Unwanted calls from spammers, scammers, telemarketers and robots have scarred me for life, so much so that if I see any unknown phone number calling me, I simply won’t pick it up. Instead, I’ll let it go to voicemail every time, and then I’ll listen to what they have to say. Oh, my car insurance is expiring (it’s not). Hmmm, it seems I also won the lottery (I didn’t).
This year alone, Americans are expected to get over 52 billion robocalls, which breaks down to approximately 1 billion calls every week, according to YouMail, a company that specializes in blocking them.
And these calls come in all shapes and sizes. You’re likely familiar with the good ole “scam likely” calls, but there are also more sophisticated attacks, that involve spoofing local numbers and those of popular companies, to convince you to give up your personal information and cash. More recently, these attacks have moved over to SMS, where there are phishing text messages that come from your own phone number.
No matter what the calls say, one thing is certain –…
