Dear tellows friends,
We hope you had a wonderful start of 2020! As it is almost February, tellows would like to inform you about the latest phone fraud. Smishing, which is also known as SMS scam, has been raising concern in the US, as many reported that scammers sent endless text messages to trick them. Therefore, tellows also added a new caller type for you to choose from when reporting a spam call – the SMS Spam.
Happy new year tellows friends!
As we heard a lot about robocalls in the US last year, measures were taken by the end of the year as President Trump has signed legislation giving authorities to the right to identify and block robocalls.
It is already mid July! tellows hopes that you have a good start of the summer. In the last article, tellows shared information about the Bill of ‘Traced Act’ being passed in the Senate. Although we are now getting more and more help in preventing spam calls, caller ID and call blocking apps continue to be important!
In the US, half of the phone calls people received are considered to be spam calls. According to FTC, in 2019, 78% of frauds are conducted by phone and the total reported loss is 83M USD. Till July this year, there are already 143K reports of phone frauds. However, compared to last year with a total loss of phone frauds estimated to be 442M USD, we can already see that the measures adopted are helpful and it is promising that one day we will no longer have to deal with spam calls!
Screenshot from FTC report
Continue reading
Robocalls have been bothering us a long time and it has recently been becoming more and more unbearable. Last year the number of robocalls reached 26 billion – a 46% increase comparing to the estimated robocalls in 2017. A bill regarding to nuisance calls is passed by the US Senate with 97 to 1 vote in the later of May. The bill, named TRACED (Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence) Act, will lift the fine to $10,000 per robocall and extend the statute of limitations on robocalls from two to three years.
According to CNN politics, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer expressed that
“There’s very little more annoying to New Yorkers than being woken up in the dead of night by automated calls trying to scam them out of their hard-earned money,”
“The TRACED Act is just what we need to hang up on these nonstop robocalls, and the House should follow the Senate’s lead and pass it ASAP.”
Telecom companies are happy with the result. With this new regulation established, carriers will be able to implement robocall blocking technologies for customers automatically.
Screenshot from TransNexus
Continue reading
If you still remember, the US government is doing something to stop the skyrocketing robocalls, there are bills in Congress waiting to be voted next month. In the US, we receive billions of robocalls per month, and monthly money loss amount to 128M last year. Of course, it is promising if the bill passes in the summer, however, we should also pay attention to the latest information about phone scam in the mean time!
Picture from FTC
Continue reading
The number of phone scams has been soaring in the recent years and scammers have been taking advantages of technology to perform endless phone frauds. As stated by the Federal Communications Commission, half of the calls made in the US in 2019 will be spam calls. Revenue lost due to phone frauds in US peaked $83M in the first quarter of 2019, more then 140K reports received in 4 months according to Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Phone scam is the most common type of frauds referring to FTC and the median of reported fraud loss is $1000.
Robocalls are the most notorious spam calls nowadays. We have little control for this particular type of phone fraud, as it is generated by computers that dial high volume of random phone numbers in a short period of time. But what about other types of spam calls, like Wangiri scam, IRS scam, telemarketing calls, sweepstakes calls……? Why do these scammers call you and where is the leak? There is always something we can do to lower the chances of receiving spam calls! Lets start with protecting our personal information on the internet!
According to First Orion, also sited by Federal Communications Commission report,almost half of the calls received in the US will be a spam in 2019. According to a caller ID and blocking company in the US, it stated that there were 26.3 billion robocalls made in 2018. All these figures point to a skyrocketed trends of spam calls and especially for robocalls, that bothering almost half of the residents in the US. We have all received spam calls more or less before, but what are these Robocalls and how do they get so popular?
What are Robocalls?
Dear friends of tellows in the US,
After the first report in January of the most searched phone numbers, tellows wants to show you some insights of the most searched phone numbers in March. Recently we are alarmed by the soaring trend of spam calls in the US, especially the notorious robocalls! Therefore tellows is also preparing an article about it and it’s coming soon! So stay tuned! But now let us go through the details of the most searched numbers in March!
The top spot on our list of the most searched numbers belongs to 18009452000.
It has a tellows score of 7, which is an untrustworthy rating, and the search requests cumulatively numbered over 14k, there are also 11 reports by our users that the call is from a company called Chase Bank. Some of the users reported that the scammers disguised themselves as Chase Bank, asked if the receivers want to lower their interest rate and tried to attain credit card information.
The second place goes to this number +1400491098.
Our tellows community reported that the number belongs to a company called Airtel, with a tellows score 7 and over 16k search requests . Most of the users reported that they received numerous calls per day.
The third one is 2105206400.
Our users suggested that it is also a company claimed to be Chase Bank with over 42k search requests on our site. It has a tellows score 7 and most of our users reported that the caller tried to get their personal information including bank details or claiming that their payment is due and therefore their bank details have to be reviewed.
Continue reading
Dear friends of tellows,
Hi there! The first month of January already passed and tellows hope you had a wonderful beginning of the year. We thank you for choosing tellows as your resources of phone scam protection, as in January we received over 100K page views and we joyfully invite you to stick with us through 2019. This time we will go through the January top 3 searched numbers in the tellows U.S website, and also share some of its details for your information, such as the type of callers and the name of companies.
The first mostly searched number is +1400491098.
It has a tellows score of 6, which is a mildly trust worthy rating, yet the search request cumulatively numbered over 10k.
The second frequently searched number is +442038076172.
Our tellows community reported that the number belongs to a company called CFD Global, which its country code revealed it is a British phone number. With a tellows score 8 and also a nature to be a telemarketer.
The third one is 8002927508.
Our users suggested that it is a debt collection company named Synchrony Financial or CareCredit and its cumulatively search requests over 20k. It has a tellows score 6 and most of the users have opinion that once they paid the loan the call stopped.
Continue reading
Just imagine you receive a phone call one afternoon from THE US Federal Grants Administration and you think to yourself, what could they possibly want with me? You receive the news of a lifetime – you have been awarded a grant to initiate any project or further your education of your choosing, all at a total value of $8000.00!*
Does it sound too good to be true? The latest scam to sweep across America is the Government Grant scam and unfortunately my friends, this one hasn’t landed anyone thousands of dollars richer. What usually happens to the contrary, is that the caller claims himself to be a representative of the US Federal Grants Administration and attempts to lure the recipient to believe that they have qualified for a government grant. In order to retrieve this “free money,” the caller firstly requires the person’s bank account number or a small figured deposit.
We have some beneficial information with what you might hear, see and expect, to help easily recognize this Government Grant Scam and useful tips for proceeding with the phone call.
