#call control

[everycall]

2020 Census Imposter Scams: What They Are and How to Avoid Them

There’s nothing a scammer loves more than to pretend to be a trustworthy government agency. According to a recent survey by AARP, 47 percent of Americans have been contacted by an imposter. 40 percent of these imposters were posing as government employees.

IRS scams, Social Security scams, Medicare scams— we’ve seen it all.

However, with the 2020 census at our doorsteps (literally), a rise in imposter scams is inevitable. Masquerading as the Census Bureau, crooks may ask you for personal information that may help them steal your identity or your money.

However, the Census Bureau has already issued a statement to warn possible victims, saying, “the Census Bureau will not send unsolicited emails to request your participation in the 2020 Census.”

In addition, agents will wear a valid ID badge while conduct surveys door-to-door, and will never ask for the following information:

Your Social Security number.

Your bank account or credit card numbers.

Anything on behalf of a political party.

Money or donations.

How to Spot a Census Scam

You can avoid census scams by becoming informed about the census process. Beginning in mid March, US residents will receive an invitation to participate in the 2020 census by mail.

According to the Federal Trade Commission, census takers will visit homes beginning in May 2020, and will come back up to six times if no one answers the door. They may leave a door hanger with a phone number for you to call in order to schedule a visit.

The Federal Trade Commission reports that the Census Bureau may call “if you’re not home when a census taker stops by or when a personal visit is not convenient.”

To ensure that the call you’re getting is legitimate, note that a Census caller will never ask for financial information or your Social Security Number. You can also find more detailed information about Census Bureau numbers and the census process at census.gov.

Protect Yourself from Scams

It has become increasingly difficult to detect scam numbers, but there are some ways you can protect yourself and your loved ones from fraud.

First, register with the National Do Not Call list. This is a list of numbers belonging to people who do not wish to be contacted by businesses. Keep in mind that registering for this list will not protect you from those who make illegal calls.

Second, download Call Control, the only spam call blocker with a Community IQ feature that uses data about scam numbers from all over the world to protect you from even the latest scams. 

Download Call Control for Android

Download Call Control for iPhone

Want to block spam calls from your landline, too? Learn about Call Control Home here. (Click here to purchase from Amazon.)

Do you manage a phone system for a business? Learn how to block spam calls coming into your business lines here.

[babyboomervoice]

The Best Call Blocking Apps for Your Smartphone

The Best Call Blocking Apps for Your Smartphone

By Justin Lavelle

Most of us have been bombarded by unwanted phone calls from telemarketers, political action groups or survey companies. Americans received some 26 billion spam phone calls in 2018.

The Do Not Call Registry (DNCR) managed by the Federal Trade Commission can slow down the number of calls you get, but it won’t eliminate nuisance callers.

However, you can take matters into your own…

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[idropnews]

Sick and Tired of Robocalls? This App Can Block Them Better Than the FCC

[idropnews]

This iPhone App Can Finally Help Put an End to Those Infuriating Robocalls

[everycall]

Racist Robocalls on the Rise During Campaign Season

Andrew Gillum, the Democratic nominee for governor of Florida, has been targeted by racist robocalls— and it’s not the first time.

Florida residents, get ready to block another number from your phones, because these calls have been running rampant, and will apparently continue until this year’s elections are over. It’s unclear exactly how many have received them.

The call consists of a pre-recorded message. A man’s voice can be heard speaking in what news outlets have described as a “caricature of a black dialect”. What the speaker says is just as offensive as the mock "accent”.

"Well hello there. I is the negro Andrew Gillum, and I be asking you to make me governor of this here state of Florida," the message begins. It goes on to promise Florida’s residents “all the chicken feet they want”, and uses racist, highly insulting language.

It ends with a message that it was paid for by The Road to Power, a white supremacist, anti-Semitic group whose leader is Iowan Scott Rhodes.

Gillum’s opponent in the race, Ron DeSantis, called the calls, “disgusting.” He maintains that the Republican party has had nothing to do with them. However, DeSantis has been accused of making racist remarks himself, after he said in an interview that Florida voters should not “monkey this up” by electing Gillum.

Earlier in the year, the same white supremacist group coordinated similar racist robocalls targeting Gillum after he won the Democratic gubernatorial nomination in the late-August primary.

Gillum’s spokesman Geoff Burgan stated: “We would hope that these calls, and the dangerous people who are behind them, are not given any more attention than they already have been."

The best way to not “give attention” to these calls, of course, is to block them from your cell phone and landline. Download Call Control for free today, and choose which types of calls you wish to block, including unsavory racist political calls such as these.

Photo credit: CNN

[everycall]

Are Political Robocalls Legal?

As voting season approaches, some candidates turn to robocalls to get the word out about their campaigns. Since they often take too long to get to the point, or they call right during dinner time, most of us would prefer to forgo these calls.

Although the Telephone Consumer Protection Act does set some limits on pre-recorded or auto-dialed political calls and texts, they are not illegal. The rules vary based on whether the calls and texts are sent to landlines, cell phones, or certain “protected” lines (hospitals, toll-free lines, etc).

According the Federal Communications Commission, the national rules are as follows:

Political campaign robocalls (auto-dialed or pre-recorded) aren’t allowed to call cell phones without prior consent.

Political campaign robocalls (auto-dialed or pre-recorded) aren’t allowed to call protected lines (hospitals, toll-free lines, etc.)

Political campaign robocalls are allowed to landlines, even without prior consent.

In addition, pre-recored voice messages must contain the following information: the caller’s identity (must be stated at the beginning), and the caller’s telephone number.

Political text messages must follow the same rules. If they are auto-sent, there must be prior consent from the mobile phone owner.

Some states restrict political robocalls even further. For example, California law prohibits recorded political messages altogether.

Note that the rules may be different for general political calls (not pre-recorded, not auto-dialed).

How to Block Political Campaign Calls

Since they aren’t illegal, there’s no chance that political campaign calls and robocalls will be stopping any time soon. Therefore, the best way to combat them is to install a call blocker that lets you block these types of calls.

In the Call Control app, you can choose which types of calls you wish to block. For example, you can block telemarketers and robocallers, while allowing reminder calls. 

[everycall]

Spoofing Scams Get Scarier Than Ever

Scammers Threaten to Kill Victim’s Mother

A woman fell victim to an elaborate phone scam in early August, as spoofed number calls continue to rise. Lauren Kennedy was driving to work one morning and speaking to her mother on the phone. When she hung up, her mother immediately called her back. Only this time, it wasn’t actually her mother.

A man spoke, telling Kennedy that he had abducted her mother, and that he would kill her if Kennedy didn’t pay a ransom. At first the victim thought that it might be a hoax, but then she heard her mother’s voice in the background, frantically calling out her name.

“At that point, that’s when I knew it was real," Kennedy told CNN news. "I heard her in the background, and I thought for sure that they had taken her.”

So, she quickly headed to a local grocery store and followed the steps just as the caller demanded. She loaded money onto Money Pak cards, gave the caller the card numbers, and then destroyed the cards, which were worth about $1,400.

The caller then told her to email him a photo as evidence that she had cut up the cards. Then, he hung up, and Kennedy immediately called her mother. It was then that she realized that she had been scammed.

Somehow, the scammers had both Kennedy’s and her mother’s phone numbers. They had called Kennedy’s mother at the same time as Kennedy. They told her that they had abducted her daughter, which is why Kennedy heard her screaming her name over the phone. The scammers had used a spoofing device to fool Kennedy into thinking that the phone call had come from her mother.

What is “Spoofing”?

Spoofing devices are relatively common these days. They allow someone to call from one number while transmitting the caller ID of another. The technique is so simple and widespread that smartphone apps such as “Spoofcard” have been created to offer the general public the chance to spoof Caller ID for a fee. Scammers who utilize neighbor-spoofing are hard to track down, since the latest technology has made it fairly easy for spoofers to hide their true identity, and scammers can call you from far-away countries. This tricky type of call is one of the most complained-about scams of 2017.

Protect Yourself

How can you avoid a neighbor-spoofing call if there’s no way to tell whether it’s spoofed or not? What if it really is your neighbor on the other end calling about an emergency, or a concerned teacher from your grandchild’s school calling about an incident? Luckily, Call Control has introduced a new feature within their call-blocking app that now recognizes spoofed calls and blocks them before they reach you! Don’t have the Call Control app on your smart phone yet? Download it here.