‘Can you hear me?' Don't answer that!

I have had em all,IRS.Computer, rachel credit card scams but so far not this one.I live in Omaha area and todays news was warning that these calls are quite common in Omaha area this week.I have a blocker and rarely choose tomess with these scammers although on occasion I will playem for fools. Anyway I do not care if a person does answer "YES" I find it hard to see a  scenario under which a scammer could authorize charges in another person's name simply by possessing a voice recording of that person saying "yes," they would need an actualcredit card or pay pal account # to link it to. These scammers must be getting even more stupid by the day. Most people are onto thier scams these days and have blockers.

Scammers can hijack other accounts too, like your cell phone account :
https://krebsonsecurity.com/2016/08/a-life-or-death-case-of-identity-theft/
A Life or Death Case of Identity Theft?

Scammers create counterfeit drivers' licenses for this kind of fraud.

It has been used, but I haven't heard of anything specific in the last couple of month.  The one that was prevalent several years ago was the copier toner scams, generally to try to get a business feel compelled to pay an invoice in order to avoid a "lawsuit" over non-payment.  A couple of them would edit the audio to make it sound like someone agreed to buy toner.

So I agree, it is curious that there haven't been any identifiable victims recently to cause this kind of publicity. However, never saying "Yes" to a telemarketer is still a valuable rule.

Isn't Federal single-party? So if they were from another State or a single party State, it's not a criminal offense? Still, they knew their "evidence" was tainted, and that could get really ugly in court if they presented it in front of a judge and got busted for it. Telling them to go ahead was definitely the right way to handle it. I don't think any of them are stupid enough to actually take the sham in front of a judge.

Thanks for an intelligent answer. I do realize scammers will try anything to swindle some cash from a victim, but my question was aimed at this "yes" thing. My curiosity was how could someone use the word 'yes' in todays economy where people dispute on a daily basis and there has been no claims of it as yet anyone has been a victim. I only wanted to know HOW a scammer MIGHT try using a recording of you saying yes.

best to just keep saying HUH huh huh huh huh huh ,until they hang up.

That's basically how they've worked before, but it does raise a question of based on these articles of "Can you hear me", what they would be using them for. I would like to know more behind the sudden publicity of this. If they are going to do something on your behalf, they are already impersonating you and now suddenly needing your voice for just a "Yes" seems odd. People have been doing identity theft and any number of frauds without that, so what's the angle? Not that there isn't one, just like to see a recent example. And of course, agree 100% to not say "Yes" anyway...

The pre-paid vacation (generally Mexican resort) scammers are always telling me they are going to use a "third party verification service" to record the call of my vacation offer/acceptance. It's always for "my" protection, although it's real purpose is to make it hard for me to dispute the charges. So I understand how even unedited audio can be used against people.

Just don't answer.

Someone needs to.  That's how we learn.

Well knock yourself out answering etc...  But many others (like me) do not have the time nor the inclination.  Just don't tell everyone to do it your way, and I won't tell you to do it mine.

Wow... I worked for a telesurvey company in college (was desperate for money but it didn't last long; people were abusive and I had thin skin). But I hadn't even thought about the potential for surveys being used the same way as this "can you hear me" scam. Seems so obvious, now that I think about it. And lots of people think, "What's the harm? They're not asking for money, only answers." Bleh. Can't trust anything anymore.

Quote:

I find it hard to see a  scenario under which a scammer could authorize charges in another person's name simply by possessing a voice recording of that person saying "yes,"

I wasn't sure about this either at first. But it is entirely possible. I encountered a perfect example today. I was making a payment by phone to a credit card company. Totally legit (finally got them paid off, whew). They already had my bank account number on file from previous payments. Then she said, "On this date, February 2, 2017, you, [my name], authorize [credit company's name] to withdraw [amount] from your [bank name] account ending in [last four digits of my bank account number]. Is this correct?" I answered "yes" and that was that.

So yes, it can absolutely be enough to authorize a charge.

Should it be? No. Obviously, it leaves it way too open to abuse. It would be better if they said, "Please repeat after me," and then have you say the above spiel yourself. That would be pretty much impossible to dispute. I don't know why they don't do it that way but I wish they would...

Why is it when an opinion  is expressed to the readers in general, there are people who just HAVE to push their opinion to "over rule" it if the majority disagrees with it? Why can't someone express them self and not have to be subjected to ridicule over it?  TT answered my question just fine and I appreciate it, but why wouldn't you express your opinion, its not like its a competition on who's idea is the one everyone has to go with. People should have the opportunity to make their own choice, right?

But that is not the same as some random scammer attempting to trick you into saying 'yes'. In that scenario, they ALREADY have your information and needed your authorization by 'yes', because they are a legitimate company.  Scammers wouldn't bother asking for a yes if they already possessed your card's account info, they would simply use it where ever they could to obtain whatever they could. I still can't see what scam could be cooked up by recording a simple 'yes', other than them having your information already.

Remember when Matt's church got hit with a "taped conversation" scam ?
https://800notes.com/forum/ta-6b01aec8c39bf6b ... 154805375854334
Yellow Pages Scammers order to pay back $10 million