you if you receive a call from a robot and your screen turns red, said Steven JJ Weisman, an expert on identity theft and cybersecurity.

7. Don't answer questions

Oftentimes, scammers try to create a sense of urgency and to instill fear in a potential victim. For example, you may be assured that you owe money to the IRS and will be arrested if you do not pay off the debt. Or you may receive a call supposedly from your bank, whose employee will warn you about fraud and ask for information about your card to "help" you.

On the subject: In the US, cases of fraud on behalf of the Social Security Service have become more frequent: how to protect yourself

“If you think you've been contacted by a scammer, hang up and look for the company's, organization's or individual's official number, then call that number yourself to verify the information,” said Greg Mahnken, a credit industry analyst at Credit. Card Insider.

8. Forward unknown calls to voicemail

On iOS and Samsung devices, you can have all calls from unknown numbers forwarded to voicemail, said Phil Strazzulla, CEO and founder of Select Software Reviews.

Scams during a pandemic: how to protect yourself

In connection with the coronavirus pandemic, many scammers are looking for ways to "earn extra money." As of May 18, nearly 5000 coronavirus scams have been reported to the FTC. In total, Americans have suffered losses in the amount of more than $ 35 million, says digital expert Dave Dykes, presenting the study conducted by Transaction Network Services (TNS).

Here are some of the most common scams that TNS says you should be aware of:

• Contact tracing scam... With governments introducing contact tracing initiatives, fraudsters are playing on consumer fears by impersonating healthcare workers using robocalls and robotic texts. They try to deceive people to give up personal information and money.
• Incentive checks... This is a new and sophisticated scam that aims to lure a user into a realistic IRS web page where scammers ask their victims for personal information in order to receive a stimulating check. Once the victim enters all the information, they are redirected to the real IRS website to make the fraud look less suspicious.
• Test fraud COVID-19 and personal protective equipment. This scam "works" because many people do not know how much scarce products they need, such as test kits, masks, gloves, cost. Scammers are trying to profit from this ignorance.

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In the US, cases of fraud on behalf of the Social Security Service have become more frequent: how to protect yourself

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