There are so many scams out there these days that you really need to be sure of what it is you're doing at all times. And just because I've written about many of these scams over the years, it doesn't mean that I can take my eye off the ball. Earlier today I had received a couple of texts from Verizon. One of the texts was legit while the other was suspicious. I'm not going to go into the reasons why I knew one text was real and the other one shady, but eventually I got a call from the carrier's fraud department.
Something smelled suspicious right from the get-go
Right off the bat I smelled a scam and before the conversation could get started, the call got disconnected. A few hours later, another call came through. It was "James" from Verizon's fraud department. He said that there was suspicious activity in my account. Well, I was suspicious too. Suspcious that a company I've been paying monthly for 20 years didn't offer me a free upgrade to a Pixel 10 Pro XL. But that's another story for another day.
Follow Verizon's suggestion if you find yourself in my situation. | Image credit-Verizon
So "James" from Verizon said that two people supposedly placed orders through the account for two Apple Watch timepieces (I assume it was the new Series 11 model; I didn't ask and they never told me). Yeah, I was somewhat bummed that the made-up thief who supposedly ordered the two Apple Watch units from my account didn't have the mindset to order the Apple Watch Ultra 3 instead of the plain-old Apple Watch Series 11.
At this point, I wasn't going through with this charade anymore. I told the caller (you know, "James" from Verizon's fraud department), that no one ordered an Apple Watch on my account and proceeded to hang up. And just to make sure that I wasn't being taken for a ride, I called Verizon and was told that no one attempted to call me from the company and that no one had ordered any Apple Watch units on my account.
Never disable your FindMy app based on the advice of a rep on the phone
Had I not hung up with the scammer early, he might have attempted to pull off this scam that we wrote about last year. Similar to what happened with me today, someone claiming to be from Verizon calls and they continue to call back until you take the call. They t.ell you that a suspicious order for an iPhone was placed on your account. The conversation goes like this: "Okay, well the reason we are calling is because there was a phone ordered from this account that we suspect is fraudulent…" The scammer last year said the same spiel I heard today, almost word for word. The only difference was that two Apple Watches were supposedly ordered from my account instead of a single iPhone.
Do these scams bother you?
Yes. If I'm not alert, I can get wiped out.
50%
No. No one is going to scam me.
50%
The next part of the scam, which I was lucky to avoid because I hung up on the call, would have been a promise from the bogus Verizon fraud expert to cancel the order and protect the data on my device. This happened to one Verizon customer who was told that to guarantee the safety of his personal data, he would have to turn off the FindMy app and keep it off for five days. Never do this. This turns off the Activation Lock which ties an iPhone to your Apple ID. The thief buys an iPhone using your name and as long as the Activation Lock is on, the phone purchased by the thief in your name is only a paperweight.
Verizon does not have a fraud department that makes outgoing calls
But if he can convince you to disable the FindMy app, he can turn his new phone into a phone running on your account, change all sorts of passwords and credentials, get into your financial apps and more.
Here is one thing to remember: Verizon does not have a fraud department that calls its customers because the sheer number of calls it would have to make each day would be overwhelming. In addition, Verizon won't call someone back more than twice if they don't answer since the carrier considers that harassment.
Be careful. If you get a call similar to the one I received today, hang up and call your carrier yourself.
"Iconic Phones" is coming this Fall!
Good news everyone! Over the past year we've been working on an exciting passion project of ours and we're thrilled to announce it will be ready to release in just a few short months.
"Iconic Phones: Revolution at Your Fingertips" is a must-have coffee table book for every tech-head that will bring you on a journey to relive the greatest technological revolution of the 21st century. For more details, simply follow the link below!
Alan, an ardent smartphone enthusiast and a veteran writer at PhoneArena since 2009, has witnessed and chronicled the transformative years of mobile technology. Owning iconic phones from the original iPhone to the iPhone 15 Pro Max, he has seen smartphones evolve into a global phenomenon. Beyond smartphones, Alan has covered the emergence of tablets, smartwatches, and smart speakers.
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