As more and more internet and email scams are revealed, scammers are now returning to the old school ways of doing business by using the telephone.
As in all scams, targets are generally the elderly, the desperate, and those who are young.
One telephone scam that is currently causing havoc on a global scale is the child benefit hotline.
People who are seeking to supplement the cost of caring for young ones often seek out governmental programs that are designed to ensure children have the necessities required to prosper.
These programs are often free and the amount awarded is based on income as well as unique needs.
They are free, but telling official government websites from those of scammers is becoming more and more difficult.
In England, for example, the group Watchdog uncovered a telephone scam that was run by a 25 year old who created an official looking website that gave a telephone number to call in order to get the information needed to file a request.
Once the number was called, however, a recorded message informed people they had to call a premium number that charged £1.
50 per minute in order to get the information needed.
As with most scams, once the number was called people were kept on hold, given a recorded message that went on for some time without revealing the information needed, and were finally given the free number after an inordinate amount of time.
The result was telephone bills in excess of £50 when, actually, the free number was available all the time through the government website.
The link to the website was found on at least two school websites that had been hacked into in order to post directions to gain access to the website.
Unfortunately, those who followed the link were low income families who followed the instructions in order to file their applications for assistance.
What they ended up with was high telephone bills and little else.
Watchdog contacted the regulator in the district who found that the website complied with the code of practice required by law.
After filing their report with this agency, however, a thorough investigation was conducted.
It was determined that the recorded message was constructed in such a way as to detain callers.
Additionally, although the free number was finally given at the end of the recorded message, consumers were induced to hang on for an unreasonable amount of time.
Ultimately the scammer was fined £50,000 for violating the rules of fairness, pricing information, and call delays and the website was closed down.
However, a quick internet search on sites like www.
callercenter.
com reveals a very similar setup under an almost identical name.
This is very common with scam artists who are caught.
This is only one example of the many child benefit hotline scams which are currently hitting the most vulnerable population on a global scale.
Although these websites may appear official, it's important to remember that information provided by governmental agencies is free.
Therefore, if you're asked to call a number that ends up charging by the minute it's more than likely going to be some kind of scam even if you eventually get the information needed.
As in all scams, targets are generally the elderly, the desperate, and those who are young.
One telephone scam that is currently causing havoc on a global scale is the child benefit hotline.
People who are seeking to supplement the cost of caring for young ones often seek out governmental programs that are designed to ensure children have the necessities required to prosper.
These programs are often free and the amount awarded is based on income as well as unique needs.
They are free, but telling official government websites from those of scammers is becoming more and more difficult.
In England, for example, the group Watchdog uncovered a telephone scam that was run by a 25 year old who created an official looking website that gave a telephone number to call in order to get the information needed to file a request.
Once the number was called, however, a recorded message informed people they had to call a premium number that charged £1.
50 per minute in order to get the information needed.
As with most scams, once the number was called people were kept on hold, given a recorded message that went on for some time without revealing the information needed, and were finally given the free number after an inordinate amount of time.
The result was telephone bills in excess of £50 when, actually, the free number was available all the time through the government website.
The link to the website was found on at least two school websites that had been hacked into in order to post directions to gain access to the website.
Unfortunately, those who followed the link were low income families who followed the instructions in order to file their applications for assistance.
What they ended up with was high telephone bills and little else.
Watchdog contacted the regulator in the district who found that the website complied with the code of practice required by law.
After filing their report with this agency, however, a thorough investigation was conducted.
It was determined that the recorded message was constructed in such a way as to detain callers.
Additionally, although the free number was finally given at the end of the recorded message, consumers were induced to hang on for an unreasonable amount of time.
Ultimately the scammer was fined £50,000 for violating the rules of fairness, pricing information, and call delays and the website was closed down.
However, a quick internet search on sites like www.
callercenter.
com reveals a very similar setup under an almost identical name.
This is very common with scam artists who are caught.
This is only one example of the many child benefit hotline scams which are currently hitting the most vulnerable population on a global scale.
Although these websites may appear official, it's important to remember that information provided by governmental agencies is free.
Therefore, if you're asked to call a number that ends up charging by the minute it's more than likely going to be some kind of scam even if you eventually get the information needed.
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