Phone scam, more commonly known as phone-based communications fraud, is the usage of phone services or products by a telecommunication entity or an individual with the intent of either illegally stealing money or failing to repay a legitimate telecommunication business or its clients. The term, "telephone scam," generally refers to any situation in which a person uses a cellular telephone to make an illegal attempt to obtain cash or a benefit from another. Telephone scam is not limited to any specific type of phone or network and has been used by both private individuals and businesses that are using cellular phones to conduct their affairs. This crime can also include situations in which the perpetrator of the crime conspires with others to commit the crime using a cellular telephone or any other method. The most common types of phone scams include the following:
The most well-known types of phone scam are those which involve preying on an individual's curiosity about a new service or product that the person may be interested in. Some of the most popular methods of this kind of crime include the use of a voice changer, fake caller ID, a message saying that someone is calling from a bank or other location, or even a call screening system that plays a recording of an outside line. In order to commit this crime, a caller will typically leave numerous missed calls behind which will result in the creation of a traceable report, commonly known as a "Trace." In some cases, these trace reports are forwarded to the local authorities for investigation. If the caller is caught by the police, he can face criminal charges.
Another common technique that many phone scammers will use involves a series of phone calls that cover up the fact that the calls were not made from a legitimate location. Often, these calls will simply use the recipient's area codes and will claim that they are calling from a" Toll Free Number." The problem that arises from this kind of tactic is that the caller will not have legitimate access to the "Toll Free Number" or will not be able to establish that it is legitimate in the first place. Because of this, the caller can continue his ruse for a while and then finally change the area code to something more difficult to track down. In the end, if the recipient does trace back the call, he could find that the caller was actually calling from an unlisted area code or was simply trying to convince him that he was talking to a legitimate company.
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