Phone Interview Request: One of the Most Clever Scams You’ll Ever See

Interview Request Scam: How It Works

Here is a sneaky scam preying on people’s naivety when it comes to vanity and freebies. It is happening these days and might come your way sooner than you think.

You receive an email or a voicemail from somebody claiming to be either a well-known blogger with tens of thousands of followers or a journalist from a radio station, newspaper or TV. The name and the person are real; scammers only impersonate them.

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The message says they would like to do an interview with you about a specific subject related to your line of business – it depends on what you’re into (sports, food, home improvement, local events, etc.). Criminals pick their victims after doing just a slight research online where they could find your info and interests.

He says he came across your info online and thought you would be an excellent person to interview for an article he’s about to publish. Happy to answer his questions since you might get free exposure and an eventual backlink for your website, you call the number provided.

Little do you know that the number is registered as a premium line, meaning you will end up waiting on line for several minutes, while your phone bill records an extra $20 per minute. How is that possible?

Watch the video below to see in action how this sneaky premium line works.

How Premium Rate Numbers Work Video

Scammers also rush the victims to call right away, saying that the deadline to publish the article is in a few hours.

Alternatively, scammers could send the email recipients to questionable links in order to fill out a “questionnaire”, instead of calling the 1-800 number.

Interview Request Scam: How To Avoid

Any reputable journalist or blogger has a voicemail; if you can’t leave a message right away and have to wait on line, just hang up. You should also research online the name they provide followed by the word ‘scam’.

If the message comes as an email (not a voicemail) feel free to continue the conversation online for a little bit and look for red flags such as: bad grammar or call-to-actions (from people you don’t know) that are rushed, especially since the number to call is a 1-800 one.

Interview Request Scam: How To Report

Make your family and friends aware of this scam by sharing it on social media using the buttons provided. You can also officially report the scammers to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) using the link below:

Report To The FTC Here

How to protect yourself more:

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