It’s not your imagination you are getting more unsolicited robocall scams to your smartphone than ever before. In fact, according to the FTC, these calls are increasing at an accelerated pace. This has to do with cell phones being a must-have part of almost every adult within the United States. Because of this robocall have exploded in recent years and the outlook only looks to be getting worse, especially in 2019.
One of the main reasons being is technology. Technology has got cheaper allowing almost anyone to run robocall campaigns. This guide will explain the process of a robocall and what types of scams are happening when a robocall is made.
What is a robocall?
A robocall is made by a computer system that plays an automated message for the users to take some sort of action. Whether that is to keep the person on the phone to get a response or get that person to a live operator in hopes to extract personal information from the person. keep in mind that not all robocalls are malicious. You never know who really is calling you.
Appointments and school messages can and do use robocall systems to get messages to patients or parents. You probably even have gotten political candidates that are runnng for office. All of these types of robocalls are allowed and there is not any harm in them. However, some robocalls have a more sinister reason behind them.
What are the most prevalent scams when a robocall dials?
Helth Insurance Scams
According to sites like consumeraffairs.com, one of the most common and prevalent robocall scams is health insurance in 2018. These robocall scams have a recorded message that promotes various types of heal insurance plans and even promise to help the person to navigate the marketplace for health insurance. There have been more than 850,000 health-related robocalls in the month of October.
IRS scams
This is a
SEO Scams (Search Engine Optimization)
This is when a recording says that unless the person or business does not call back the number provided there listing on Google will vanish. This is the farthest from the truth and should be ignored.
What should you do if your receive a robocall?
Hang up. Do not every press any button allowing you to speak to anyone. Do not respond with your voice if the recording asks you a question. If you do this could lead to their problems and possibly even more robocalls in the future by criminals.
You could try and block the number directly from your smartphone, however, this probably will not work as robocall can easily spoof numbers from other places.
You should report the number and your call to organizations like the FTC. You can do this by accessing this data online or by calling them directly at 1-888-382-1222
