Phone Fraud

A modern person cannot even imagine not having a phone in their pocket, which is why this gadget has become the most popular among today's youth. Using the phone for taking photos, recording videos, scrolling through social media feeds, managing tasks, and messaging often leads to encounters with fraudsters.

While searching for a victim, phone fraudsters make calls or send messages hoping that an inexperienced person will respond. They can obtain information by only using the phone.

How they deceive over the phone

Phone fraudsters are powerful psychologists and manipulators. After having a conversation with a potential victim, they determine whether to continue luring the victim or leave them alone because there is no chance of making money through deceit.

Often fraudsters call and pose as various representatives, for example:

• pretend to be bank employees;
• pose as police officers;
• pretend to be a relative in need of help;
• an official;
• a director of a well-known company;
• an acquaintance.

The goal of the fraudster is to extract as much information as possible from the potential victim, entice them to invest in a non-existent company, or transfer money to an account suggested by the fraudster.

Phone Scams

Phone scams are committed not only through calls and direct communication. Fraudsters bombard potential victims with SMS messages or social media blasts. A modern phone is like a mini-computer with 24/7 internet access. This benefits fraudsters, who use technology to send scamming ads with viral links.

The internet allows fraudsters to express themselves in these areas:

• fraudulent banking structures;
• non-existent investment companies;
• microloans;
• cryptocurrency exchange;
• casino games;
• sports betting;
• financial pyramids.

Modern technologies open up a wide range of opportunities for fraudsters on the phone.

Protection from phone fraudsters

If you become a victim of a phone fraud attack, where you're bombarded with scam messages, you can protect yourself and your phone from unwanted SMS in the app. You can enable the spam blocking function and caller identification from unknown numbers in settings. Such filters provide additional protection from fake mailings, sending them to the spam folder. There you can delete unwanted information. Some rules can help protect you from fraudulent calls:

• do not provide your personal data over the phone,
• keep passport and banking data confidential.
• use bank support and security services if you find a suspicious call,
• do not call back unknown numbers,
• block spam numbers and ads.

These simple actions will help protect your phone and nervous system from fraudsters.

For convenience, we are used to using the phone everywhere - registering in various online stores, acquiring bonus cards in pharmacies, grocery supermarkets, and other organizations. Fraudsters have the opportunity to access these databases and perform their cunning actions on phone subscribers. When such an attack occurs, it is necessary to think and remember if you left such data in any organization for contact. In most cases, do not fall for it but calmly, logically, and critically process the information received from fraudsters.

How not to become a victim of a fraudster's call

To protect yourself and not become a potential target for fraudsters, you should train your memory and vigilance.

Fraudsters easily play on a person's feelings by calling, they may pose as police officers demanding a ransom for release. They can also send messages asking for help. Subscribers begin to panic and take thoughtless actions, transferring money to unknown destinations.

The best way to avoid losses is to stop panicking, focus on the issue, break off the conversation, and call close relatives or the person mentioned in the conversation with the fraudster. If possible, provide information to the police and file a report.

Some people are still affected by the fraudsters' scheme - winning the lottery. Fraudsters call and report that the subscriber of this number has won the lottery and to receive the prize, a percentage fee must be paid. If it is clear that there was no lottery participation, you should immediately disconnect and break off the conversation.

Fraudulent Calls

Every day many people fall into the fraudulent virtual hands, and fraudsters come up with more and more schemes to deceive and take money and information. Calmness and attention to detail during conversation and lack of panic will help protect against fraudulent schemes.