Can You Hear Me Now?
If you receive a call and hear someone say, “Can you hear me?” you better hang up without saying a word. By asking “Can you hear me” the scammers are trying to coax you into saying “yes”. If you say “Yes” the con artist now has a recording of you saying “Yes” in your own voice and that word can be a gold mine for scammers.
The word “Yes”, spoken in your own voice, can be used by scammers to answer questions frequently asked by companies to confirm changes to your accounts, security settings, and purchases, and more – thus giving the con artists extensive access to your personal information.
This known as the “Can you hear me” scam…
The following article is from the LA Times…
“It’s the most cunning robocall scam I’ve encountered — and the fact that I’ve fallen for it more than once tells you how successful it can be.
The phone rings. You pick it up and say “hello.” There’s a brief silence and then a woman’s voice says, “Oh, hi there!” She offers an embarrassed laugh. “I’m sorry, I was having a little trouble with my headset!”
I’ve gotten this call a number of times in recent weeks, at home and at work, and each time I’ve been suckered by the lifelike opening to stay on the line longer than I normally would for a robocall or a telemarketing pitch. It’s only when I realize I’ve heard the exact same thing before that I realize I’m hearing a recording.
This is a new and highly sophisticated racket known as the “can you hear me” scam, which involves tricking people into saying yes and using that affirmation to sign people up for stuff they didn’t order…”
We hope you’ll read the rest of this LA Times article so that you don’t get tricked into saying “Yes”…
And, since keeping you safe is our mission, we encourage you to take some time to learn about more phone scams and read…
Watch Out! These 10 Phone Call Scams Could Steal Your Money
Snopes and Fact-checkers say this is unproven.
That should tell you how credible those sources are.
On March 27, 2017, the FCC issued an official warning about the telephone scam. They defined it as, “Scammers open by asking a yes-or-no question, such as: “Can you hear me?” or “Is this X?” Their goal is to record you saying “yes” in response. They then may use that recording to authorize charges over the phone.” (See this page.)
FCC warning
https://transition.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/2017/db0327/DOC-344083A1.pdf
Better Business Bureau
https://www.bbb.org/article/news-releases/5691-bbb-warning-if-caller-asks-can-you-hear-me-just-hang-up
USA Today
https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/nation-now/2017/01/27/can-you-hear-me-phone-scam/97152110/
We trying to help people here and we do our homework.
And you please keep informing people because what you say is true. Don’t need nay sayers dirtying up the patch! Maybe it will bite them in the bum next!!! Just saying.!
The yes- or- no question has always worried me. There’re too many ways they can get you on the phone with that one. If I’m not hurting bad and I can think clear, I will say, “what is this call about”. You really dislike being that rude but you would not believe the bad calls I get all day long on the phone. The point is though you don’t want to have that YES in there. We are so easily distracted today though it is easier to do than you think.
I think it is amazing the tricks they keep coming up with on the phone to try to get you. You have to try and stay as focused as much as you can today. It is so hard to do when they have you on medication. One thing I can’t stand though is a crook…