Phone Scams

We've all received that phone call at least twice in our life, maybe more. "Congratulations, you've won a trip to Las Vegas, you just need to pay $250 in shipping fees to the West Indies to claim your spot". Do not get your hopes up on phone calls like these, they are scams. Recently I received one of these phone calls, I picked up after the seventh plus time they rang my phone. This type of telemarketing scam have been victimizing thousands of people every year. 80% of those victims happen to be the elderly. Be sure you're telling grandma and grandpa not to send money to a stranger who happened to make contact with them through phone or email.

How can you tell if they are scammers? Pretty easy.
For starters, during the duration of the phone call they will state they are of a company of which you never heard of. They say you have one a large prize of either a trip or of money, which you did not sign up for and you were randomly selected. They will inform you that you need to pay shipping fees for the said prize you have won. They will either ask for your credit card information or ask you to wire money through either MoneyGram or Western Union. They will tell you to send money to a person instead of an actual company name. They will call non-stop until you send the money.

In my experience my scammer asked me to pay $250 in shipping fees for my free prize. If it is free, why do I have to pay for it?

According the the Federal Trade Commission Consumer Info webpage, some scams include:

• Random winner of low cost/free trip
• Foreign Lottery 
• IRS calling for payment
• Loans and Credit card protection
• "Free Trail" offers

To be honest there is no best way to avoid calls like this. All you can do is say no and report the call. You can report the call to the Federal Trade commission and register your number on the National Do Not Call list. If you don't want to do all that for some reason, just block the phone number through your call settings.

If you have already gave your credit card information after receiving said phone call, immediately call the bank to stop this transaction. If you have fallen victim to the IRS/government agent phone scam you can report it to the IRS as well. If you wired money through Western Union services you can call their fraud department at 8004481492 and see what they can do for you. (I am not a paid promoter/endorser, just trying to make sure stuff like this can be prevented)

So remember if a person you do not know calls you up and promises you money if you send money, DO NOT DO IT! Know who you're sending to.