Over 45 million people in the world receive scam calls every year, asking for details, addresses and most usually, money. I know someone who got scammed for thousands, but many have been scammed for more. W Wootten explains how they work and how to defend yourself against them
How do they work?
Scammers start by gathering information about their targets. This can be checking social media, public records, or previous data breaches. The more they know about their target, the better their story will be.
The scammer will then call your number. They often target elderly people and always call on weekdays between 10am and 11am. Scammers often use caller ID spoofing to make it appear as though they are calling from a legitimate or familiar number, like the government, your bank or a family member.
Once you answer, the scammer will try and build a relationship with you, often using the information they gathered in stage one. The aim is to establish trust and authority. They may even impersonate a representative from the company to get more authority.
The scammer then presents a problem that requires immediate attention (like unpaid taxes or a compromised bank account) and uses this tactic to pressure the victim into compliance. They might threaten legal action, financial penalties, or other negative consequences. They then will make you fill out a bogus form and make you type the amount you are entitled to. As you do it they will modify the amount owed and blame it on you. This weaponizes your empathy. NEVER download a program called AnyDesk, which will give them access to your computer.
Why have they not been arrested?
Firstly, there are thousands of these call centres all around the world, mostly in the Far East. This makes it very difficult for them to be taken down simultaneously. There are also financial incentives for scammers to set up call centres, as even if they do not scam someone, they can sell contact information on the black market for many people to contact them. (This is why you should never answer scam calls.)
Also, in India, certain figures like police officers, judges and government ministers take hush payments from these scammers to not arrest or investigate their shady practices. Many call centres have a small group of legitimate employees doing real call centre jobs, so, if they get investigated or checked, they can show the authorities those few, and claim they are legitimate.
How Can I Protect Myself?
With AI now commonly used, it is becoming increasingly difficult to identify real calls from fake ones.
Firstly, be aware that banks, utility companies, lottery organisers, law enforcement will never:
Ask for any part of your pin code.
Ask you to share a one-time passcode or PIN.
Ask you to transfer money over the phone to a different account.
Ask for remote access to your computer or mobile device.
Ask you to share personal or financial information.
Ask for payment in vouchers.
Another option is to check the location it is coming from. Many scammers will use spoof locations to look like they are calling from another place like the UK or US. Some scammers will forget to do this.
The simplest way to stop scam calls is just start blocking them, it will seem useless at first but over a short time they will start to reduce. Even spammers do not like calling dead numbers.
What Can I Do if I’ve Been Scammed?
Contact your bank or payment provider straight away. Let them know what happened and ask if you can get a refund. It's important to help them while they look at your claim - make sure you give them any information they ask for. Contact your IT department and let them know. Open your antivirus software if you have it, and run a full scan. Allow your antivirus software to clean up any problems it finds. You should change the passwords on any of your accounts which use the same password. Many people every day suffer from scam calls, and we should be lobbying world governments to end this epidemic.
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