Scam phone numbers are used every day to trick unsuspecting people into giving away their private information and money. With over 300,000 unknown calls screened by Genie, we thought it would be important to share the most common phone numbers to beware of, with the hope of keeping you protected.
We are counting down the top 4 scam callers that Genie has blocked this month.
#4: +1-877-211-1215 - Fraudulent Call Center
Scammers are attempting to target many Genie owners, claiming to be from many different organizations. A few calls claimed to be from the American Police Officers Alliance or with Medicare Advantage, but whatever the story is, they are just after your personal information and money. If you get a call from this number, block it immediately.
#3: +1-855-588-2318 - Scammer looking for “Charitable Donations”
Although there are many legitimate charity organizations that receive donations over the phone, there are also some who are completely fraudulent and aren't above pulling on your heartstrings to take your money. Scammers often use charity donation scams as they are an efficient way to tap into people's emotions making it easier for a scammer to extract your money or personal information.
In order to know if you're speaking to a real charity, be aware of the ways scam charities act in which real charities would never. Scam charities will often rush and pressure you into a donation. They also tend to request payment through non-traditional methods like wire transfers or gift cards.
You can try to use a charity lookup tool, like Charity Navigator, but even if the chazirty you are inquiring about is real, the call still might not be.
Best practice if you want to donate to charity is to look up the charity yourself and call them directly.
#2: 1-800-966-6546 - Spoofed “Walmart Online Customer Service” Number
If you don't have Genie to block these calls for you, then don't trust your caller ID. According to the Federal Trade Commision, “scammers can make any name or number show up on your caller ID. That’s called spoofing” (FTC, 2022). Although this is a legitimate Walmart number, scammers are spoofing it to mask their fraudulent call center so that the caller ID will show up as Walmart. This scheme has been ongoing for years and targets individuals for credit card information.
#1: +1-888-997-3651 - Health Insurance Scammer
This scammer calls with offers of fake health insurance plans to collect personal information. Top Class Actions, a news outlet bringing awareness to various consumer scams, explains that “not only will consumers who fall prey to a scam like this be out the money paid to the scammer, they can also be victims of identity theft. The scammer may use a fake insurance policy to steal personal information or sell the consumer’s identity on the black market” (TCA, 2020). If you don’t have Genie, then make sure you are manually blocking calls from this phone number.
About Genie:
Genie is an AI personal assistant answering unknown callers on behalf of each Genie owner. Genie speaks to the callers, determines who’s calling and why, and decides if they should be blocked or allowed through. For more about Genie you can visit https://www.lifesgenie.com/.