If you receive a call that you were not expecting or the information they are relaying to you is incorrect then you should be wary with what they are saying and what they are asking you to do.
A big company, like Amazon for example, would not be ringing you to ask for any personal details, especially not any bank details. If you are contacted out of the blue by a company that you have recently used but however are not sure if they are the actual company, then you should ask the company to verify that it is them. You should ask for details that only you and the company will know. For example, any contract details, payment details or bank account details.

If they cannot verify it is them then it is best to hesitate before you trust whoever is calling.
It is best to hang up the call if you are not convinced they are the real company, you then should contact the business directly from another phone to see if they can verify if it was them calling.

IT’LL NEVER HAPPEN TO ME…

Wrong!

Even though scam calls are becoming more common, everyone still has the mindset that it wouldn’t happen to them. However, this may not be the case. Recently there has been an increase in how many customers are coming to us for our support with issues of being a victim to a scam. These customers will have all thought that they would never be a victim to a scam call/email but now they find themselves in that position.

An example of this, a customer recently came in as she had fallen for a scam call and had given the scammers access to her laptop. During the call with the scammers they had asked her to go check some wires at her internet router. Whilst the customer was at the router the scammers will have been able to do anything without her knowledge. Their techniques are becoming sneakier and they are finding new ways to get what they want.

Anyone can get one of these calls, and in the moment, anyone can fall victim to being taken in by the scammers, regardless of age or intelligence; the scammers tactics are designed to distract you from your usual logic and cautiousness, which is the point that you may well end up giving them access without a second thought.

WILL THEY EVER STOP?

Unfortunately I fear this won’t be the last article we write about scam callers. Whilst their tactics and methods are working and they’re able to get people to fall victim to their scam, they’ll continue.

It’s hard for the police to track down such scammers as they’re typically located abroad, ring off of virtual phone numbers – which the services have sometimes been subscribed to using false details to make tracking even more difficult – and as everything is virtual the setup can be taken down and moved in the blink of an eye.

All we can do to try and combat this is to increase awareness, ensure people think twice when they get a call from a company, and that people have Internet Security software on their computers; albeit Anti Virus won’t help if YOU grant the scammer access to your computer by following their instructions.

CAN I HELP STOP THEM?

Yes!

Please feel free to distribute the link to this article to as many of your friends or family as you can to help raise awareness, and as always should you have any doubt about anything IT related, feel free to call us or pop in for a chat – we’re happy to help.