I don’t know why I caused such interest among those who are trying to deceive me, posing as employees of one large bank, but, apparently, they do not lose hope. Interestingly, over the past month, on behalf of this bank, I received a call 6 or 7 times. At first it was funny for me and I even sometimes trolled the callers until they understood it, then I just hung up and even said that I shouldn't call me so often. Of course, I understand that they do not care about such a trifle as repetitions, or even different “companies” are calling, but this cannot but strain. It is possible that you have about the same relationship with these guys. Calls for any reason have recently become more frequent, which means that the scheme is working. That's just where they got their data about us and how you can fight them at all.
Tired of calls? We must endure. It's like Hydra, all of whose heads cannot be chopped off.
How phone spammers work
By the way, that calls have really become more frequent, you can add that sometimes you can really miss an important call from a courier, partner or just a friend who changed his number, but he is an old school student and prefers to call.
Sometimes these calls stop, and sometimes they start with renewed vigor. There is no need to talk about who is doing this. They constantly change numbers and more than one person calls you. If the call is connected simply with advertising, then it is simply not pleasant, but nothing can be done about it. Even a statement to the police will not affect anything, since there is nothing illegal in the actions of the caller. At most they will be asked where they got the database of numbers, but it is easy to collect or just buy. You don't even have to steal it from the operators, as in the old days.
It's another matter when scammers call you and, posing as bank employees, try to somehow force you to transfer money to them or simply disclose important information. I even personally know a person, though not stupid, who was affected. As a result, he lost a decent amount of money, but still does not understand how he fell for it.
Why do phone spammers call me
It's simple. This is psychology and it is one for everyone. Even if we understand that everything is not so simple, we still believe in a living person more than in a letter or leaflet. When a person calls you and politely offers you something, not everyone succeeds in sending it right away. At this moment, a person can get caught. It's like being in a clothing store, when consultants constantly come up to you to offer help. On the one hand, helpfulness and politeness, but on the other, it is less likely that the client will jump off.
Whole groups of operators are involved in making calls. Even if he is alone and works from home, you will still turn on the background, as if he is in a huge call center.
As a result, since such calls work, it means that they bring money. You just need to understand that it is not the first, second or tenth bell that is “firing”. It takes a long time to achieve your goal until you find a compliant client. This means that you need to make money on it in such a way as to beat off everything else. In the end, what are they offering us? Loans at huge interest rates, some dubious clinics where it is easy to rob a client, or simply scammers call.
As a result, we can conclude that there will be nothing good in such a call. Although, a couple of times they called me from the right places, for example, from a car dealership in which I service my car, and they offered MOT at a discount, which I just needed. But these are isolated cases and plus this is a point-to-point ringing, and not from a cannon to sparrows.
Where did the scammers get my number
As I said above, in the old days it was necessary to download the client base of a mobile operator or someone else somewhere. Now you can do this too, but it is much more difficult than just surfing the Internet. The fact is that we leave our data literally at every step. Pizza delivery, online store, registration when buying tickets and the like. It is no longer possible to break this circle, since the number is still everywhere and unnecessary registration simply will not change anything, but this is precisely the sign of our digital and remote world.
There are entire databases that collect data from open sources, and then you can buy them. The price varies from 5 to 50 rubles per contact, depending on its completeness and relevance. Moreover, such databases contain not only our numbers, but also our social networks, and even passports.
How to protect yourself from phone spam and scams
Healthy skepticism can be the simplest defense. Don't believe everyone and everything. If they call from the bank, say thank you and call back yourself or try to have a conversation, but do not disclose your details. If spammers call you, just say “thank you, goodbye” and hang up.
Spam and endless attempts by scammers are already tired, but how to deal with them?
My favorite topic in calls, when someone calls and offers a loan from the bank in which I have a deposit. As soon as they say this, they get lost and begin to get out, thinking that it is easier for me to take out a loan at 20 percent than to withdraw a deposit that is at 6 percent.
Special applications are another good way to protect yourself. For example, Yandex and Kaspersky have good applications. When you receive a call, the application checks it against the database and writes who it is. The signature can be different – from a clear indication of the company that is calling you, to a conditional “potentially dangerous call” or “advertising of goods and services.” There are also subscripts, such as “useful call from the company”. So they called me from the car service.
Of course, some application numbers are not identified, but it is still somehow calmer with them. It is these applications and common sense that help protect against problems and not waste time on empty talk. How do you protect yourself from spam?