News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
If you have received a phone call with the caller ID of Tennessee Tech but the voice of a woman from the Reward Center, you’ve been subjected to the latest scam.
“It’s called neighbor spoofing,” Upper Cumberland Better Business Bureau Director Marty Donnelly said. “They’re placing phone calls that appear to be local.”
Donnelly said scammers manipulate the caller ID information to make the phone number’s area code and first three digits appear local.
“A consumer will answer that call because that looks local,” Donnelly said.
That’s especially true if it appears a reputable organization like Tennessee Tech is the caller. But Donnelly said you simply can no longer answer phone calls from unknown numbers. Scammers continue to show sophistication in overcoming call blocking and no-call lists.
“These folks are pretty slick, they keep ahead of the game all the time,” Donnelly said. “People just have to be diligent.”
The key now, Donnelly said, reporting such calls to the Federal Trade Commission, the Federal Communications Commission and the Better Business Bureau. In 2017, the government proposed more than $200 million in fines against such telemarketers.
Donnelly reminds us to be sure you do not get personal information to anyone over the phone. She also said be sure not to answer questions via touch tones as that can be used by scammers as proof you accepted terms or conditions.
