Potential fish can pick the hook clean without getting snared, experts say. Phone swindlers, says an AAFT spokesperson, are likely to know more about you than you know about them. Depending on where they got your name in the first place, they might 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 have bought by phone in the past. Even if your name came from the phone book, telephone con artists assume that, like most people, you would be interested in having more income, that you are receptive to a bargain, that you are basically sympathetic to people in need and that you are reluctant to be discourteous to someone on the phone. As admirable as such characteristics might be, they help make the swindler's job easier.
Swindlers also exploit less admirable characeristics, such as greed.
Self protection starts with knowing the scams and understanding how they work, and ends with using the remedies available to stay off the hook. Scams come and scams go, but there are five that have stayed popular with con artists and that form the core for all creative offshoots. The popular five are prize offers, investments, travel clubs, office supplies and magazine subscriptions. Prize offers hit consumers from one of two directions. Frauds using the mail instead of the phone will include a toll-free number for the victim to call.