What to do when you get a phony phone call

Local patrons are receiving bogus phone calls that are asking for personal information.

We heard from hundreds of viewers online about calls from what looked like other countries, as well as calls telling viewers their car warranty is running out. These are both fake phone calls from scammers.

Unfortunately, blocking the calls may not work experts say. Some scammers use systems to change the phone number each time they call. Cody Huizenga, who runs consumer services for the local chapter of the Better Business Bureau, said the best thing to do is to end or reject the call.

“Hang up the phone if you don’t recognize the number,” he said. “If it’s something important, somebody will leave you a voicemail and you can call them back if they are legitimate.”

He also said reporting the scam can help others from falling for it.

“Report it too. That’s one thing that you can do warn others and hopefully, if we all do that, eventually we can get these to slow down a little bit,” he said.

Most importantly, do not give out any personal information.

“A government agency is not going to call you,” he said.

To report a phone call you’ve recieved, click the link here.