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Scam calls aren't only annoying sometimes they're dangerous!
Just last week, in Three Things You Should Know, I reported on an outstanding warrant telephone scam going on in Allegan County.
Here's the link to the WOOD TV 8 article with more info: Allegan Sheriff Warns of Fake Sergeant Phone Scam
"This week, Allegan County dispatch got several calls from people saying they got a call from a "Sergeant Johnson" from the Allegan County Sheriff's office. The caller says that the individual has "signed a certified letter" agreeing to send in a "secondary DNA sample per new Federal mandates" and has not complied. Then the caller tells the person there is a warrant for their arrest and they need to pay the sheriff's office through money order or gift cards, and then turn themselves in to the Allegan County Jail once payment has been received." - WOOD TV 8
Have you noticed an increase in the amount of "Scam Likely" calls you've been receiving? You're not alone.
Also a noticeable increase in calls from businesses you didn't give your number too? Us too!
Here's what you can do: add your telephone number to the National Do Not Call Registry.
The National Do Not Call Registry is managed by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the nation's consumer protection agency.
You can register your phone number, report unwanted calls, and verify your registration.
It's free to register your home and mobile phone. You may still receive calls from organizations such as charities, political groups, debt collectors and surveys.
If you receive an unwanted call after your number was on the National Registry for 31 days, you can then report it to the FTC.
The FTC takes aggressive legal action to make sure telemarketers abide by the Do Not Call Registry - to date they've brought 151 enforcement actions against companies and telemarketers for Do Not Call, robocall, spoofed caller ID, and assisting and facilitation violations.
So far 147 of these FTC enforcement actions have been resolved and the agency has recovered more than $178M in civil penalties and $112M in restitution or disgorgement.
I registered my cell phone number. I typed in my phone number and email address and received an email confirmation in the next couple of minutes. I confirmed with the link in the email and I should be all set!
Fingers crossed for less of these annoying calls! I'll report back in the next couple of weeks!