FTC and BBB say latest scam yet another way crooks try to separate you from your money, personal identification Credit: Reuters The Federal Trade Commission this week issued a warning about the irritating and illegal “Can you hear me now?” robocall scam making the rounds on phones across the country. The FTC says it has received hundreds of complaints on the calls which could end up being part of a scam to get your money. +More on Network World: U.S. Marshals warn against dual phone scams+ The Better Business Bureau described the scam earlier this year: “By replying ‘yes,’ ‘sure,’ or other agreeable response, the scammer records the call and uses that sound bite to authorize unwanted charges to the scammers benefit. “It seems like an innocent question, but it can cause undue financial burdens and stress. The scam caller may already have your financial information, which is how they authorize a payment and, if you dispute a charge, the scammer has doctored the recording to make it seems as though you agreed to it.” +More on Network World: IRS Dirty Dozen: Phishing, phone cons and identity theft lead scam list for 2017+ So, what to do? The FTC and BBB offer the following suggestions: Don’t respond, just hang up. If you get a call, don’t press 1 to speak to a live operator or any other number to be removed from the list. If you respond in any way, it will probably just lead to more robocalls – and they’re likely to be scams. If you do answer, hang-up immediately. Don’t answer any questions or provide any personal information to an unknown caller. Avoid answering calls from unfamiliar numbers. If you don’t recognize a phone number, even if it has a local area code, let the call go to voice mail. You can always call back if they leave a message and it appears legitimate. Check your records for unfamiliar charges. If you suspect you are a victim of this scam check your credit card, banking, phone and cable bill statements for unfamiliar charges. Dispute any charges that you did not authorize on purpose. Report the incident. Keep track of the initiating phone number, file a scam report with BBB Scam Tracker to help warn others from falling victim and notify the FTC or FCC Contact your phone provider. Ask your phone provider what services they provide to block unwanted calls. Put your phone number on the Do Not Call registry. Access the registry online or by calling 1-888-382-1222. Callers who don’t respect the Do Not Call rules are more likely to be crooks. Check out these other hot stories: Cisco: IOS security update includes denial of service and code execution warnings Cisco closes AppDynamics deal, increases software weight Can you imagine Mars with Saturn-like rings? Cisco closes AppDynamics deal, increases software weight Juniper extends data center interconnect options Cisco issues critical warning after CIA WikiLeaks dump bares IOS security weakness DARPA wants to cultivate the ultimate transistor of the future DARPA plan would reinvent not-so-clever machine learning systems Cisco security advisory dump finds 20 warnings, 2 critical DARPA fortifies early warning system for power-grid cyber assault Cisco’s Jasper deal – one year, 18 million new IoT devices later, challenges remain Cisco jumps on ex-Juniper exec Davidson for service provider biz Old nemesis spam becoming significant way for attackers to subvert data Related content news analysis FBI/IC3: Vile $5B business e-mail scam continues to breed FBI/IC3 reports over 40,000 worldwide victims and $5 billion in the latest reckoning By Michael Cooney May 08, 2017 5 mins Security news analysis Ultimate geek dream? NASA challenges you to jump on the FORTRAN bandwagon! NASA opens High Performance Fast Computing Challenge By Michael Cooney May 05, 2017 4 mins Government Open Source Enterprise Applications news analysis Fragmented, disorganized IT systems thwart feds ability to track visas DHS OIG says ineffective IT process has contributed to a backlog of more than 1.2 million visa overstay cases. By Michael Cooney May 04, 2017 5 mins Analytics Data Center Security news analysis TSA: “As you can imagine, live anti-tank rounds are strictly prohibited altogether.” TSA finds live anti-tank round in carry-on bag By Michael Cooney Apr 28, 2017 2 mins Security PODCASTS VIDEOS RESOURCES EVENTS NEWSLETTERS Newsletter Promo Module Test Description for newsletter promo module. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe