Opinion: Robo Calls, Everyone's Nightmare
I just read an article about robo calls in the Consumers Report magazine (September issue) called “Rage Against Robo Calls.” Telemarketing fraud that often begins with a robo call is estimated to cost consumers $350 Million dollars a year.
Some of the most common types of calls state that your computer has a virus, then promise to fix it, if you provide access to your computer, thereby opening the door to identity theft. The IRS scam is another one that has been going for months. The caller threatens, saying you will be jailed or imprisoned because of taxes you owe, even leaving messages like this on answering machines. In the first place, the IRS does not make phone calls and secondly, if you do not owe anything to the IRS, why would you ever take this serious? Another claims that you did not show for jury duty and asks that you verify your date of birth and Social Security number.
