Don’t be afraid every time your phone rings
JOPLIN, Mo. (KSNF/KODE) — The majority of calls I receive on my phone aren’t from my friends, family, or coworkers (and I work in a newsroom — which speaks to the daily volume of unsolicited calls and texts). Now, the majority of my incoming calls are from scammers and telemarketers, notifying me that “my computer has a virus, and only the caller can fix it.” I even get calls from “John Smith,” who’s obviously pretending to be the IRS and threatening me to pay up. The calls that I believe are the most ridiculous: “Congratulations, you’ve won the lottery… (followed by)… can we have all of your personal information and the information of your closest friends and relatives before processing your winnings?”
Calls like these are why I don’t pick up any phone number I don’t easily recognize, even if it might actually be important because I’m scarred by the sheer amount of spam calls I get every single day. As a reporter, this can be a tricky balance. A lot of my calls are also legitimate, whether it be a source for a news story, or someone calling to report a news tip.
Unfortunately, these unsolicited calls are only increasing. 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). These calls come in…
