- Updated
The Michigan State Police and Federal Trade Commission are warning Michigan residents of a phone scam where the callers are claiming to be from Amazon and/or Apple.
Recently, the Federal Trade Commission announced scammers are calling people, posing as both Amazon and Apple representatives and claiming there is a suspicious purchase, lost package, unfilled order or an issue with Apple iCloud accounts. In both scenarios, police said the scammers say a person can “press 1” to speak with customer service or provides you with a number to call.
Police said people should not do either because it is a scam. The purpose is to attempt to steal personal information such as account passwords or credit card numbers, according to police. If a person gets an unexpected call or message about a problem with any account, the police said they should hang up.
If a person believes there is a legitimate problem with their accounts, they should contact the company using the correct contact number for customer service and support.
In recent information released by the Federal Trade Commission and Consumer Education Specialist Alvaro Puig stated these callers are trying to rip people off. Even if a person is on the National Do Not Call Registry, scammers don’t care. The best defense against unwanted calls is call blocking, according to the FTC.
Which type of call-blocking or call-labeling technology you use the FTC said will depend on the phone whether it’s a mobile, traditional landline, or a home phone that makes calls over the internet.
Call blocking technologies or devices can stop a lot of the unwanted calls you get such as scam calls and illegal robocalls before they reach you, according to the FTC. Mobile phones, landlines, and home phones that use the internet each have their call-blocking options, but the FTC said people also need to understand call-blocking services could block some legitimate calls.
For more information about how to do this go to www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/how-block-unwanted-calls.