4 Ways Technology Can Help Businesses Find Out Anonymous Phone Calls for Business Security
The phone rings and you stop what you’re doing to answer. But first, you check the caller ID. It reads “anonymous” or says “unknown caller.” What do you do?
Unfortunately, answering the phone for anonymous callers can be problematic. Sometimes the callers are scammers. In other instances, you may hear a prerecorded message. This may seem harmless, but many recording systems use technology to track who answers the phone, so if you answer and the system recognizes that someone is home, the business may keep calling. That can be both annoying and inconvenient.
Just as many anonymous callers use technology to bother citizens or run scams, you can use technology to help protect against phone harassment and scams.
1. Use A Free Phone Lookup Tool
The best option for protecting yourself from phone scams and harassment is to use a free phone reverse lookup tool. Not all reverse lookup services are created equal, to do your research to find you what will work best for you. Look for a reverse phone number lookup tool that allows you to verify If callers are legitimate businesses or not.
For instance, you may be waiting for a call from a medical professional. When you receive a call from an unknown number, enter the number into the reverse lookup tool. It will give you any information associated with that phone number, including if it is registered to the medical professional or clinic you are waiting to hear from.
Even if you can’t enter the number in the tool before the phone stops ringing, check the number afterward. You should even check unknown numbers in reverse lookup tools when you receive voicemails from unknown callers. Some scammers pose as companies that offer credit card protection, for instance, and will leave a voicemail suggesting you need to verify your bank account information. Check the number first to verify if the caller is who they said they are.
2. Don’t Fall for Common Mistakes
One of the best ways to outsmart anonymous call scams is to not believe a thing they say. Many will suggest you can “unsubscribe” from their list by hitting a button or testing back. Some give you options like “press 2 to hang up.” If you believe the caller instructions and do as they say, hitting any button but “end call” may actually verify with the scammer that your line is live. That means that even if you tested “stop,” they’ll probably continue to harass you because they know you’re receiving the calls and texts.
Another common mistake you may make when trying to avoid robocalls and scams is giving your number away in the first place. Businesses like Target or contests that ask you to “text this number to win” collect and store your phone number. Even if they don’t sell your number to scammers, they might get hacked by scammers who will get your info anyway. Only give your phone number away to those you would actually answer the phone for.
3. Report Unknown Numbers
Instead of replying to scammers or just hanging up, be proactive in the fight against this common crime and current harassment issue. There are several ways you can be proactive:
- Keep a record of scam or robocall numbers and report them to the Federal Trade Commission
- Block those phone numbers when they call your phone
- Forward spam texts to your mobile provider using the number 7726 so they can investigate and block the number overall.
When you proactively take steps to report numbers, there is a better chance of robocallers being caught and stopped. This helps reduce the incidents with anonymous callers that you have and can help other people facing the same issue too.
4. Sign Up for the Do Not Call Registry
To help private citizens like you, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has a National Do Not Call Registry. When you register for this list, registered telemarketers are not allowed to call your phone number. Many scammers and robocallers do circumvent the system and persist in calling, but signing up for the registry can reduce the number of unwanted calls you receive.
Another benefit of signing up for the Do Not Call Registry is that you can easily report unwanted calls on the registry website. This gives the FTC leads for investigations into the persist problem of unwanted phone calls.
Getting Smart about Dealing with Unwanted Calls
As technology continues to change and expand, scammers and those with malicious intent are likely to continue to find new ways to find numbers and circumvent protective measures. You have to be smart about dealing with unwanted calls if you want a leg up in controlling this problem.
Save the sites, tools, and needed numbers for the tips above so that you have easy access to preventative options whenever anonymous callers light up your phone screen.
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