Protect Yourself Against Telemarketing Fraud

In order to protect yourself from something you must first understand it. While many companies use telephone advertisement as a legitimate way to reach out to potential clients, there are also people who use it to scam Americans out of millions of dollars yearly.

There are several things you should know about telemarketing fraud. The first is that they understand human nature. By this I mean that everyone wants to win and believe that every day could be their "lucky day". With that in mind, many fraudulent telemarketers use supposed gifts and prizes to gain vital information for scamming people out of money, identities, and property. This tactic draws in the person answering the phone, and while they are celebrating their winning a prize or expecting the free gift they're to receive for donating to a charity, the caller is using their money or identity.

They're also thrifty in how their tactics in acquiring your money. They may ask for a tax or shipping fee on a free gift, claim to be a financial advising firm in order to gain access to your money or accounts, or even offer to regain your money from a previous scam. This is usually not "their first rodeo" for most fraudulent telemarketers, so they may also be located in another country, making it harder for law enforcement to stop them. A fraudulent telemarketer may even use a legitimate charity or company as a cover, giving a fake address, name, or bank-account to send the money to. Another common practice is offering favorable loan rates or credit cards for an "up-front" fee.

After reading these facts, it's also important to know how to protect yourself from telemarketing fraud. The first step is to research a company or charity before you send your money to them. This means asking a telemarketer to call back, or hanging up on them, and checking with your state or local consumer agency or the Better Business Bureau. These agencies can give you key information about the legitimacy of the caller, making sure you don't get scammed. Another key fact is that you should always feel free to hang up at any point, especially if the conversation become threatening or suspicious, because at best you have just foiled a money grab scheme, while the worst you've done is hang up on a telemarketer (which in all honesty is pretty common in this day and age). If a caller claiming to be from a company you already have a relationship with calls to verify information they should already have, they are most likely a scammer. If this happens, directly call a legitimate number from the company to make sure they have the correct information. Also, if the person is calling as a representative of the company, and you have caller ID, the name of the company should come up, not an unrecognizable number. The final precaution you can take is knowing your "do-not-call" rights, which allow you register your number at donotcall.gov or by calling the do-not-call hotline at 888-382-1222. These options as well as telling callers on a case to case basis not to call back can steer away scammers. You can report any offenders of these rights to the website or number at any point.

If you find that there are no prior complaints about the caller, or you've deemed them to be legitimate yourself, there are still two precautions you can take. The first is to never pay with cash, check, or money order, as they are gone the second you mail it or give information for access to it. For these reasons, you should always pay via credit card when possible, because if it turns out to be fraudulent, you can use the credit card company to help you find your money, while also reporting the crime, which in most cases can help you get your money back. You should also use caller ID or keep the number, so that you have some way of tracking back to the caller in case of a crime.

Finally, if you are a victim of telemarketing fraud, it is not the end of the world. Several options are still at your disposal including reporting it to law enforcement or contacting the National Fraud Information Center at fraud.org or by calling 800-876-7060. The Department of Justice had begun taking large steps in foiling telemarketing fraud schemes. Although there is no official statistic for the United States, a recent survey in the United Kingdom reported that 3.2 Million people fell victim to telemarketing fraud, with losses of up to 6.8 Billion dollars. With these facts and all the available information and agencies to protect you from telemarketing fraud, that number should not grow in the coming years.