New Phone Scammers Imitating Google

We have heard reports of a phone scammer calling from an various North American numbers that claims to be a Google representative. This person has asked for username and password information so that they can “fix” accounts. If this person calls you asking for information, do not give it to them, you should follow our scam detection tips below and let us know this has happened.

Phone scams are almost as old as phones themselves and they come in many varieties.  Some phone scams are very sophisticated and hard to detect; and some, not so much.

Phone scams have become so common that when a stranger calls (especially your home landline) we simply assume it is a scam. This over cautiousness (or perhaps perfectly reasonable cautiousness) will help protect you from the people who want to trick you into giving them your private information.

REMEMBER: Call display can be faked! (Just because it says "GOOGLE.COM" doesn't mean it's them).

Some red flags to watch out for:

1. If a number calling you has a prefix of 011, but looks like a NANP (North American Numbering Plan) it means the caller is trying to mimic a North American number but is actually calling from overseas; suspicious?


2. If the caller asks for any usernames or passwords, if this happens you need to verify that they are who they say they are before you give them access to your accounts. The best way to do this is to ask them for a number that you can call back (the less experienced scammers will just get mad and hang up), google the real number for who they are claiming to be, and ask the people who you know actually work there about the situation. They will be happy if you report a scam, and you will be happy if they are able to fix or improve your account.


3. Watch for scare tactics, a legitimate company, like google or Microsoft, are not likely to cold call you and start telling you that your computers, cell phones, cable TV or even your drywall or oven will be destroyed or ruined if you don’t give them information to “help” you. If this happens be careful of sharing personal information, try to call back the company at a number you know to be theirs. It isn’t worth it to risk your personal or your businesses information.

So there you have it, three ways to detect scams. If you are unsure of a caller please be sure to call us on our support queue or send us an email so that hopefully we can clear things up. Also, if you do detect a scam please send us an email with a description of the scam so that we can pass the information along to all of our clients.

Awareness is our best defense! Let’s keep phone scams out of our networks!