There have been variations on the “tech support” cold-call scam for years, with the scammers attempting to take advantage of some consumers’ naivete about electronics. But a new version of the scam appears to go a step further, by making it appear like the person is actually calling from a legitimate tech support number.
The folks at DroidLife.com write about receiving robocalls claiming to be from Verizon technical support, but which are really just attempts to get unwitting consumers to go to a scammy website and enter their personal information.
What makes this scam different than ones we’ve seen in the past is that the scammers are apparently spoofing their phone number so that when the call shows up on Caller ID, it is an actual 1-800 number used by Verizon’s tech support team.
Scammers have long used spoofed numbers to hide their actual phone numbers, but it’s a pretty brazen move to use Verizon’s own tech support number.
As we’ve reported before, spoofing in and of itself is not yet illegal in the U.S. It is illegal to use a spoofed number for the purpose of fraud, which seems to be the case here, but the government’s current stance is that it would rather go after people who abuse the practice than outlaw it entirely.
If you receive a call claiming to be from a company, don’t assume that the number on caller ID is actually the number that is calling you. If you smell a scam, hang up and call the actual company on a listed, public phone number. If Verizon is indeed trying to get in touch with you, someone there will be able to tell you.
Here is the audio of the scam message received by DroidLife:
by Chris Morran via Consumerist
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