Fake Toll-Free Numbers, Tech Support Scams Could Lead to Stolen Credit Card Numbers, Installation of Malware
It’s a mistake to assume toll-free numbers that pop up in search engine results are legitimate customer service lines for a company, wrote FTC consumer education division intern Preston Reisig in a blog post Friday. “Some are run by scammers…
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Export Compliance Daily combines U.S. export control news, foreign border import regulation and policy developments into a single daily information service that reliably informs its trade professional readers about important current issues affecting their operations.
out to hijack your credit card number or install malware on your computer,” he said. By using company names and URLs that look “confusingly similar to national shopping outlets and big box stores,” scammers try to get consumers to reveal credit card numbers, Reisig said. Recent tech support scams involve scammers claiming to spot a security problem on the computer that they will fix for a fee, he said. To stay away from these scams, never assume phone numbers appearing in early search results are valid, Reisig said. “Scammers may even use a variation on the real company’s name in their web address, which is why the presence of a familiar-sounding URL is no guarantee the phone number and website are genuine,” he said. The best place to find contact information from a company is the company’s official website, Reisig said. It may take some time to navigate the page, “but it will increase the likelihood that you’re going straight to the source,” he said. A company may not offer a toll-free number but may provide an email address, online chat function, or have customers enter a number so the next available operator can contact them, he said.