GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) – Scam calls have been a prevalent annoyance for quite a while, but it seems like things have only gotten worse for some people.
Your phone rings off the hook with numbers you don’t recognize, and IDs from places where you don’t actually know anyone. Susan Bach of the Better Business Bureau says classic methods don’t phase these people.
“One of the major gripes that we hear about are all of these unsolicited calls,” Bach said. “The do not call list does put your name on the do not call list for legitimate telemarketers, but scammers don’t pay any attention to the do not call list. So it’s not going to stop the scammer companies from calling you.”
That means next to nothing will actually stop the calls from coming in, unless you find a way to block all of those phony numbers.
“If these calls are coming in on a mobile phone I would highly recommend that you reach out to your phone provider or download some kind of a call blocking app,” Bach told WTAQ News. “On an iPhone, you can adjust your settings so that if a call comes in and that number is not in your contacts or it’s not a person that you recently called, the phone won’t ring…On a landline, I would highly recommend that people reach out to their phone provider and ask for them to add a call filter onto your line. That way if a known scammer or telemarketing call comes in, they will be scrubbed against a black list. If there’s a match, then the call will be automatically disconnected.”
Calls, texts, and more can be an irritating sequence distracting you from regular activities. It may get frustrating. But Bach says to avoid making any contact with them, whatsoever.
Doing so could actually let scammers know it’s an active number and increase the amount of messages you receive.
“I wouldn’t interact with them at all. That’s what they’re hoping you do,” Bach said. “If the message comes with a link or an option to cancel that way, I wouldn’t click on it. Just ignore them.”
