Next time you answer the phone and you don’t know who it is, hang up the phone immediately.
Especially if they call and ask, ‘Can you hear me?’
Police are warning people to remain vigilant when answering the phone or you could be their next target.It’s a scam – and a major one in the US at the moment which is set to hit the UK very soon.
The scam works by the criminals using voice signatures to try and charge you for products or services that you’ve never used.
How does the scam work?
- A local number will ring you
- The person on the phone will then introduce themselves and the company they supposedly work for
- They then ask: ‘Can you hear me?’
- Your answer is recorded, and if you say ‘yes’, your response will be edited and then used to charge you for products or services without your knowledge.
If you try to disagree with them, they will then play back their recording of you saying ‘yes’ and threaten to take legal action if you don’t pay up.
CPR Call Blocker has seen a rise in the scam recently and they are warning that it is only a matter of time before people in the UK will be targeted too.The scammers can also use your voice recording to authorise a stolen credit card.
Kris Hicks, from CPR Call Blocker, told the Sunderland Echo: ‘In our experience of working across the US and UK, scams spread quickly across the pond.’
He then warned Brits to be wary ‘as we have no doubt that fraudsters operating in the UK will soon start using these tactics.’