You have a problem and need to talk to customer service, so you go online and search for the number.
Be careful! The results you get could include phone numbers for bogus customer service lines run by criminals who want to steal your money and your personal information.
“Most of the time they will answer with the name of the specific company,” said Amy Nofziger, with the AARP Fraud Watch Network. “However, a lot of times they’ll answer it as ‘Customer service, how may I help you? ‘”
The scammers can buy their way onto the search engine results, or embed some of these fake customer service numbers in pages like Reddit or any other kind of consumer-focused website,” Nofziger told me.
Here are some red flags that could indicate your dealing with a customer service imposter:
- The “representative” doesn’t know anything about your account, so everything they say is generic.
- They ask you for personal information that is not needed to handle your problem, such as a credit card or Social Security number.
- They ask you for remote access into your device to help solve the problem. This may include asking you to download software to allow this remote access.
- They ask for payment, either by direct withdrawal from your bank account, credit card payment, pre-paid gift card purchase, or transaction at a cryptocurrency ATM machine.
If you can’t find the customer service number on a bill or instruction manual, go directly to the company’s website, and look for “contact us” on the site, Nofziger advised.
The bottom line: You can’t always trust all search engine results where you’re looking for a company’s customer service information.
More Info: Customer Service Scams
If you get a call, text, email, or social media message and don’t know what to do, call the AARP Fraud Watch Network Helpline at 877-908-3360 before you provide an unknown caller with information or money. You do not need to be an AARP member to use this free service.
