Slamming and Cramming

Slamming and cramming are so common now a days in telephone scams. Slamming is the illegal ways of changing your local or long distance telephone services without your permission. A telephone company should obtain the customer's permission through a written or electronic letter of the agency, electronic verification from the customer's telephone number, or an independent third party verification. Cramming is adding charges illegaly to your telephone bill for services that you did not use.

If you are a victim of these two illegal practices, contact the company. Tell them upfront that you want the problem resolved the soonest time possible. Make necessary arrangements with regards to payments. If you have not paid the bill, tell them you will not pay the bill to the date your phone was scammed. Request for reimbursement for any charges incurred to your bill from the unwanted switch. FCC rules say that you do not have to pay the first 30 days of service from the unwanted switch. Tell the company you want to be switched back to your old phone service provider.

File the slamming and cramming reports to FCC. Know your rights and be vigilant. Protect your phone number.

Understanding Phone Verification Services

There are so many Phone scams happening all around. The easiest and most powerful way of stopping these telephone frauds and scams is to verify the phone numbers. It is the simplest and most widely used technology available in real-time verification. This technology allows you to access details and information about a phone number.

It is easy to use. If you to wish a verify a number, simply go to the web site of verifyphone.com and enter the telephone number at the site. The site will automatically provide you the details you need to access like owner name, location and if somebody else has also reported this phone number as suspicious or spammy. Also, the inquiries you make are all confidential.

Phone verification services help you with all your unwanted calls concerns. It is defintely a means to address frauds and scams that have victimized lots of people.

Ten Ways You Can Be Phone Scammed

Initially, I was not aware that there were so many telephone scams happening around the globe, especially in the U.S.A. and in the U.K. It was so rampant and I thought I should do more blogs in getting out the words to as many people as possible to create awareness and do my share in stopping these horrible scams.  There are lots of ways how one can be scammed. I will list the ten most popular and how the scammers go about with each one of them.

1. Fake Bank Alert Messages
A fake message from a local bank calls and tells you to call a free toll number because your card is being suspended. When you do the call, the one at the other end will ask for your account information including your name, date of birth, credit card number, and other information. Once they get hold of these details, they commit identity theft charging your credit card, applying for loans, applying for new credit cards under your name, and issuing fraudulent checks.

2. Travel Frauds.
These scams offer travel packages that sounds so legitimate but are not. The scams have different variations. Skilled telemarketers will call you and inform you that you have received a free travel package and to be able to be eligible, you should join their travel club. After joining, you will find out later that you are required to pay a fee to make a reservation. You will soon learn that you did not earn the free trip because your reservation was not confirmed or that you must meet hard-to-comply or expensive conditions.

3. Loan Scams.
A telemarketer promises a consumer for a loan or credit card on very attractive packages. The caller will persuade the victim that he just need to provide his checking account information or pay a processing fee to avail of the loan or credit card package. The caller would even offer free laptop, iPod, or any hot gadget to make it more attractive. After the payment is made by the victim, the company disappears with the victim left with an empty checking account and non-sufficient funds (NSF) bank fees.

4. Free Prize Distribution Centers
These scams work by calling a consumer and telling him that he has won hot and attractive freebies because of buying items from a grocery store or other items bought via the internet. When the victim is convinced, the caller would then ask the cosumer to verify his identity by giving personal inforation such as PIN numbers, and account information such as checking account numbers or credit card numbers. When the caller got these information, the victim is now most likely a target of identity theft. The criminal can make loans under his name and use his credit cards for purchases.

5. Sweepstakes and Lottery Frauds
A caller will call to inform you that you have won in the lottery. Many won, actually, because lots of people receive the same call. The caller will entice you to make a relatively small fee for the processing of your prize, handling fee, or sales tax, which he will say is so small compared to the huge amount you won in the sweepstakes or lottery. After you made the payment, you will never hear from them again. No lottery winnings for you.

6. Bogus Charities or Fund Raising Operations
These scams work when someone calls you and ask for donations for a certain charity or fund raising to help victims of whatever latest natural disaster happened in the world, or fund raising for a very humanely cost.

7. International Phone Call Scams
These scams work when a caller leaves you a message asking you to call a number which appears to be just a local long-distance call. The reasons you should make the call are because you won in the lottery or that a relative from another area has had an accident. And because there are so many phone numbers that look like local numbers, you make the calls. Once you do, the other end will do everything to keep you on the line as long as he can. When your phone bill comes, you will now learn that you have been charged $2500 or more for that call.

8. Cramming
"Cramming" is when your telephone bill pops up with charges for voice mailing, paging, or club membership. This scam works when you are asked to return a missed call because it is your lucky day and you have won a free trip to somewhere. When the call is made, an automated system is activated and you are suddenly enrolled in a program or club and your phone bill was placed with a charge. The crammer just picks any phone number and place charges on your bill through your phone company claiming that you agreed to purchase some service.

9. Get Rich Quick Schemes
The scammer will allure the victim, most often are stay at home moms and entrepreneurs and would be promised great earning via a business done from home, usually with Ebay, he will say, or by making sales calls. The caller will tell the victim that he is required to make a initial investment. When the payment is made, the company disappears.

10. Auto Warranties
This is usually a robo call. The recording usually starts with "This is your final notice. The warranty on your car is about to expire...". The caller does not have any idea whether you have a car or a warranty at that. After the recording is played, you are connected to a live oprator who is so talented he will persuade you to make payments using high-pressure tactics.

Day by day, more and more new scams happen via phone calls. Keep your guard up. Get the caller ID and verify the phone number. Get as many information about the number and report to authorities. Inform your family, friends, acquaintances about these scams. Email this article to them. Let us all help one another in stopping these scams by creating awareness to many.

Benefits of Verifying Phone Numbers for a Business

If you run a business and is after saving time and effort while producing results, verifying phone numbers of clients would be valuable for you. At a point when maximizing hours of the day is crucial for a business to thrive and garner more fruits, looking through yellow pages or traditional means of knowing contact numbers might be futile and would take up lots of your precious time.

Being able to find phone numbers of clients saves you time and money, improves customer service, and enhances the quality of your over all data. Customers would be happy if you knew how to reach them to follow up services, initiating good customer relations. If you know the numbers of your clients, it will be an additional good point for you. You can establish a list of your effective clients' phone number by verifying their phone numbers & by knowing is anybody has reported ill while doing business with them.

Add efficiency to your business system by making an effective list of customers' contact number details.

Benefits of Verifying a Phone Number

You should treat your phone number as valuable as you treat your personal numbers like your account number, credit card number, and PIN numbers. Your telephone number holds a personal part of you. So, everytime you receive calls that are unwanted, unexpected, and are all-in-all something that invades your privacy, you shoud vigilantly guard it.

When you receive calls that disturbs you, verifying the number is a very wise thing to do. You will benefit so much from doing so. Some benefits of verifying phone numbers would be:
1. Being able to identify the caller that keeps on disturbing you.
2. You have the access to know the information you need to know about the caller.
3. You can readily report the incident with all the details you need to provide with your report and complaint.
4. You guard yourself.
5. You create awareness and help in disseminating information to more people.
6. You help in stopping scams by giving your share in fighting these scams.

The next time you get an unwanted call, verify that phone number. Keep in mind the benefits you will get when you lift a finger to give your share in stopping the many crimes committed via phone calls.

Looking for Tutors

It is almost school time. Your kids are doing well in school. However, you really believe that if they are guided appropriately, they will fare better. Even though you want to do it yourself, you cannot because of the many things that you also need to attend to. So, sometimes, you just get contented asking them how their day in school went through.

Looking for the best tutor is not easy. You will see lots of advertisements around. But of course, you would not want just anybody. The tutor should be someone who knows what she is doing, and has compassion in really helping the kids to learn. Your kids should also be comfortable with her.

When you see an advertisement about tutorial service providers and private tutors, you will find that having a pre-interview via the phone is helpful. You can then give them a call and start your pre-interview process. Beside the ads and pre-interview, check out reviews shared by others about the tutor using their phone number.

Tutors, when properly selected are definitely great help in guiding your kids in learning. They provide not only necessary knowledge but helps in boosting your kid's confidence as well.

Homeschool Verification

Some parents today homeschool their kids. Homeschool is a great school choice money-wise and in terms of unlimited teaching experiences one can give to his or her child. Those who are just starting and do not know how or where to start usually research on the web to look for homeschool providers that can help them out with curriculum, lessons and recording. There are so many options available on how one can get through schooling. This is one wise decision any parent can make.

However, as if it seems that nothing escapes criminal's thoughts, they have once again used this wonderful option to make their criminal schemes. They use homeschooling to fool parents. They will call them and offer homeschooling complete with curriculum, lessons, and recording options. They will also say that they are accredited. They will give the best offers and make sure that the parent is hooked. The scammer will not proceed to asking for payments, and follow up with other payments the parent should make to get the homeschooling resources. The victim, in his desire to get the best buy for his or her kid's homeschooling needs just fall for the trap.

If you get this kind of call, do not just give out your credit card number or just readily pay. Check out tif they are what they claim to be, and if suspicious, report to FTC and to the police. Create awareness of the incident among your family and friends so that the words will go out and protect other parents.

Homeschooling starts at home, as the word implies. No one is a better homeschool resource than you, the parent, yourself. If you need to get materials, there are lots available on line, and better ask people who have experiences doing homeschool to help you start. Do not get help from strangers, especially telemarketers you do not even see face to face.