How To Spot A Phone Scam

You must know how to spot a phone scam if you're going to keep your wallet, bank account and sanity intact. Phone scams are some of the most difficult to pick out. For one thing, you never can see who's on the other end of the phone. Those darn phone lines! And the callers never use video chat, for some reason. So here's some other ways you can use (besides visual) that you can use to know how to spot a phone scam.

Things You'll Need:

• Good listening ears
• A free hand to pick up your telephone

1. Check the caller ID before you pick up the phone. You could save a lot of time not talking to a phone scam if you just don't answer the phone when you don't recognize the number.

2.  Analyze the tone of voice on the other end of the phone. Does it sound too enthusiastic? If so, they're probably trying to sell you something. Because no one's ever that excited to speak to you. Also, phone scams can be automated, so don't feed your sensitive physical address information into the automatic machine.

3.  Listen to what the hawker on the other end of the line is saying. If they start off with "we think you'd be interested in purchasing..." you can probably bet it's a phone scam. Or, maybe it's just a pesky sales call. Didn't you put your number on the no-call list? Oh, you just applied it to your land line, didn't you. Did it ever occur to you they might get your cell number, too?

4. Detect an accent. If the voice sounds like it comes from another country and doesn't speak proper English, it's most likely a phone scam.

5. See if they ask for your credit card number or bank account. Phone scams often require that you pay for something by check or credit card. Don't give them your information! They'll abuse it—and you can bet they won't send you what you "paid" for.

6. Listen for any other additional details they might want, like your Social Security number, mother's maiden name and so forth. Any reputable company won't ask for these details, so if you hear them requested, it's probably a phone scam.

7. Check if they want to send a courier to your house to drop off your prize or purchase. If so, this phone scam is probably trying to avoid accusations of mail fraud. Be warned!