All of us, our natural response is to say, 'Yes,' or 'Sure,' or 'Yes I can,'” said Hughes, but she says this is exactly what you do not want to do.
Police say scammers record your "yes" response. In one variation of the scam documented by the Better Business Bureau in October 2016, the criminals may pretend to be from a cruise line or home security company and will later bill you for products or services you never asked for.
If you try to deny the charges, the scammers will playback your verbal confirmation "yes" and threaten to take legal action if you don’t pay.
In another variation, scammers may use the recording to authorize charges on a stolen credit card or with a utility company by tricking an automated system, according to CBS News. The con artists may have already stolen other personal information through a data breach that would allow them to pass the security checks.
“A lot of times, victims do not want to come forward because they are embarrassed. They feel like, ‘It was my fault. I should have known better,’ and they are just embarrassed by it all together. So we do not get a whole lot of reports, unfortunately,” said Hughes.
Los Angeles Times business columnist David Lazarus told KTLA Wednesday that he got one of these calls last week.
“The call that I got, it sounded like a woman was calling. … She was bobbling her headset, and she said, ‘I’m sorry, I couldn’t get my headset on. Can you hear me?’” Lazarus said.
“What law enforcement and consumer advocates want you to know is: If it sounds like somebody is trying to get you to say ‘yes’ to something … Careful, don’t say anything,” Lazarus said.
Often the scam caller is actually a recording, he said.
Police say to avoid this scam, follow this advice.
“We really want people to hear this,” said Hughes. “Say, ‘Look, I just heard about this scam on TV’ … and to hang up.”
video
‘Can You Hear Me?’ Scam Has Police Warning Would-Be Victims to Hang Up Immediately | KTLA&
Police say scammers record your "yes" response. In one variation of the scam documented by the Better Business Bureau in October 2016, the criminals may pretend to be from a cruise line or home security company and will later bill you for products or services you never asked for.
If you try to deny the charges, the scammers will playback your verbal confirmation "yes" and threaten to take legal action if you don’t pay.
In another variation, scammers may use the recording to authorize charges on a stolen credit card or with a utility company by tricking an automated system, according to CBS News. The con artists may have already stolen other personal information through a data breach that would allow them to pass the security checks.
“A lot of times, victims do not want to come forward because they are embarrassed. They feel like, ‘It was my fault. I should have known better,’ and they are just embarrassed by it all together. So we do not get a whole lot of reports, unfortunately,” said Hughes.
Los Angeles Times business columnist David Lazarus told KTLA Wednesday that he got one of these calls last week.
“The call that I got, it sounded like a woman was calling. … She was bobbling her headset, and she said, ‘I’m sorry, I couldn’t get my headset on. Can you hear me?’” Lazarus said.
“What law enforcement and consumer advocates want you to know is: If it sounds like somebody is trying to get you to say ‘yes’ to something … Careful, don’t say anything,” Lazarus said.
Often the scam caller is actually a recording, he said.
Police say to avoid this scam, follow this advice.
- Do not answer the phone from numbers you do not recognize.
- Do not give out personal information.
- Do not confirm your number over the phone.
- Do not answer questions over the phone.
“We really want people to hear this,” said Hughes. “Say, ‘Look, I just heard about this scam on TV’ … and to hang up.”
video
‘Can You Hear Me?’ Scam Has Police Warning Would-Be Victims to Hang Up Immediately | KTLA&
