Telemarketing Fraud – Don’t be a Victim

Before we dive into the issue of telemarketing fraud, let me clarify that many of the telemarketing calls you receive are not fraud and are real people trying to sell you something legitimately, although usually annoyingly during the dinner hour. 

But there is telemarketing fraud and many of these frauds target older individuals for a variety of reasons.  Now, when the economy is down, we see an increase in the number of frauds and an increase in the number of people who are caught in the scams.  People are seeing their investments and retirement funds go way down and some are desperate to believe that they will make a lot of money as the caller claims.  Older people make good targets because they have money saved, they’re home more than the average working person, and they like to be helpful.

These scammers are criminals who won’t think twice about taking all your life savings.  What they are doing is not a hard sell, it’s illegal and punishable in a court of law.  They are masters at manipulating people; they are friendly and personable.

Warning flags:

1.  They ask you for any information such as your social security number, bank account numbers, credit card numbers, or even your mother’s maiden name.  If they ask you to give personal information that they should already have (if they’re your financial institution as they claim), then don’t give them the information.

2.  They make you an offer that sounds too good to be true.  Such as, they’d like to wire you $500,000 for your help and just need your bank account number.

3.  Telemarketers cannot ask you for money upfront in order to fix your credit or get you a loan, or charge you a fee or taxes upfront for a prize you’ve supposedly just won.

4.  Undue pressure to act immediately and scare tactics are common fraud indicators. For example, they need your credit card number immediately because your bank account is about to be closed down.

5.  If they won’t send you written information upon request and won’t give you other identifying information, such as their phone number should you wish to call them back, then you are right to be suspicious.

What you can do:

If you are suspicious about a call, tell them that you will be checking with the Better Business Bureau, your local consumer protection agency, or the National Fraud Information Center.  That may scare them off if they are not legitimate.  And do follow through and check.

Add your name and number to the Do Not Call Registry.

Screen your calls with Caller ID.  If the caller is not identified or shows as “Toll Free” and it’s long distance, don’t answer it.  It may be hard to retrain yourself, but you do not have to answer the phone.  If it turns out to be important or someone you know, they’ll leave a message on your answering machine.

Don’t make any decisions on a phone call pitch.  Tell them you’ll think it over and discuss it with your spouse, friend, son, or attorney.