The following is what you need to keep in mind when you receive a phone call from a possible scammer:

Find out who is calling and the reason for the call. If it is an actual sales call, a telemarketer must tell you so, as well as provide their name and the name of the company on whose behalf they are selling. This information must be divulged prior to making their sales pitch. If you are not provided any of these details immediately, the phone call is likely a scam, hang up !

Be wary of fast talkers !

 Any sales representative who is talking in hyper speed and is extremely aggressive in their sales pitch in an effort to pressure you into buying, is likely hiding something. A respectable business that wants to make a sale will take their time explaining information to you, and will even provide you with written details regarding the product or service being sold if you request it.

A free gift you need to pay for…

Any sales person telling you that you have won a gift or prize, but you must pay a fee to claim it, is trying to scam you out of your money.

Remember, there should never be a price tag attached to free.

Find out why you need to confirm your account information or give it out ?

Some callers may ask you to verify personal details, find out why this is necessary, but do not agree with anything they say (even if they have your info), as even a simple "O.K." from you can allow them to claim that you approved a charge.

Furthermore, do not provide them with any of your personal information such as:

And if you give out your Bank Account or Credit Card details over the phone to a cold caller, when you hang up, immediately call a neurosurgeon and book an appointment to have your brain looked at !

Never give your information out over the phone, even if your Caller ID or the person on the other end of the line claims to be from your bank, or some other company or institution you do business with.

In fact, to make sure that the person calling is from your bank, etc., ask them for their name and a phone number that you can call back to verify the call is legitimate. If they refuse to give you this information hang up the phone.

If they provide you with a number, do not call it back. Instead, call the official number you have for the associated business or institution and ask them if they have a sale, promotion, or whatever the call was about, currently being offered to customers.

Finally, reputable telemarketing firms must follow guidelines that have been created by governing bodies in the country they are operating from, so take the time to find out the relevant department, review their code of conduct, and educate yourself as to when these rules are being violated.

These departments and this information is very easily found on the internet.

Rule violation is the strongest indicator that the caller does not have good intentions.

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