With robocalls and scam calls becoming increasingly pervasive by the day, it wouldn’t surprise us to learn that you too have been a victim at some point. Hackers and scammers have plenty of tricks up their sleeves and always seem to come up with new ones quite effortlessly when a situation demands them to. On the bright side, more would-be victims have gained increased awareness about this whole situation.
For those not lucky enough to dodge these attacks, however, the results are usually devastating. This is especially true for businesses since, to them, spam calls are almost always more than just an inconvenience in daily operations, often resulting in massive losses and irreparable reputational damage.
Join us as we explore the world of robocalls and scam calls and what you can do to protect your business.
What Are Robocalls?
Robocalls are automated phone calls that deliver pre-recorded messages to multiple recipients. They are so similar to spam calls, but not always sinister, and that’s the worrisome part. This means that even a business that is innocently leveraging robocalls to market its offerings can easily end up being a reputation-damage victim if they mistakenly call the wrong number. That’s why any business that uses robocalls should consider investing in phone verification tools like Trestle’s caller name api to ensure they are calling the intended targets.
When used legally, robocalls can be a useful tool for informing customers about special business offers, issuing appointment reminders, providing emergency notifications, and communicating other important messages. However, scammers also take advantage of this technology to target unsuspecting individuals with tactics like spoofing, where the caller’s ID is altered to display a false number. That way, a scammer can make a call appear to come from a legitimate source like a well-known business or a government agency.
What Are Scam Calls?
Scam calls are manual or automated calls made with malicious intent. These can be made to an individual at a time or to a large number of recipients through automated calls. Bear in mind that there even exists illegal scamming establishments with a complete call centre with multiple active employees making calls like you would find in a telecom company.
Most of these clandestine companies operate under the radar and may even switch their location to a country where data privacy laws don’t exist or aren’t stringent enough to protect themselves. Luckily, with enough understanding, alertness, and effective prevention measures, you can easily avoid falling into their traps and save your business a lot of trouble.
Who Are the Main Targets of Scam Calls?
Scam calls can be directed to anyone, but trends show a biased focus on certain industries and people. In the U.S., for example, statistics show that these calls are mostly directed toward older individuals in Southern cities. There are two main reasons for this. First, most older people have sufficient time to be on lengthy calls. Second, a majority of the cities being targeted have more economic hardships than others, increasing the allure of easy offers to make or save money.
As for the industries that are mostly targeted, scammers are fond of industries like retail, insurance, and financial services providers where there is plenty of complete customer data. Once they have access to these extensive contact and profile information databases, they can use them for whatever purpose they find fit.
What Are the Most Common Types of Scam Calls?
Scam calls are often successful since scammers are relentless in their attempts, and have multiple types of tricks that they switch depending on the type of individuals or businesses they are targeting. Here are the most common types of scam calls you can expect:
1. Spoofing Calls
These are calls that are altered to imitate the phone numbers of legitimate entities such as local businesses and government agencies. The objective is to trick you into answering and giving your personal or financial information.
2. Car Warranty Calls
With this type, the scammer on the phone will claim they are from the Vehicle Service Department and will try to convince or even threaten you to extend your car’s warranty. They often try to create a sense of urgency by claiming they’ve been sending multiple emails about this with no response. They will then proceed to urge you to purchase the extended warranty before they close your file.
3. Amazon Charge/Package calls
If you are an Amazon Prime user, you are aware of Amazon’s charges. A scammer taking advantage of this can claim they are an agent speaking on behalf of Amazon and that you are supposed to clear a suspicious charge so your account won’t be put on hold.
Another common Amazon-related scam is a scammer who calls and pretends to give updates for an Amazon package even when you haven’t ordered one. They are typically trying to extract personal information from you.
4. Social Security Administration Calls
This type of scam call is mainly directed towards older adults who are about to retire and are highly focused on social security benefits.
Scammers take advantage of this to try and scare individuals into providing their personal information and social security number claiming that their associated benefits are scheduled for suspension.
5. Tax Agency Calls
Scammers can also call and introduce themselves as representatives from your country’s tax agency. They will proceed to claim that you have tax arrears as a result of an oversight in taxes. They may also claim that you qualify for a refund, instead, as a result of the same oversight.
These two scams can be aimed at scamming you for money or information or even both, at the same time.
6. Tech Support Scams
These calls are from scammers who pretend to be from tech companies, intending to trick you into believing there’s an issue with your computer that requires immediate attention. The main goal is to gain remote access to your computer or collect payment for fake services.
Bear in mind that this isn’t an exhaustive list, and new types of scams come up each day, so there are a couple of precautions you should take to stay safe.
Protecting Your Business From Robocalls and Scam Calls
Scammers have mastered the art of unpredictability and surprise, so you should always be a step ahead by:
1. Being Cautious With Unknown Numbers
As a business, it’s not unusual to get calls from numbers that aren’t in your contact list. If, however, you are unsure about a certain number, your best bet is to always hang up and look up the business, organisation, or agency’s official phone number so you can follow up on the issue.
2. Install Call-Blocking Software
You should also leverage scam-blocking applications or enable scam-blocking features on the smartphone used in your organisation. Also, encourage your employees to enable spam filtering features on their phones since some of their personal information can be used to gain access to your business’s systems.
3. Verify Caller Identity
If you ever get a call from an unknown caller who requests your personal or sensitive business information, ask them to call back using their company’s official phone number.
That’s the only way to ensure that the request is legitimate and can be a good starting place for legal procedure if something goes wrong.
4. Invest in Security Training
Keeping your employees informed about the best cyber security and data security can be a rewarding effort that will have a high ROI should the bad guys think of striking.
5. Always Report Scam Calls
Whenever you recognize a scam call, it’s always good practice to report the scammers to the relevant authority. Make sure your employees know who they should report to if they ever get suspicious calls.
Role of Phone Verification APIs in Stopping Scam Calls
For businesses, phone verification APIs play a vital role in mitigating the risks of robocalls and scam calls. They help you determine the authenticity of phone numbers that aren’t in your contact list in real time.
That way, you can be sure that any calls made to or from your business are legitimate and won’t get you into trouble. Such APIs are also a central component of automated robocall filtering systems used in enterprises.
Stay Safe With Trestle’s Phone Verification APIs
Robocalls and scam calls are more than just a cause of disruption to your business operation. They also pose major risks to your business, which makes it crucial to handle them seriously. Thanks to a variety of prevention and mitigation systems, you can say goodbye to scam attempts and run your business flawlessly.
Trestle provides verification solutions to ensure you are making and receiving calls the right way. So if you prioritise safety and respect consumer privacy, you will want to check out Trestle’s website to learn more about verification and enrichment as well as try the different products they offer in those segments.