« Special Newsletter - Phone Scam

Many people have asked about phone scam and want to be in better control of their phones.  It's a great technology and we all use it, so maybe a few pointers on controlling will help.

First, there's a reason they call it a "smart" phone - and it feels that it is sometimes more smart than I am.  Remember that these phones have more computing power than what we used to send explorations to the moon.

Picture from our November meeting

(Sue Cornelius - photographer)

Passwords - Remember to used secure passwords.  Secure passwords are those which are at least six characters in length, use numbers and special characters.  This is not to say that you need a new password for every single use and occassion, but it is to say that the passwords you use must be secure.  Remember that scammers use password creation programs to detect your passwords at thousands of attempts per minute.

Some hints -

1. Choose something you can easily remember - your street perhaps or your child's name or a word in a foreign language.
2. Change one of the letters to a special character.
3. Change one of the letters to a number.

Example - I live on Elliott Ave.

Elliott then becomes - Ell!ott - note the exclamation point!

Ell!ott then becomes 3ll!ott - note the "E" becomes a "3" - (An "E" is a "3" in reverse.)

3ll!ott then becomes 3ll!ott7 - note the 7 is added because the word has 7 letters!

So "3ll!ott7" is a much more secure password than "Elliott."  This example might help, and our next newsletter will have additonal hints.

Contacts - Try to maintain an active contact list. Add your self as a contact - as this will let others know you are calling them!  When someone calls you, their contact name should appear as the caller.   If you do not see a contact name on a call, consider letting the message go to voice mail.

After the call, if there is no voicemail, chances are it was a scam call anyway.  Scammers and frauds seldom leave their real contacts or messages.

Finally, if your family has the TV, phone, and comptuer on one account, the caller's name and number will be broadcast on the television.  Look there to see if it is a number and contact you know and trust.

You can often ask a new contact to send you their contact information via text.  Remember these are "smart" phones so you can add their number to your contacts automatically with a click.

Finally, review your contacts at least once a year.  For those which are no longer relevant, feel free to delete that contact.  You don't need it, and someone may have scammed them. 

Spam Alerts from the Phone Company -

Verizon, like many companies providing Internet Services, has a program for spam alerts.  (https://www.verizon.com/support/residential/homephone/calling-features/stop-unwanted-calls)

Check with your Internet services company to see what they offer.

• Introducing Spam Alerts

• We get lots of complaints about unwanted computerized calls, and we get it - no one likes robocalls. To help you identify them, we've added a new Spam Alerts feature to your home phone's Caller ID. Your Caller ID will show "SPAM?" before caller's name that have been identified* as a possible unsolicited call.

  

  *A complex and always-improving algorithm is used to determine which calls match the SPAM criteria. While we're focused on identifying and alerting you to these types of calls, you may still receive unsolicited calls from spammers/scammers as these calls will not be blocked automatically. You still choose which calls you want to answer and which ones you don't.

  To report numbers that you believe should be listed as spam, or incorrectly labeled as such, please visit spamalerts.verizon.com
  

Scam Alert - There's an APP for that!

(https://www.wect.com/2019/03/29/verizon-wireless-rolls-out-free-app-alert-you-scam-calls/)