Technology Advisor Blog

October is here, and threat actors are ramping up their attacks to the point where its… spooky.
While Halloween is coming up, Thanksgiving and Christmas are also on the horizon, it’s more evident than ever we must remain hypervigilant and not fall for these intricate phishing attempts.

In September, many folks and including some of us in the office, experienced a rise in spam (Vishing) phone calls. You may be wondering ‘Where are all these unknown numbers coming from?” If you’re like me, when you notice an unknown caller ID notify your phone, you never pick up. However, not everyone is like that. However, the Ekaru team is here to teach you all about cold calling scams, how to identify them, reasons why they are potentially occurring, and the steps/services we provide to help protect yourself and others from falling into their trap.

What is a Cold Calling Scam?

While cold calling typically refers to the action of calling a person or business with the intent to offer a legitimate product or service, cold calling scams take the same approach however impersonating higher authority figures or well-known companies to take and exploit.

Some examples of higher authority figures they impersonate are:

• Tech Support from Apple or Microsoft: Insisting there is a virus on your devices and to resolve the issue they ask for your information to ‘remote’ in, when in reality they are the ones that add the viruses they claim to erase and compromise your accounts in the process.
• Law Enforcement such as Police: Impersonating law enforcements with claims that you owe a large sum of money for a ticket that doesn’t actually exist. Using pushy language to get you to act irrationally to get your financial information.
• Law firm: Same as law enforcement, claiming you ow them money, pushing you to make a rushed, flustered decision that will lead to compromise.
• Financial institutions: They will claim in these cases your accounts are compromised and to reset your passwords, they need your information to remote in. Projecting what they are doing to you.
• Family members claiming they promptly need financial support to get out of a ‘bad situation’: The use of voice in AI makes this hard to identify in the moment if its legitimate or not.
  
  They relentlessly call with the intent to scare you, to isolate you from your peers, to influence you to pay for services that are unnecessary as if there’s something wrong with a product, and or claim you owe a large sum of money to said company and that you must act now or face consequences.

Identifying a Scam Call

• Unsolicited Calls: The reality is, tech companies, customer service, or law enforcement will never give you an unexpected call especially if you did not initiate a need for their assistance. If there’s no existing issue, it’s likely a scam.
• High-Pressure Approach: Common language used in these scenarios are ‘act now, think later’. In scenarios for tech related issues, they will allow you to verify claims before proceeding further.
• Remote Access: A red flag is an unsolicited call from a tech provider asking to remote in to access your device to ‘fix’ a problem they appear to have noticed. If there is no existing complaints that YOU initiated, it’s likely a scam and they’re looking to install harmful software without your knowledge.
• Poor grammar and Language: When speaking with a scammer or receiving an email, always check the grammar. Poor grammar from a claimed well-known company is a red flag. Awkward phrasing on the phone or in email is another red flag.

Our team at Ekaru highly recommends that if you receive a cold scam call, always trust your gut, ask questions, and know the signs to prevent any further escalation or isolation.

Potential Reasons for Receiving Cold Calls

In some instances, sometimes it’s a person that dialed the wrong number. In other instances, it could be out of your control and malicious users taking advantage of information they found about you for some social engineering phishing attempts. Some reasons are:

• Cybersecurity incidents: Your contact information provided on a legitimate site could have fallen victim to a cybersecurity incident where your information was extracted for malicious purposes.
• Random Dialing: Sometimes we call the wrong number. Scammers will use systems to dial random numbers with the intent to find someone who will not think twice on picking up and falling into their trap.
• Social Media: You’ve heard the saying, be careful what you post you never know who is watching and observing. It’s possible your social media account about you reveals too much, and or like your public records that can be maliciously obtained for use.

Within the Massachusetts area, to look out for potentially fraudulent scam phone calls, always check the first three area code numbers.
For example, numbers some folks within the office have received that where scams fell under the area code, (855), (866), (833) to name a few we have received.
To clarify, phone numbers with those area codes aren’t always a scam and can be legitimate, but it is important to do a google search to confirm before proceeding to ignore and block.

Also, note that scammers can "spoof" phone numbers to look like they're from a local (trusted) area code when they're not.  Watch for unusual numbers, but also know that phone numbers that appear to be local may not be what they seem.

How to React to A Scam Cold Call

You have found yourself picking up the phone to a number you do not know under the impression it’s important just to find out it’s a scam.

• Hang Up Phone: Don’t engage with called if you receive an unwanted phone call. You do not owe them anything, simply hang up. If you have answered, instead of answering with ‘hi’ answer with ‘how can I help you?’ this can take the scammer off guard, and they can stutter then hang up on their own.
• Do Not Reveal Any Personal Information: Let’s say you picked up and they begin asking for information to help on an issue they claimed. Never share personal details such as passwords, account login information or sensitive financial information with someone you do not know or initiated first in their assistance.
• Verify Caller: Don’t recognize it, you are not obligated to pick up. If it’s important, they will leave voicemail. If they call at the same time everyday and do not leave a voicemail, its probably best to follow your gut, it’s a scam. Personally, I Google search for the number if it comes back to a legit person or company.

Fallen Victim to a Scam Call Attempt?

• Report Scam Immediately: Use link here to report scam within the US: https://reportfraud.ftc.gov/
• Contact your financial institution: If you have revealed sensitive financial information to scammer, notify your bank or credit card company as soon as possible to block any further transactions.
• Change All Passwords Associated: If you happen to share passwords with scammer, change them immediately. Even change the email associated with the account if possible. Always use strong unique passwords to protect you and your team.
• Devices Remoted In? Disconnect: In the scenario you realize they are installing malicious software to your computer instead of removing like they claimed, disconnecting from Wi-Fi, Ethernet cable if on a desktop device. On cellphone, disconnect Wi-Fi, mobile data and place on airplane mode.

Protecting Your Phone and Yourself from Scammers

Cold call scams are becoming increasingly sophisticated, often targeting individuals and businesses through unsolicited phone calls or emails posing as legitimate organizations. To protect yourself, your employees, and your data, never share personal or company information over the phone or email unless you are certain of the recipient's identity.

Use strong, unique passwords and enable multi-factor authentication (MFA) on all email accounts to add an extra layer of security. Educate your team to recognize red flags such as urgent requests, unfamiliar caller IDs, or email addresses that don't match official domains.

When in doubt, hang up and contact the organization directly using verified contact details. Our team at Ekaru, we're here to help implement security protocols and provide training to keep your systems and people safe from these evolving threats. Our intensive cybersecurity awareness training provides your business with all the ins and outs in what to look out for when receiving fraudulent emails or phone calls. For emails, our team provides software’s such as email filtering where it provides a banner to notify you that you’ve not received email from this person or outside your organization, allowing you a moment to identify if it’s someone legitimate or not. For phone calls, our training will provide you with scenarios and approaches to viewing the signs before you find yourself flustered on the phone.

Our goal is to make sure all your devices are secure and that your team is confident when a cybersecurity threat arises.

Interested in learning more about how we can help you and your team see the signs of a scam whether it’s on the phone or email?

Let’s connect! Chat with us today by calling 978-692-4200, info@ekaru.com or visiting our website at www.Ekaru.com. You deserve smooth operations in your work life balance.