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← Return to Phone Scam Worries
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Hello @shirleymac and @tigerlily, welcome to Mayo Connect. Phone scammers play on the elderly. I get a lot of calls from customers about phone scams, asking me if they are legit. Here are some sites that may be helpful:
Phone Scams
https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0076-phone-scams
10 Things You Can Do to Avoid Fraud
https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0060-10-things-you-can-do-avoid-fraud
How to Avoid Phone Scams
https://www.wikihow.com/Avoid-Phone-Scams
How to Identify and Avoid the Most Common Telephone Scams
https://lifehacker.com/how-to-identify-and-avoid-the-most-common-telephone-sca-1692068970
An easy thing to do is get caller ID and never answer the phone when you do not recognize the number. If they don't leave a message, they don't get a call back. It's not fool proof but helps. Another tip is to pick up the phone and say nothing...if it's a robocall, it's waiting for you to say something, if I hear nothing I hang up. If someone picks up the phone, I know it's a call center trying to sell me something or get some information - at any rate I don't want to talk to them. I know it sounds harsh, but time is a valuable asset and anyone trying to scam you is not worth your time to say it in a nice way. I no longer listen to sales pitches, they start I hang up.
Hope you all have a phone scam free holiday season.
John
Replies to "Hello @shirleymac and @tigerlily, welcome to Mayo Connect. Phone scammers play on the elderly. I get..."
Thank you! I agree with the tactics you suggested for robo calls and sales calls. I’ve talked to my husband about only answering if he sees a name he knows, but he is so glad to have a call, he answers all calls. I’ll look at the links you provided and see if there may be a better way to talk to him. He has virtually no short-term memory, but maybe if I repeat it enough, the message will make it into long-term memory.
never answer your phone. let people leave a message and then return their call if you know them.
I don't answer my phone if I don't recognize the caller, but my husband is the problem. He is so happy to have someone call him, he answers every time. I'm going to try some of the suggestions and see what works. I appreciate your contact. Thank you.
@shirleymac, can you let us know if you find something that helps for your husband answering the phone?
Thank you, John
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Thanks John. I'm definitely adding these to my list.