“One-ring” cell phone scam can ding your wallet (2024)

FAQs

“One-ring” cell phone scam can ding your wallet? ›

Scammers let the phone ring once — just enough for a missed call message to pop up. The scammers hope you'll call back, either because you believe a legitimate call was cut off, or you will be curious about who called. If you do, chances are you'll hear something like, “Hello. You've reached the operator, please hold.”

If an incoming call is labeled Scam Likely, it's probably a call from a spammer, scammer, or telemarketer. Your carrier maintains a database of likely telemarketing phone numbers and flags these calls automatically. You can choose to ignore calls marked Scam Likely, or you can block them and prevent them from ringing.

In a “say yes” scam, a caller poses a simple question in hopes of prompting you to respond with the word “yes.” This one-word answer then can lead to more calls from scammers or even credit or debit card fraud.

You'll be targeted by even more scammers

Answering just one spam call is a signal to scammers that you are willing to pick up the phone. So they'll keep calling you, sometimes from different phone numbers, trying to get you to answer again. They'll try different schemes, too, as they think you might be an easy target.

The most common and publicized of phone scams is the IRS scam.

If the number on your caller ID isn't one you recognize or have saved in your contacts, it could be a scammer calling. "Unknown Caller" Message Calls that show up simply as "Unknown Caller" are often from sketchy sources, so it's best to avoid answering those.

A “spam risk” call is from a number that your mobile carrier has flagged as a potential source of spam. They're unwanted calls from unknown callers, who have either looked up your phone number online or accessed it through call detail records. You can generally ignore such calls without any repercussions.

This is what scammers do. They use a program on their computer to auto-dial random numbers with a robot voicemail prompt, such as pressing 1. Once you press 1, it hangs up. So what is happening is that you answered the call and followed the prompt.

Robocalls sometimes prompt you to take action, such as “press 1 to speak to a live representative” or “press 2 to unsubscribe” and so on. By following instructions, you confirm to the robocallers that you are a potential victim and invite further robocalls. Try to avoid taking any action.

Don't! If you engage, the scammer will know they've reached a real person who is willing to talk to them. You may end up getting even more scam calls. You should hang up the phone immediately.

Is it better to decline or ignore spam calls? ›

It's better to ignore spam calls. When you decline a call, it can alert the spammer that your phone number is active, prompting them to call you again. If you use a call-blocking tool that uses caller ID, you should never answer calls labelled as spam.

If you accidentally answer a spam call, scammers know your number is connected to a real person and can target you with more spam calls. These targeted spam calls will try to trick you into giving up your personal information which allows cybercriminals to steal your money, your identity and even your voice.

Contrary to popular wisdom, we found that answering calls makes no difference in the number of robocalls received by a phone number.

Things You Should Know

Ignore calls from 3-digit international area codes that are likely to be scams, including 232, 268, 284, 473, 664, 649, 767, 809, 829, 849, and 876. Be wary of calls from unknown numbers with your own area code. These may be international caller ID spoof scams that appear local.

Your phone can't be hacked just with a regular call — but phone hackers can use fake text messages to infect your phone, and suspicious no caller ID calls may be part of a wider ploy to access your device.

Scammers often come up with various reasons, such as emergencies, medical expenses, or travel costs. Never send money to someone you've only met online.

If your phone number is showing as scam likely, there is no process to get your caller ID cleaned up. Until carriers or the FCC implement a system, the best solution to this problem is to ensure your business is dialing correctly in order to avoid getting flagged.

You may be reusing an old number targeted for spam calls. Usually, it happens when you get a new phone number that has been previously used by someone else. Scammers may continue to call the number, hoping to reach the previous owner; Your number may be on a robocall list.

As the "Likely-SCAM" header in itself is a warning to the user and functions similar to a spam filter, users are advised to exercise caution when they receive such SMSes. Users should ignore SMSes with a "Likely-SCAM" Sender ID if the content of the message is not relevant to them.