When I got home the day before yesterday, I had a very interesting message waiting for me on my answering machine. The text was clearly spoken by a computer, and although I already deleted the message, this is roughly what it said:

Hello, this is “Mr X”. Your number has just been selected from our database, and you are a winner. This is not a joke, you have just won a BMW 3-series, or the equivalent of 30,000 Euros in cash. Again, this is not a joke. You can claim your prize, a BMW 3-series or the equivalent of 30,000 Euros, by calling us within the next 48 hours. Please take a pen and a piece of paper, the number is 0900-739555…

I have to admit, I was a bit confused, perhaps a bit joyful. But I decided to research the internet first, before calling on. As I entered the number in Google, it appeared that many people had already written about the message message being a scam, and that calling the 0900 number would cost approximately 2 Euros per minute. The clue: the call center would stall callers as long as they could, but a prize (be it the car or the cash) would never get delivered to the individual.

I currently live in Germany, and having researched the topic a bit further came the next clue: the so-called company which had called me is located in Switzerland. Due to the border issue, it is extremely difficult to sue the company in order to obtain a prize. In fact, many had tried, where some succeeded but many failed.

Such automated calls are clearly scams, since nobody has anything to give away for free, especially if you cannot recall registering anywhere. Additionally, serious companies would contact you in person, and you would most probably have much more time than only 48 hours to respond. Fraudulent companies frequently make use of dialers, meaning that random phone numbers will be called, and as soon as a number is picked up (either by a person or answering machine), the number is saved in the database. Such databases are then frequently sold to third parties.

The sad thing is, that still many people respond to such calls. These are also usually people, who really could use the money and who are living on a tight budget. However, if you watch out for a couple of things, you can fairly easily identify a scam:

• If you are being called and the number of the caller is hidden, it is probably a scam (or another company or individual which clearly does not want you to call them back on that number).
• There is nothing for free without an initial investment. If you play the lottery, you will have to make a purchase first before you can win anything. However, if you won something without any effort from your side, it is probably a scam or a marketing campaign.
• Are you being told to respond within a very short time limit, such as 24 or 48 hours, then it might be a scam. Fraudsters do not want to give you enough time to think it over, or to conduct extensive research; you are being put under pressure.
• Are you being asked to call a very expensive number? Then it is quite obvious how this company is probably generating its earnings, namely via people calling them.
• If you are being told to call to a specific number, try to google that number. Posts and comments on scams are being spread on the internet extremely fast. If you find material on that number, read what people write about it.

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