Article about phone scammers - let's talk about their methods
So, police in Zürich reports of ca 60 cases with 2.4 million of total damage. That's huge. That's what, 40k of value per case? Swiss people are definitely rich :D
I guess more valuable are those with 'you're tagged as burglar target' than those 'I'm your family member, I need money urgently', but still... It seems that people who are gullible are very generous. I wouldn't send 100 chf to family member from new number without bunch of checks to prove they'are who they claim they are 😂
Anyhow, one part I'd like to know more about is from the tips. Translated in English it says
Hang up! If you are contacted by a scammer, end the phone immediately. Important: Report the incident to the police using a different phone. The reason: Scammers often use the police emergency number 117 to contact you using a trick. If the scammer doesn't hang up and you dial the emergency number using the same phone, you've got the scammer on the line again.
Can anyone explain to me what they mean by this trick with 117 number?
How to recognise that caller is still holding the line? Or should you call some other number and not 117, to check if line is free?
I try to teach my parents and non tech savvy folks around me to be paranoid or if in doubt double check with me, that so far works pretty good. But I'm always baffled when I find out new stories and methods they use.
Do you have any other type you've heard about recently going on, eg last 10 years?
Posted Apr 24, 2022, 6:21 PM UTC
Honestly, I wouldn't bother the emergency hotline with scammers.... Better to call your local police office instead. I think the emergency services have more important things to take care of.
Other than that, if someone calls me that I don't know or that is not calling from a service/company I am using, I just hang up or put them on hold to waste their time. I am also baffled about these stories and surprised that this scam model even works nowaydays...