If you receive a phone call and someone says, “Can you hear me?” Hang up, immediately. Do not reply in any way. Simply hang up the phone. It’s a scam.
By asking “Can you hear me” the scammers are trying to coax you into saying “yes”. If you say “Yes” the con artist now has a recording of you saying “Yes” in your own voice and that word can be a gold mine for scammers.
The recording of your word “Yes” can be used by scammers to answer questions frequently asked by companies to confirm changes to your accounts, security settings, and purchases, and more – thus giving the con artists extensive access to your personal information.
The following article is from the LA Times explains more about the “Can you hear me” scam …
[ “It’s the most cunning robocall scam I’ve encountered — and the fact that I’ve fallen for it more than once tells you how successful it can be.
The phone rings. You pick it up and say “hello.” There’s a brief silence and then a woman’s voice says, “Oh, hi there!” She offers an embarrassed laugh. “I’m sorry, I was having a little trouble with my headset!”
I’ve gotten this call a number of times in recent weeks, at home and at work, and each time I’ve been suckered by the lifelike opening to stay on the line longer than I normally would for a robocall or a telemarketing pitch. It’s only when I realize I’ve heard the exact same thing before that I realize I’m hearing a recording.
This is a new and highly sophisticated racket known as the “can you hear me” scam, which involves tricking people into saying yes and using that affirmation to sign people up for stuff they didn’t order…” ]
Don’t get tricked into saying “Yes” when you answer your phone and are asked, “Can you hear me?”
