If Your Cell Phone Rings Once, Don't Call Back

USA TODAY
Posted 10/2/14

If you see a missed cell phone call from an unknown number and call them back, hold on to your wallet before you get taken by yet another scam.Cell phone users can quickly lose $20 or more if they …

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If Your Cell Phone Rings Once, Don't Call Back

Posted

If you see a missed cell phone call from an unknown number and call them back, hold on to your wallet before you get taken by yet another scam.Cell phone users can quickly lose $20 or more if they are hit up by scammers who are playing one-ring games with our cell phones.The fraudsters get computers to send thousands of calls to random cell phone numbers, ring once and disconnect.If you're curious about the missed call, you might return the call right away. But then, you're going to be charged $19.95 for an international call, according to the Better Business Bureau Serving Eastern Michigan.After that, there's a $9-per-minute charge. Music plays to make it appear you're on hold and drag out that call.The phone may be old school when it comes to scamming, but it's still a popular way for con artists to grab cash.The Internet can be a scary place, as well, for scams.The FTC is warning that some scam artists have targeted people looking for online payday loans. The consumers gave their bank account information online, and once the company had the account numbers, the consumers were enrolled in an ongoing membership for an online mall, which is known as a continuity plan, or negative-option plan.But because the terms of the program were obscure, consumers wouldn't catch on to the scam unless they checked their statements. And the company took their silence and failure to cancel as permission to regularly debit money from their accounts.In other scams, the pretext of "free" trial memberships for travel and discount clubs tricked some people into divulging their bank account information, too, to generate regular charges.And now there's a funeral home scam.Yes, con artists are sending e-mails with "funeral notification" in the subject line. The Better Business Bureau reports that the message appears to be from a funeral home in Texas, but it could be from anywhere.Phone Scam


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