Hi you won a Sweepstake

Hello, you won a trip to the Bahamas to hear about this please press one. Have you ever received a call like this? This is one of the popular methods scammers will use to get your personal information. Unfortunately using a VoIP service allows scammer to make many calls at once at a very low cost. So the telephone is the most preferred way to try and get access to your personal information.  When you get this call always proceed with caution especially if you did not sign up for any type of sweepstake.

So the important thing is to take the proper actions to identify a sweepstake scam.

You do not want to fall victim to identity theft. When you get this call if the caller is asking you too many personal questions right from the start of the conversation this is would be an indicator this could be a scammer. When you enter in a contest the company will have all your personal information from the entry form so there should not be many questions to ask if you are truly a winner.  If you are being pressured to answer personal questions over the phone you should hang up. Contact the company through legitimate and verified sources.

You can ask the caller who or what company is sponsoring the sweepstakes if by chance you entered into a sweepstakes you would remember the company. On the other hand If did not enter any sweepstake then you should hang up immediately.  You should file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission or the FTC. There is a 6 step process you can fill out online to file a complaint. If you haven’t done so please register for the National Do Not Call registry. On the form you fill out with the FTC this is the first question they ask on the form.

I hope this is helpful as always please leave comment

Mark Carbajal