One day you get a phone call. The person on the other end of the phone says that they are from a large respected telecom company offering you a high end phone along with a phone plan that is a really of a deal.. Yes you say..woohoo. Fast forward a period of time. The scammer has your phone that you have to pay for, and you have a 2 year contract that you don’t want, or need. If only, you had of spotted the red flags.
This is how it breaks down.
In my case, I was offered a 2 year contract with a large respected carrier for $55 / month. This deal includes either the latest Samsung flagship phone or the latest Iphone free.
The is an immediate red flag there. The deal is too good to be true. When you multiply $55 by 24 months you get $1320. The carrier in question retails the phone for $1360. Add the labour cost of selling the phone, handling the new setup of the line, and cost of shipping will easily trigger a loss for the mobile company. Mobile networks are notoriously expensive to set up and run. They would be foolish to give away 24 months free service.>/p>
They will do what they can to convince you that the deal is legitimate. Once they do get you hooked, the next step is to convince you to give up your personal info.
Did you spot the second red flag there?
A legitimate representative of the company will have at least some access to your account. If they called you, they would not need to ask you for your account details. The scammer will only have your number and any other info that they have acquired
There is an opportunity here for the scammer to give them selves some nice bonuses.
Bonus 1: They can, and will sell any personal information they collect from you.
Bonus 2: If you give your login details, they can try these details with other services too. Most people use the same email/username and password for most if not all the websites you log into.
Bonus 3: If they ask you for your credit card info, and you give it to them, they can go on a shopping spree at your expense.
If you give up enough info, they can do one of two things.
1) Access your account and order an additional line, order the wrong phone and have it sent to you. After you complain that you got the wrong phone, the scammer will have you send it back. Except to a different address. You of course ship to them, not the return centre.
2) Create a new account in your name and give an address for them to pick it up.
Either way, they get the phone, and you have to pay for the phone, and often a 2 year contract.
Have you ever seen ads online for unopened phones? Some of these are stolen.br>