Google, Alexa And Siri Warning: Millions At Risk From Nasty New Scam Calls
“The Better Business Bureau warns that even seemingly legitimate, familiar businesses can be drawn into this voice assistant scam. “You need the phone number for a company, so you ask your home’s smart device to find and dial it for you. But when the company’s ‘representative’ answers— it turns out the ‘representative’ isn’t from the company at all.”
If the scammer does trick a user into placing a call, they may charge for ghost service or redirect the discussion entirely. There is also a risk the fraudster “may demand remote access to your computer or point you to an unfamiliar website.” Two examples cited by the “ethical marketplace,” were a consumer calling an airline to change a reservation and being tricked into buying a “special promotion” gift card and another consumer calling a helpline for a printer and being targeted by a technical support scam.
Again, similar themes to the Google Maps issue where the search giant explains that fraudsters “charge for services that are actually free, defraud customers by posing as real businesses, and impersonate real businesses to secure leads and then sell them.” “
