The internet is fast becoming flooded by scammers of various
kind, one has to pay extra attention and precautions while interacting with
strangers online so as not the fall victim to these swindlers. They are in every
nook and cranny of the internet on every platform you can think of, ready to
steal your data an extort you of hard earned cash. Online scams these days take
several approaches, the one under discussion is the Google voice verification scam. It is one that quite notorious on
classified ads sites especially Craigslist, so much so that it has been dubbed
“Craigslist voice verification scam”. The scam is also carried out on other
social platforms as well, the singular aspect of your details they require is your
phone number. Dating sites and social media are not left out.
The Aim
Well, if you fell victim for this scam, you can be relieved
that no direct monetary loss is involved or any direct harm to you. But don’t get
too comfortable as a stranger is in control of a phone number connected and
directly linked to yours and your google accounts. And that’s by far the closest
the effect of any reprehensible act the scammer commits on the phone number
with him can affect you. The true benefit to the scammer is not from you, your
number is just an intermediary. The aim is to get a secondary number from
Google voice through you. This phone number is free and is given to you by
Google when you open a google voice account. It is a virtual phone number that
can be linked to any phone and can perform all the basic function of a regular
phone number.
The Method
Usually, you would have posted your phone number and a few
other details on some online platform. The scammer calls you and comes up with some
excuse or reason for you to share a confirmation or verification code that
would be sent to you by google. “How can anyone fall for that?” you ask? Well
the scammer usually gives a compelling or at least reasonable reason for you to
do so. For example as a seller who posted an ad on Craigslist, they could tell
you that the verification code is to confirm your identity or prove that you
are not a bot or so on. And even though in the later text you will receive from
google explicitly warns you not to share the code with another party, most
people who fall victim just ignore the warning and send the verification code
to the scammer anyway.
The
trick/Scam
While the victim thinks he just confirmed that he’s human,
the reality is that he just confirmed his phone number for the verification of
a virtual Google Voice phone number which the scammer has been setting up. Once
you give the code to the scammer, he can get a fresh phone number from google,
free of charge, this phone number can in turn be used to commit other myriad of
internet scams and activities and it’s all tied to your real phone number – Not
that this has any specific harm to you though, but it makes one cringe that a
scammer is using me in some scam.
Solution
You can stop cringing now, there is a solution to the google voice verification scam and you
can reclaim your phone number from the scammers. It majorly involves the same
method the scammer used in setting up the google number in the first place and
it will be discussed in the following steps:
Step 1: Click on this link,
it will take you to a page where you the google voice page, select ‘get google
voice’ and follow the steps to set up a google voice account. But if you
already have one set up you can just go ahead and continue from step 4.
Step 2: In the set-up process, you will be required to give a
forwarding number. You should enter a different number, probably a friend’s or
a family member’s number. Not to worry, you can disable this number once you
have reclaimed the stolen number.
Step 3: You will receive verification code via call from Google
Voice (the same one you gave the scammer) on the phone number you provided. It
is a six-digit code, enter it where it is required to confirm the registration.
Step 4: After the set-up is complete, go to your account
page, find and click on settings or click on this link. You’ll see a + icon which signifies
that you should add another forwarding phone number. Now enter the number you
want to reclaim. If your number is still being used by the scammer, you will be
notified that the number is currently in use by another account and be asked if
you wish to reclaim it. After you
reclaim it, your number would be removed from the scammer’s account. Voila! you
are now once again the sole owner of your phone number.
Prevention
While one can only do his best to protect your
information and data from scammers, we should not be too lenient in that end.
Be careful of where you leave your phone number and other similar sensitive
information, especially Craigslist. Also, whenever you receive a warning from a
trusted platform not to share a code or information with a third party, pay
more attention to the notice and follow the advice.
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