Fraud alert: Don’t say ‘yes’

AARP’s Fraud Watch Network Help Line has recently fielded lots of calls about the “Say yes” scam, according to AARP.

On April 2, U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, warned that a new telephone scam was attempting to steal voice recordings of people. The scammers call and ask a question to get the caller to say “yes.” A typical questions could be, “Can you hear me?” Collins said in a press release.

The scammers then record that “yes” and use it to authorize fraudulent charges. Collins’ office reported on May 16 that since April 2, it has received 46 complaints from consumers about the scam.

The scam is deceiving, Collins said in the news release. It can happen quickly and without any acknowledgement that the victim has been scammed.

Anyone who receives a call from someone they don’t know asking a question such as “Can you hear me?” should not respond to the caller. Hang up and report the incident to the U.S. Senate Aging Committee’s toll-free fraud hotline: 1-855-303-9470.

If you’ve received a call like this and said yes, don’t panic, the AARP news release said.

“Be sure to always carefully review your bills and credit card statements, and immediately dispute any unauthorized charges,” the news release stated.

The “yes” scam is another good reason to not answer the phone, but instead screen calls letting them first go to voice mail, experts say.

For more information, visit the AARP Fraud Watch Network website at www.aarp.org/fraudwatchnetwork.