I’ve seen a few recent warnings about something many are referring to as the “Can You Hear Me?” Scam. Basically, someone will call, ask if you can hear them, wait for you to say “yes,” then hang up. Later, they make unauthorized charges to your credit card, and use the recording of you saying “yes” in court to “prove” you agreed to the charges.
Now, any reminder to NOT talk to strangers who call you on the phone or to engage with robocalls in any way is a good reminder, but if you’re like me, you might find a few holes in this specific warning.
For example, unless you have the weirdest credit card in the world and its number is “YES” for some reason, simply saying the word doesn’t automatically give the caller your card information. Despite the existence of Peanut Butter M&M’s, Gus’s World Famous Fried Chicken and the first Doc Watson album, magic isn’t actually real, and nobody can pull your credit card number out of your wallet simply by getting you to say “yes” one time. The scammer would have to already have this information before calling you.
Then, if they’ve already got your card information, why would they bother calling to trick you into appearing to agree to charges? In a vast majority of the cases I’ve seen, scammers aren’t interested in making their schemes complicated. They’re not going to use a recording of you saying “yes” in court because they’re never going to end up in court. If they have your card information, they’re just going to use it. They don’t need to track down a phone number associated with the card in order to get a “yes” they’re never going to need.
So this leaves us with…what, exactly? Is this a real scam? There do not appear to be any documented cases of “said yes/card was charged/disputed the charge/recording ‘proved’ I authorized the charge/no recourse.” But the calls appear to be actually happening, and you have to wonder: what are they up to?
It doesn’t matter. If you get a call and someone just says, “Can you hear me?” hang up. No matter what their intent, it’s not something you want to get involved in.
Even better, stop answering the phone every time it rings. Almost every phone scammer needs you to pick up the phone. If you don’t, you’ve already ruined their scheme. If you recognize a number, go ahead and pick it up, but let everyone else leave a message.
This may be just one of those stories that gets passed around on a better safe than sorry basis, but I like accuracy, and the story being shared by various online sources doesn’t add up. If you do get a call like this, just hang up. But consider letting all unfamiliar calls go to voicemail. It’s the safest method.
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