What Do I Do About Unknown Calls
To be honest, there’s not much you can do about unknown calls besides ignore them. These days it is super easy to collect phone numbers and setup automatic processes that will call numbers in hopes that someone picks up. These calls can have all sorts of motives such as stealing information, recording, attempting to collect payments, or simply wasting time. Luckily, mobile phones are able to detect these calls and sometimes alert us ahead of time so we know not to answer or to be cautious if we do. While we can block these numbers to ensure we don’t continue to get similar calls, the truth is that it is highly likely that the suspects will just continue to call from different numbers. Generally, the golden rule that our parents taught us remains true - don’t pick up the phone for anybody that you don’t know.
What If I’m Expecting a Call?
This is the moment that malicious callers prey on. The average person will not pickup the phone for unknown numbers, however there are special occasions where we might override this rule. Priority situations related to childcare, job searching, and home purchases warrant us letting down our guard to ensure that we don’t miss an important call. However, there are still options for handling these situtions. For instance, you can search the phone number and see what comes up on Google to determine if it is a number that you would be expecting. Additionally, depending on the situation, you can allow the call to go to voicemail. If the call is important it is highly likely that the caller will leave a detailed voicemail identifying themselves. Lastly, if you do answer the phone, pause for a couple of seconds and see if the caller will speak first as the voice can clue you in on whether or not this is someone you are expecting. Once you do say “hello”, ensure that you confirm who is calling and the topic of the call. Remember, typically important calls from government entities such as the IRS will not reach out to you for payment or any kind of sensitive information over the phone. Use your discretion, but in 98% of cases you should never need to provide any kind of personal information or credit card numbers over the phone.
What Now?
Make sure your whole household and family are aware of these simple rules. Elder family members and children are easy targets for these unknown calls because they may be less skeptical. It is important to ensure that you speak with the whole family to make sure that they are informed on today’s scams and tricks so that their security is not compromised.