Most telephone sales calls are made by legitimate businesses offering legitimate products or services. But wherever honest firms search for new customers, so do con artists. There is no way to positively determine whether a sales call is on the up and up simply by talking with someone on the phone. No matter what questions you ask or how many, skilled con artists have ready answers. That's why sales calls from people or organizations that are unknown to you should always be checked out before you actually buy or invest.
Legitimate callers have nothing to hide.
Phone swindlers are likely to know more about you than you know about them. Depending on where they got your name from in the first place, they may know your age and income, health and hobbies, occupation and marital status, education, the home you live in, what magazines you read, and whether you've bought by phone in the past. As admirable as such characteristics may be, they help make the swindler's job easier. Swindlers also exploit less admirable characteristics, such as greed. Their success depends on it.