CLEVELAND — Imagine just sitting in your home and all of a sudden your phone starts ringing over and over again. The callers are angry with you. They’re texting you, not happy. This happened to a man who now wants to warn you about scam calls and spoofed calls so you don’t fall victim.
For James Price, callers from Ohio came out of nowhere.
"People (were) telling me I was calling their number, and I was telling them, 'No, it’s not me,'” said Price.
CALLS COMING FROM OTHER STATES, TOO
He lives in Oklahoma, and he said the calls he got were not only from Ohio but Pennsylvania and New Jersey, too.
"This one lady, she said, 'I know it’s you because it’s your name popping up on my phone,'” described Price.
He said some of the callers were older people claiming he was trying to get their money.
Price just kept thinking about when scammers had called his mom in the past.
"I would tell her because she’s elderly, and I tell her, 'do not give people your information,'” said Price.
DON'T MESS AROUND WITH SCAMMERS
“Do not interact with scammers,” said Sheryl Harris. She’s the Director of the Cuyahoga County Department of Consumer Affairs.
She told us they’ve heard from people in our area saying they knew some callers were scammers, so they just toyed with them, kept them on the line, but that can backfire.
"Sometimes the scammers get really angry and they will take your number and then that becomes the number that they’re showing on caller ID when they’re calling,” warned Harris.
Price admitted he’s messed with some scam callers before.
"And I’ve talked to them and I would play with them, you know? Tell them, yeah, I’ll send you $1,000,” he told us.
Scammers can spoof or fake the number or title of the incoming call, making it look like it’s from your bank, your sheriff, or your credit card. Harris said businesses have tried to combat this by listing calls as Scam risk or Spam risk.
“Your phone company is trying to tell you this number it doesn’t check out for us with the number that they’re putting on caller ID,” said Harris.
WHAT DO YOU DO?
If you do happen to answer, just say thanks for the info, that you’ll look into it, and hang up. If they ask for money, that’s a red flag. If you get a voicemail that’s vague, don’t call back.
Many ask what can be done to protect your number from being spoofed or you getting spoofed calls?
“There is not a whole lot you can do to stop those calls,” said Harris. "Usually, they will fade out within a week. You won’t be getting them anymore.”
That’s what eventually happened with Price, but he wanted to contact the News 5 Investigators to help give you a heads-up.
"If it’s not a relative you recognize, don’t answer that phone,” he told us.
If you have questions about whether a call is real, hang up, call the sheriff or local police or places like the Cuyahoga County Scam Squad to verify what’s being said.
Scammers have been busy. In Cuyahoga County alone, Harris said last year, people lost just over $3 million to scams. This year to date, she said it’s closer to $4.5 million, and we have a couple of months to go.
Many of those scams can start with spoofed calls.
