Used by legitimate companies and scammers, robocalls are intrusive, annoying, and potentially harmful. Fraudsters use a variety of creative methods to target people using these calls, in an attempt to get their victims to reveal personal information for malicious purposes. So, it is important to be alert to robocalls to avoid being scammed and to prevent them from interrupting your life.
What are robocalls?
Robocalls use software to auto-dial phone numbers and deliver pre-recorded messages when someone answers the call. Some companies use robocalls for legitimate reasons, such as to remind customers about appointments. More often, these automated calls are used for sales purposes and, more worryingly, scams. In the US alone, people receive a total of around four billion robocalls per month.
How do scammers use robocalls?
There are different ways that fraudsters use automated calls to scam their victims. Some of the more common methods include:
- Vishing: Short for “voice phishing”, this uses voice and telephony technologies to trick people into thinking they are dealing with a legitimate company or organization to get them to reveal financial or personally identifiable information.
- Spoofing: Some fraudulent robocalls employ Voice over Internet Protocol and caller ID spoofing technology to mimic a phone number from a known number or their victim’s contacts list. This increases the chances they will answer the phone.
- Identity theft: Fraudsters also use automated calls to try and steal victims’ identities. People who receive a call from (supposedly) the tax authorities or their bank might be more willing to share sensitive data, such as their account details.
What to do if you get a robocall
The best thing to do if you get a call from an unknown number is to ignore it, which will avoid scammers from thinking your number is “active”. This will lead to them trying your number again. If you answer the phone and find it is an automated call, hang up. The most important thing is to not engage with the call or take any action.
How can you stop robocalls?
Of course, a better solution is to avoid getting robocalls altogether. There are various steps you can take to minimize the number of calls you get. For example:
- Remove your details from data brokers’ databases: Data brokers harvest personal data from online sources, which they use or sell to third parties, increasing your risk of scams, including from automated calls. Removing your details from data brokers can help to spare you from robocalls.
- Take advantage of call protection services: Depending on where you live, there may be a national service to protect people from nuisance calls, such as the US National Do Not Call Registry. Your phone service provider might also have their own tools to stop customers from receiving unwanted calls.
- Protect your privacy: As well as ignoring unknown calls, you can keep your phone number private, block suspicious numbers, and use the “Do Not Disturb” setting on your phone. These measures can all help to minimize the nuisance calls you receive.
Fortunately, scams based on automated calls are usually easy to detect and avoid. Start by taking steps to protect your personal information, limiting who gets access to your phone number, and being careful about how you interact with unknown callers. This way, you can prevent robocalls from interrupting your life or causing harm.