Legitimate Business Calls vs. Scams: Telling the Difference

In today’s world, scam artists seem to lurk around every corner…or rather every phone call. It can be difficult, and scary, trying to determine who is legitimate and who is a scammer.

Sometimes these calls can be easy to spot: Have you ever received a call about a bill or account that you don't have?

For example, I sometimes get called about renewing the warranty on my car. The car I drive is ten years old. Throughout college I received calls about "suspicious activity" on my credit card. I did not have a credit card during college.

Sometimes these calls are not so easy to spot. What if I drove a newer car? What if I had owned a credit card?

Scammers are evolving. Scammers can speak in professional tones and play ambient to sound like the caller is sitting in a call center.

Knowing this, how do you avoid a realistic-sounding scam?

1. The IRS or a collections agency will send you a letter in the mail before they call you. If you haven’t received anything in the mail, a collections agency will verify your mailing address and resend the letter before calling you again.

2. Your bank, a collections agency, etc. will want you to feel safe. If you receive a call asking for a payment or discussing fraudulent activity on your account, scammers will demand immediate action from you and won’t want to you hang up. Your bank will be happy to let you hang up and call the phone number on their website or go in-person to speak with a representative. A collections agency will allow you to Google their company name or visit their website.

3. A collections agency will not call you before 8:00 AM in your time zone or after 9:00 PM in your time zone. Scammers will call you whenever is convenient for them.

4. Your bank or a collections agency will call asking for you by name. Scam artists likely won't know your name.

5. A collections agency will need to verify your identity before the representative is legally allowed to discuss your debt with you. This could be asking to confirm your address, date of birth, or the last four digits of your social security number. It will not be asking for your credit card number or your full social security number.

6. Your bank already knows your debit card number, social security number, etc. A bank representative might need to verify this information, but he/she will ask you, “Is account number 123456789, correct?” He/she will not expect you to provide all of the information necessary to open a new account/credit card.

7. After verifying your identity, a debt collector will also be legally required to state the Mini-Miranda, the paragraph stating that they are a debt-collector and that all information acquired in that phone call will be for that purpose. If there’s no Mini-Miranda, the call is a scam.

8. Scammers will want to make you feel scared and will try to tell you that you must solve a given problem now or you can only contact them via this phone number. Your real bank or a real collections agency will have multiple means for you to contact them to make a payment, check on suspicious card activity, etc. If someone doesn’t want you to get off the phone to verify their identity, it’s a scam.

9. If the caller threatens to have you arrested, the call is a scam. You cannot be jailed for owing a debt.

10. If the caller threatens you with violence, the call is a scam.

11. If the caller swears, verbally abuses you, says anything offensive, etc. the call is a scam.

12. Scam artists will demand an immediate and a specific type of payment. Usually, they want a credit card payment over the phone or a wire transfer and will refuse safer forms of payment (such as mailed checks). The IRS, a collections agency, etc. will accept multiple forms of payment and will want you to feel comfortable and safe.

Distinguishing legitimate business calls from scams can be challenging, but these tips will help you protect yourself. A person calling for a legitimate reason will want you to feel safe. Remember, never give our personal information or money until you verify that the person you're speaking with is who they say they are. It's always better to be safe rather than sorry.