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Today I want to discuss something one of our readers wrote into us about: spam calls.In an effort to stop scam calls where scammers ask people to buy and send them gift cards, Green Valley Sheriff's Auxiliary Volunteers worked with banks and retailers like Walgreens to put up warnings about these calls.I have hundreds of blocked numbers from robocalls in my contact list. Ever since I got a phone, these calls have been common, and have been so, so annoying.
Scams and robocalls are common across the country, and are "far and away the biggest complaint to the Federal Communications Commission with over 200,000 complaints each year,” according to the FCC.A reader wrote in to GV News editor Dan Shearer and said, “Since yesterday, every 10 minutes our phone rings and it is another call from a like area code new name. Yesterday the calls were spoofed from Florida and California area codes, and so far today they are all Arkansas area codes. The message is always the same: ‘Your iCloud account has been compromised. Before logging into your account call this toll free number. 208-262-0000.“None of us have an iCloud account. So we know it is a scam. And that is not a toll free number.”Older adults may be even more vulnerable to these scams. In Arizona, the Attorney General’s office has a whole section on its website devoted to consumer scams of seniors. If you’ve already been scammed, or know an older adult who has, you can call the Arizona Attorney General’s Office at 602-542-2124, 844-894-4735 (toll free), or email seniorabuse@azag.gov. For more information, their office has a whole toolkit available for seniors that goes in depth on TONS of different scams. In general, be careful who you give out your personal information to and don't be afraid to hang up when something sounds fishy. Here's something happy though: Kitboga, a streamer and YouTuber, spends hours messing with scammers, as seen in the top right corner of his videos. This video is one of his funniest.Every minute he spends talking to the scammer is a minute that that scammer can’t be scamming someone vulnerable. It’s long, but it’s educational on how gift-card buying scams work. Don't try this at home, he's using a voice changer, a fake Amazon plug-in, screen control software and coding to dupe the scammers.Here are some tips to combat scam calls from the FCC: - Don’t answer calls from unknown numbers. If it’s important, they’ll leave a voicemail and you can decide to call them back. Don’t call back numbers with robot voice messages.
- If the caller claims to be a legitimate company, tell them you’ll call them back, hang up, look up their real number online, and call them back to see if they were actually trying to contact you. DO NOT call any number they give you.
- If a recording asks you to say “yes” or confirm anything, DON’T SAY ANYTHING and hang up. They can use your vocal confirmation to charge you for things you didn’t actually want.
- Be wary of local area codes. Spam callers can spoof their number to match your area code so you are more likely to pick up.
- If you answer a call and the caller asks for payment using a gift card, it’s likely a scam. Legitimate organizations will not ask for payments through a gift card.
- See if your phone carrier has a robocall blocking service or a caller ID service.
- If you receive a spam call, you can file a complaint with the FCC Consumer Complaint Center.
Want an in-depth Roundup about something you see in your community? Email me at rbaier@gvnews.com. Good luck out there and stay safe! Journalist Product Manager
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Any new news on the missing hiker in Madera Canyon? I haven’t heard anything other than they called off the search and it seemed to read “the searchers we’re becoming frustrated “ whatever that means!
The man has not been found and Santa Cruz County is no longer searching the canyon but is pursuing other lines of investigation, according to a member of the command staff.
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