Even before mobile technology caught on, ordinary landline phones were a part of everyday life for generations. Now that the mobile age gives us a phone in every pocket, our phones are more omnipresent than ever, bringing with it the nuisance of unwanted calls.
The many kinds of unwanted phone calls include:
- Spammers
- Scammers
- Telemarketers
- Robocalls
- Personal harassment
Only a few of those are operating within bounds of legal constraints. Telemarketers are regulated in an industry that is popular with almost nobody but still allowed as a business practice within reasonable bounds. Robocalls, even though many states are considering banning them altogether, are widely used at both the commercial and government level for things like public notices of school closures or reminders about doctor’s appointments.
The rest of that list is flat out illegal, and yet difficult to regulate. Like various other kinds of criminal scams, spam calls and phone scams are so easy to perpetrate on a mass basis that if even a few victims fall for the trick, the criminal turns a profit. At the same time, modern technology has many ways to enable mass-dialing operations, and robotic dialers and voice agents are freely available. Regulatory agencies are scrambling to keep up.
Protecting Yourself From Phone Scams
There are several steps anyone can take to at least reduce nuisance phone calls.
First off, registry with the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) National Do Not Call Registry will curtail those telemarketers who operate for legitimate companies. It won’t do much to prevent other kinds of calls, but it is a limitation on some phone sales activity.
Next is some simple common-sense practices on the part of the citizen. You should be aware that institutions like the IRS, federal government bureaus, banks, credit agencies, insurance companies, technical support services, and utilities do not “cold call” people out of nowhere. Instead, they communicate by mail or email, or at the least set up an appointment first through other avenues before calling you.
It is also important to know that at no point will anyone with a legal, legitimate purpose will demand money over the phone nor solicit your personal data, such as your social security number, account numbers, passwords, and other sensitive data. Even those who would have a clear purpose to do so, like a bank employee, are trained not to ask for this information over the phone specifically because this is a common tactic by scammers.
It’s a good idea to practice a policy of never answering an unknown number or speaking on a phone call from an unknown number, but to simply hang up or screen the call from voice mail without answering.
You can use a reverse phone lookup to trace numbers. This will provide some identification behind those anonymous digits. Frequently, if you’re tracing a phone spammer or scam, you will be able to look up this information online and find consumer protection services that list complaints about these numbers. In this way, you’ll get familiar with the kinds of scams going around and be better at spotting them. If you don’t find a record of the individual, you can be the first person to report them.
Further Phone Defenses
Scammers will claim to be from anywhere and everywhere, using ruses such as pretending to be from your cable service, insurance provider, debt collection agencies, and government departments. If you intercept a call from someone pretending to be a company, you can notify that company of the impostor. The company may be eager to use this information in legal actions to protect its copyright or business standing.
All modern phone operating systems, as well as mobile phone service providers, provide free apps and services to limit nuisance calls. These run the gamut from call-blocking features to automatic voicemail screening. The most secure option is implementing a whitelist, where only the phone numbers you allow may sound your ringtone, with all others silently dumped to voicemail for later screening.
As for personal phone calls from individuals who harass you, that is a matter to report straight to your local police department. They have resources ranging from restraining orders to direct line monitoring to go after cases of individual, targeted harassment.
With the proper tools at hand, you too can fight back against phone spam!