THE BIZOP NEWS

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But I want to focus on what Ed says about vishing, telemarketing fraud:

"The CRM industry has a stake in fighting the battle against scams that are being made easier by technology. Consumer trust is a key factor in any type of business involving customers.

One growing concern that can give the industry a bad rap (even though the legitimate CRM center had nothing to do with it) is a phenomenon called vishing where personal information is stolen by calling people up on the telephone.

This type of activity is a growing phenomenon. In most cases, the crooks impersonate a legitimate organization when doing this.

My personal tip on how not to get caught in a vishing expedition is to remember that no reputable organization will ever call (unsolicited by you) and ask for personal or financial information.

If this occurs, a red flag should go up in your head and I recommend verifying the number via a known third party source and calling them back.

Do not rely on caller ID; spoofing services (which fake caller ID) numbers are available to anyone with the capital to purchase them on the Internet."

I agree with some of this, but again I would not like to bet that I can spot a fake authority on the spot.

Just another reason to a) buy a telephone answering machine, and b) take your time when responding to unsolicited calls. It is not your friend or mother phoning.