[This notification comes from the USA but you can learn a lot about phone scams from it. Watch the VIDEO or read the transcript below:]
[Source: Garry Winsor]
__________________
“You pick up your phone say hello and all you get back is silence. One second, two seconds, three seconds. Then a click and they are gone. That was not a bad connection that was not a wrong number what. Just happened in those 3 seconds could put everything you have at risk and today I am going to show you exactly what they were doing and how to shut it down completely. See most of us just shrug it. Off we think “Ah, probably a glitch. Maybe a telemarketer who hung up.” But here is the thing that silence. Is not random it is not a mistake. It is actually the very first move in a carefully designed operation called predictive dialing. That is a fancy name for something pretty sinister. It is an automated system, a machine whose only job is to find real human beings who answer their phones and your friendly little hello is exactly the signal it is looking for. Okay, so let me pull back the curtain and show you what actually happens during those three seconds.
There are four phases and they go by fast phase. One the blast, a single machine is dialing, hundreds, sometimes thousands of phone numbers, every single minute. It is not a room full of people, It is one piece of software doing all of the heavy lifting, firing off calls all day long.
Phase two, the detection. The instant you pick up and make any sound, hello, yeah even just clearing your throat the system hears it. A little flag goes up next to your number that flag says one word, “live.” Congratulations you just passed their test without even knowing you were taking one.
Phase three, the silence. That two to three second pause you hear is the machine scrambling to connect you to the next available human scammer. But here is what most people do not realize during that silence the system is also recording. It is capturing the sound of your voice and in today’s world of artificial intelligence even a short “hello” is enough to start building a voice profile and that brings us to phase four.
Phase four, the profit. Your phone number just went from a random entry in a massive database to a confirmed validated and now very valuable lead. It gets bumped to the top of what they call a hot list from where it can be sold to other scam operations around the world or it gets queued up for a more targeted attack. We are talking about those calls where they already have a script ready, where they pretend to be your bank or the social security administration but it gets worse they are not just confirming you are real. They are building a little profile on you. They log exactly what time of day you answered. Are you a morning person? Do you pick up in the afternoon? They are learning your habits and all of that information makes you a better, more profitable target and this is not just theory. The Federal Trade Commission reported that Americans lost over $10 billion dollar to phone scams last year 10 billion and adults over 60 accounted for the highest individual losses with a median loss of just over $1,400 per person. Think about that one silent call leads to one confirmed number, which leads to one targeted scam call, which leads to real money disappearing from real bank accounts. It is a pipeline and it starts with those 3 seconds of silence.
Okay but here is the good news. The defense against this entire system is shockingly simple. It all comes down to one rule that I call the Silent shield. Here it is. When you answer an unknown number, say nothing. Just pick up and wait. That is it, 3 seconds of your silence defeats their entire machine. See the system is desperately listening for any human sound. If it does not hear one it assumes your number is dead or it has reached a voicemail. It marks the call as unanswered and moves on, In some cases it will even remove your number from its list entirely. You literally beat the machine before a human scammer ever gets on the line.
Now let me give you a complete four-step playbook. so you know exactly what to do every time an unknown number pops up on your screen.
Step one: answer but do not speak. Do not say hello. Do not clear your throat. Just silence.
Step two: Wait 3 seconds. Count in your head, 1, 2, 3. If it is a real person a friend a doctor’s office, they will speak first. They will say something like “Hello is anyone there?” A robocall system will not it, it will either hang up or connect you to a scammer.
Step three: If someone does come on the line and asks you that classic question, “Can you hear me?” Do not, I repeat do not say “yes.” That one little word is exactly what they need to record.
Step four: Take control. Instead of “yes,” use a full sentence. Say. “I can hear you. Who is this please?” Or simply “Who am I speaking with?” These responses give them absolutely. Nothing they can use against you and here is a bonus tip, go into your phone settings right now and look for a feature called silence unknown callers. On an iPhone, it is under settings. The phone will then silence unknown callers. On most Android phones, it is in your phone app settings under caller ID and spam. Turn that on. And most of these calls will never even ring in the first place.
Now what if you are listening to this and thinking “Oh no I have been answering these calls and saying hello for years.” First of all, do not panic. You are not alone. Millions of people do this every single day and it does not mean you have been scammed. It just means your number might be on some lists but here is what you can do right now to protect yourself.
First check your bank statements and credit card activity. Look for any charges you do not recognize, no matter how small scammers often start with tiny amounts to test the waters. Second, set up a free credit monitoring service. Credit Karma is a good one. It will alert you immediately if anyone tries to open a new account in your name. Third, if you have been getting an unusual number of scam calls you can register your number at the national “Do Not Call Registry.” Go to donutcall.gov . It will not stop every call but It does reduce the volume and finally report suspicious calls to the Federal Trade Commission at reportfraud.fttc.gov. It might feel like a small thing but those reports help authorities identify and shut down these operations.
So let me leave you with this. Those 3 seconds of silence are not a mystery anymore. You know exactly what is happening. You know the four phases and you have a complete playbook to defeat every single one of them but here is my question for you. Who in your life still answers the phone with a big friendly “hello?” to every unknown number. A parent, a grandparent, maybe a neighbor who lives alone. these scammers specifically target people who are trusting and polite. That is their entire business model.
Share this video with that person today. It takes 10 seconds to send a link and it could save them from losing hundreds or even thousands of dollars.”
__________
The Canadian Do not call list is at …..
