Criminals have a few tricks up their sleeves to extract personal information from people. So that you against Phone fraud you should pay attention to these seven sentences.
| Keep this in mind when talking to strangers on the phone – Never give your account number over the phone – Never give out passwords – Don’t allow remote access to your computer if you don’t know the person – Hang up, you don’t have to be polite and listen – Report phone fraudsters to the Federal Network Agency |
Telephone fraud: be careful with these phrases
Thomas Wrobel, the spam protection expert and founder of the Clever Dialer platform, reveals which sentences can be used in telephone fraud that could be dangerous to you. The good thing is, if you take care of it, you can protect yourself.
# 1 “Get it now!”
Fraudsters: often pretend to be under time pressure, for example to force the called party into a contract. Switching to a cheaper electricity provider sounds great, but you still have to sign the contract over the phone now? That is an indication of fraud.
Thomas Wrobel advises: “As promising as the offer is, you should ask for time to think about it and you should be sent in writing. That also gives time to check the seriousness of the caller. “
# 2 “If you don’t, then …”
Here, too, fraudsters create pressure by threatening negative consequences. Because of sheer fear, the called party should act rashly in this way. If you don’t do what is asked of you on the phone, then something bad is supposed to happen. Don’t fall for it.
When can this happen? For example, if you are told to install a certain program on your computer, otherwise your PC will be damaged. In reality, it would be the program that can be dangerous to you.
# 3 “Congratulations, you won!”
You should pay attention not only to pressure, but also to enticements for certain profits. Callers, for example, offer the prospect of winning the lottery if you pay a small registration fee.
“This supposed profit makes the down payment appear very small in proportion. For this reason, many of those affected voluntarily pay the fee in the hope of being able to record large sums of money in their own account afterwards, ”said Thomas Wrobel. But: be careful with such temptations.
# 4 “This is XY from Microsoft!”
Fraudsters often pose as employees of well-known companies in order to come across as serious and credible.
# 5 “Grandma, it’s me!”
This phone scam is also known as the “grandchildren” trick. Older people in particular are supposed to be deceived. Callers pretend to be grandchildren in order to ask for money, for example because of the possible advantage of confidence.
The spam protection expert advises, when in doubt, to address personal memories that only affected people can really know.
# 6 “Here is the police”
It is a very perfidious trick when fraudsters pretend to be officials, as this makes them appear serious and credible. According to Clever Dealer, criminals even use the names of real officials. The tip of the platform: ask for the agency and check the phone number carefully.
By the way: If someone calls you on 110, they are fake police officers.
# 7 “Yes?”
Fraudsters: often try to elicit the little word “yes” from those called. If you say that on the phone, the sound can be manipulated. Therefore, never answer the phone with a “Yes, hello” on your own.
You can find out more about this phone scam here.
| You have been better protected since December 1st, 2021 “In future, providers will have to give you a contract summary in text form (eg a PDF by e-mail or in printed form) before you conclude a telephone contract (for landline, internet and / or mobile phone connection),” says the consumer advice center. |
More tips about phone fraud
Not sure if the person on the other end of the line is up to something bad? Be sure to ask these three questions if you suspect the call is spam. We reveal here how you can trace back an unknown number and find out a suppressed number. You will also regularly find a list of unknown numbers that have been marked as spam by the called party.
Source: Clever Dialer press release