Be aware of the ‘Can you hear me?’ phone scam

The Better Business Bureau is warning people of a four word phone scam, “Can you hear me?” — It’s the latest scam, and it’s reached locals, here in the Valley.

It sounds like this;

“Hello, oh hang on just a minute, I’m adjusting my headset,” explained one Valley woman who was targeted, Judy Dotson.

All followed by a simple question, “can you hear me?”

Dotson says this isn’t the first time she’s come across a phone scam.

“It’s always a young female, friendly, bubbly, asking you, ‘can you hang on for a minute’, but I didn’t say yes, ’cause I suspected that’s what it was,” Dotson said.

If Dotson would have said yes, the BBB says her voice would have likely been recorded saying “yes” and edited to sound like she had authorized a big purchase.

If you answer a phone call similar to the one Dotson received, the BBB advises;

-If someone asks “can you hear me’ — hang up

-Check your bank and credit card statements regularly for unauthorized purchases

-Make a note of the phone number and report it to the bbb.org/scamtracker

-Use caller I.D and avoid answering numbers you are unfamiliar with — even if the area code is local