Recently, campus has been receiving fraudulent calls from scammers asking, “Can you hear me?” If you answer with “yes,” your answer is recorded and may be used by the scammer to authorize bogus charges on a credit card or a phone or utility bill.
Other variations of the scam are being reported as well. These include asking other yes/no type questions such as, “Are you the person responsible for paying the telephone bill?” and, “Are you the homeowner?”
If you receive a phone call from a number you do not recognize, use caution. Do not answer personal questions, try not to engage and, if you must respond, consider asking questions of your own such as “Who is calling?” Don’t be afraid to hang up if you believe the call is not legitimate. It is not impolite to hang up on a scammer. The longer that a scammer has you on the phone, the more likely it is that you will give them some information that they can use thus making you a victim.
For more information, read this story from CBS News.