News from the world of call scams: How spam calls and robocalls make money on you

As we all know, the pandemic changed sales techniques and ways of making money. Under these conditions, you can easily become someone’s way to make money on you. 

Why? The answer is obvious – spam calls are profitable as never before. Insider (magazine) survey conducted on SurveyMonkey Audience found that 46% of Americans reported receiving spam phone calls on their cell phone every day, with another 24% receiving them multiple times per week.

Google experts tried to answer this question and explain why you are plagued by robocalls.  According to Paul Dunlop, the product manager for the Google Phone App, the culprit is voice-over IP (VoIP). These are phone calls made using the web instead of a traditional telephone line, and today they're cheaper and easier than ever to use.

Interestingly, often people answer these calls. According to a recent Google survey, more than a third of respondents worry that a call from an unknown number could be important for them. The important thing is that calling techniques have changed and callers use various tricks to force you to pick up the phone. One of these tricks is to change the caller's phone number.

„Also, using VoIP technology, spammers place phone calls over the Internet and imitate a different phone number. It used to be that they had a fixed number, and you could block that number. Now with VoIP, spammers have the ability to imitate any phone number.” 

As previous practices have shown, robocalls imitate numbers in your area. “But the most common is neighborhood spam, using your area code and the first three digits of your phone number, which increases the likelihood you’ll answer.”

Is there a difference between robocalls and spam callers?  

There is a difference between spam callers and robocalls. As we know, robocalls are automated phone messages or even calls. Spam calls are unwanted callers who could obtain your number after your consent to contact. 

What exactly can these calls contain?

Scammers most often work with current information, they are trying to get your attention with hot topics. A classic example is winning the lottery - you get the SMS with information that you have won the lottery. According to the USA Today during the coronavirus pandemic, new types of phone scams have arisen including promising tests and cures, expedited stimulus payments, and texts about COVID-19 support and pandemic tracing. 

Does this mean that all incoming SMS and calls can be related to scam? 

Of course, no. However, the truth is you have to take care of your cybersecurity. Fraudsters are always changing their tactics. Here we have a few easy pieces of advice how to avoid unwanted spam calls and robocalls: 

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• Don’t answer the call if you see an unknown number.
• Check the unknown number in the database to see if it is safe, then you can call this number back.
• Download an app that automatically indicates all suspicious numbers.
• Do not reply to SMS that tells you unexpected positive or negative information. Also, you can always check this number in the database. 
• Remember your phone number is your private information - do not consent to contact if absolutely necessary. 

Ready to get rid of spam? Try out Numbo for iOS, or Octocaller for Android and enjoy a spam-free life.