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What do you want to know
- Scammers create fake support numbers for businesses and buy their best search results to trap you and your digital assistant.
- Always look for important numbers by going to the company's website.
- Never pay with prepaid gift cards or wire transfers – use a credit card instead.
If you are a bit like me, you are completely spoiled by digital assistants. Whether you choose to use Alexa, Google Assistant or Siri, it makes no difference. This trio of voice-activated assistants has changed the way we live every day. We use them constantly everyday to accomplish tasks such as lighting, weather, setting timers or alarms and even making calls.
However, you may want to rethink it. That's because the Better Business Bureau has recently warned that your call could be forwarded to a scammer rather than to a real company.
It all starts when you ask your PDA to call a company for you. He then searches the web and finds the number of the company you requested.
The problem, however, is that the crooks created fake customer service numbers and found a way to move their number to the top of the list. Often this can be done quite easily by only paying for certain ads.
Once the scammer has you on the phone, you are at their mercy. Some signs to watch include asking you to pay by bank transfer or prepaid debit card. They could even try to convince you to give remote access to your computer or to send you to an unknown website to infect you with malware.
In the cases reported to the BBB, a victim was trying to change seats for a future flight. The scammer tried to convince her to pay $ 400 with prepaid gift cards, claiming that the airline was holding a special promotion.
In another case, a fraudster attempted to direct a consumer to a fake Web site to infect his computer when he used Siri to call his printer support number.
Some helpful tips to avoid becoming a victim of this scam are to avoid using your PDA when making important phone calls to companies. Also look for the phone number of the company you wish to contact on its official website. This will help you avoid false ads that may appear in search results. Finally, make payments with your credit card (because it's easier to dispute charges) and never pay with a bank transfer or prepaid gift cards.
Smart home
Echo point
Small and powerful
The echo point is the perfect way to start or add to your smart home. It may be tiny but it has a powerful speaker and accesses hundreds of thousands of Alexa skills. Whether you want to set a timer, ask for weather, listen to music, control your smart home or more, this tiny, smart speaker can help you.
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