received call from this number today at 1:54p...sounded like a real person...said, "Hello, this is Stan", I didn't reply...then heard, "are you there?", did not reply...then call disconnected...I believe it was a recorded message...information on caller ID read "Association"
received call from this number today at 1:54p...sounded like a real person...said, "Hello, this is Stan", I didn't reply...then heard, "are you there?", did not reply...then call disconnected...I believe it was a recorded message...information on caller ID read "Association"
Received a call 12;25 PM/MST. Did not answer, but based on the above report, this may be the scam, "can you hear me?" Added this to my number block.. Caller ID showed only "Association."
"The caller begins the conversation by asking 'Can you hear me?'" Levin said. "If, and when you answer 'Yes,' the fraudster is off to the races. They simply combine the recording with other personal information they have gathered from or about you, including credit card information."
Even if they don't have your banking information, the scammer might play back a person's "Yes" remarks and try to intimidate you into paying up, according to the Better Business Bureau.
"The sad thing is that it can be really effective in trapping the consumer into paying for something they're not getting the benefit of," Melanie Duquesnel, president and CEO of the Better Business Bureau Serving Eastern Michigan.
Think of some kind of subscription type services that might ding your account each month.
"The difficulty is that the consumer may have hung up on the caller thinking they hadn't done anything wrong," Duquesnel said.
Duquesnel said 62 consumers in Michigan have reported complaints about "Can You Hear Me?" calls in the past few days. But none reports any loss of money. The Michigan Attorney General's Office reports two complaints.
The BBB nationwide noted in its alerts that this type of "Yes" scam has historically targeted small business owners but the BBB has been hearing more reports from consumers.