BAKERSFIELD, CA-- It's a phone call you don't want to return. A new phone scam is sweeping the nation and has hit some people here in Kern County.
Shane Swanson was working at ARRC Technology when he received an unusual phone call.
"I did not call the number back,” Swanson said. “I had heard a rumor of some new scam starting up like this."
But it was not a rumor as Swanson had just become the target of an international phone scam.
How it works is scammers purchase or steal a list of phone numbers in the United States. Then they call your cell phone but they only let it ring once. What they want you to do is call that number back because when you do it charges your account $20 for the initial call and $9 for each additional minute.
Aaron Reese with the Better Business Bureau says this scam is more effective than some others because it raises no red flags.
"There is no one trying to sell you anything,” Reese said. “There is no one sending the wrong type of message or who has a foreign accent or doesn't speak very well. All of those things we look for are absent."
Swanson showed 17 News the number on his phone and it looks normal. Part of his job is security for computers and networks but he says you don't need expensive software just some common sense to avoid becoming a victim.
"If you don't know who it’s from and if they don't leave a message, probably was not important,” Reese said. “And there is no reason to call it back."
Shane Swanson was working at ARRC Technology when he received an unusual phone call.
"I did not call the number back,” Swanson said. “I had heard a rumor of some new scam starting up like this."
But it was not a rumor as Swanson had just become the target of an international phone scam.
How it works is scammers purchase or steal a list of phone numbers in the United States. Then they call your cell phone but they only let it ring once. What they want you to do is call that number back because when you do it charges your account $20 for the initial call and $9 for each additional minute.
Aaron Reese with the Better Business Bureau says this scam is more effective than some others because it raises no red flags.
"There is no one trying to sell you anything,” Reese said. “There is no one sending the wrong type of message or who has a foreign accent or doesn't speak very well. All of those things we look for are absent."
Swanson showed 17 News the number on his phone and it looks normal. Part of his job is security for computers and networks but he says you don't need expensive software just some common sense to avoid becoming a victim.
"If you don't know who it’s from and if they don't leave a message, probably was not important,” Reese said. “And there is no reason to call it back."