Despite many people being cautious of unfamiliar scam calls and text messages, scammers continue to adjust their fraudulent techniques, leading to numerous individuals falling victim to scams. A recent survey discovered that many deceptive phone numbers are highly misleading.
According to the latest report from ReversePhone, a phone number lookup service, based on complaints received about scam calls, they found that the majority of scam calls are using area codes from densely populated areas to more easily deceive victims. The public can enhance their vigilance by identifying common scam phone numbers.
Here are the top five scam phone area codes in 2024: Colorado (720), Pennsylvania (272), Connecticut (959), Dominican Republic (829), and Texas (346).
The ReversePhone report identified the top five most complained-about phone numbers frequently used by scammers as: (763)274-3899, (217)402-1312, (202)456-1111, (662)255-3743, and (325)244-7821. The website recommends mobile users to block these unidentified incoming numbers.
Scammers employ various methods to deceive individuals. Through scam calls and text messages, scammers can execute schemes like piggyback phishing scams, impersonating companies, or banks to obtain victims’ personal information, using threats to coerce victims into paying fictitious debts, or posing as credit card companies or federal agencies to engage in credit card fraud and steal sensitive information.
For example, in a recent development, US law enforcement charged five defendants for sending phishing text messages to employees of various companies across the country, resulting in the theft of company data and millions of dollars in cryptocurrencies.
From at least September 2021 to April 2023, the defendants carried out phishing attacks by mass-sending SMS text messages to numerous employees of victim companies, claiming to be from the company, the company’s technical partner, or a business service provider.
The phishing messages typically falsely claimed that the employees’ company accounts were about to be deactivated and required them to log in to a website to re-verify their identities. The phishing websites provided by the defendants were designed to look authentic, resembling legitimate websites of the company or its technical partners. Clicking on the links in the messages would lead employees to gradually disclose confidential information, company account credentials, etc.
Subsequently, the defendants used stolen employee credentials to access internal company systems, steal confidential data, and infiltrate cryptocurrency accounts to steal millions of dollars in cryptocurrencies.
US prosecutor Martin Estrada stated, “We allege that these cybercriminals executed elaborate schemes stealing tens of millions in intellectual property and proprietary information, as well as swindling hundreds of thousands of individuals’ personal information.”
“Cyber phishing and hacking attacks are becoming increasingly sophisticated and can result in significant losses,” he said. “If you receive strange messages, emails, or notice suspicious website content, it’s likely a scam.”
Many individuals have reported receiving unsolicited messages, such as phishing messages disguised as familiar tones, friendly greeting phishing messages, self-sent messages, or misdirected messages from strangers, as well as unexpected package delivery calls and mistaken calls from strangers.
The FBI advises the public not to trust strangers met online via social networks or chat apps, refrain from disclosing personal information, or transferring money to such individuals for supposed investments.
Additionally, when receiving any unfamiliar texts or calls, do not reply and avoid clicking on any website links sent by the sender to prevent potential monitoring by ransomware, leading to personal information leakage.