Can you hear me? New phone scam

By: News Staff

news@abc6.com

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Scammers have come up with a creative way to trick you. This one starts with a call asking if you can hear them, but when you answer, they have got you.

“Hello? Hello? Can you hear me?” It is a simple question, but those four words could make you a victim of a scam.

Here is how it works. You first get a call from a number you do not recognize. After you answer the phone, a person on the other end introduces themselves and their so called business. After that, comes the question, can you hear me?

“It is natural for the other person on the other end of the line to say ‘yes!’”

Amy Kempe, Public Information Officer for the Attorney General’s Office, says saying “yes” could ultimately cost you.

“They record you saying yes, what they can then do is turn around and have you sign up for other services with the word yes, your recorded voice, and your cell phone number.”

Kempe says even if you do not provide a payment method, the con-artist has your phone number and many phone providers pass through 3rd party charges.

“They are signing you up for services that you have no idea you have signed up for and you are going to be charged for them. Typically on your cell phone bill.”

Rhode Island’s Consumer Protection Unit has not received any complaints so far, but that does not mean people have not fallen for it.

“People might not realize that they’ve been scammed, and may not notice it for a couple of months.”

The next time you get a strange call and hear these four words: Can you hear me? Simply hang up or let the strange call go to voicemail.

©WLNE-TV / ABC6 2017