Guarding Your Business Against Scam Callers
August 8, 2018
Category: VoIP
If you own a phone (landline or cellular), you’ve more than likely received a scam phone call. In the early days, they were pretty easy to pick out: vague and generic computerized voices urgently asking you to call them back as soon as possible. But as people grew wiser to their tricks, scammers also improved and expanded their games–to emails, to pop up ads, and even to business VOIP systems.
The most common way scammers try to victimize organizations is through vishing. Vishing is a communications scam in which callers disguise themselves as a trusted organization (like a bank or insurance provider) in an attempt to obtain critical personal and financial information about the business.
Although vishing may not seem as serious as other scam methods, as a hosted VOIP provider, we’re familiar with these scam calls and how dangerous they can be. That said, let’s review the basic tenets of guarding your business against scam callers.
Tips to Keep in Mind
In order to protect yourself and your organization against vishing and other scams, keep in mind the following:
- Never give your name and phone number to a stranger who is asking for it. If they need to ask for your information and they’re the ones calling you, it’s a scam.
- If it’s a scam, you’ll generally hear a brief pause and then the caller will pick up. This is because the caller might have tried several people and you were the one who picked up, so they weren’t totally prepared for you to answer.
- Scammers may spoof numbers to make it look like they’re someone in your region. One reason this happens is that you’re more likely to pick up and give information to someone if you recognize the area code than if it was an unfamiliar region.
- If the caller claims to be from your bank, hang up and contact your bank directly to ensure the call is real.
- Do your due diligence; if it sounds like a scam, it probably is.
If you do receive a scam call on your business phone, the FCC encourages you to report the phone number. You also have the option to register your phone number with the National Do Not Call Registry List. Unfortunately though, as the number of scammers grow everyday, registering your organization’s phone number on the Do Not Call list likely won’t prevent all calls. That said, it’s more important than ever to stay guarded against suspicious phone calls.
For more information on how to protect your VOIP solution against scam callers, reach out to us today.