Shield Your Information from Scammers and Data Brokers with Incogni

Scam callers often deceive us by using phone numbers that resemble our own, exploiting our sense of familiarity with our area code or the first six digits of our number. This can lead us to believe that the call is legitimate, possibly coming from a local business or someone we are acquainted with. As a result, we answer the call only to hear a prerecorded message informing us of the shipping fees required to receive a package, the deposit needed for the supposedly "free" cruise we've won, or the urgency of surrendering our Social Security information to avoid tax penalties.

The prevalence of scams is increasing, with some becoming so advanced that even the most vigilant individuals are being deceived by fraudulent schemes. The positive news is that there are measures you can implement to halt the influx of scam calls and safeguard your personal data.

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Stop scam calls in their tracks and protect your data with Incogni.

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What Are Scam Calls and Data Brokers?

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Scam calls, spam text messages, and unsolicited junk mail occur when our personal information becomes part of online wholesale contact lists. Data brokers, who collect and sell personal data, search the internet for personal information and create extensive lists that are often sold to scammers.

Subsequently, scammers utilize these lists of numbers as targets for their fraudulent activities, aiming to deceive individuals and obtain money and valuable personal information.

Scam calls, a globally prevalent and effective technique employed by scammers, involve automated messages aimed at obtaining your personal information. Press four to proceed. Kindly provide your 16-digit credit card number. Send this information to us via email. Despite considering ourselves savvy enough to outsmart scammers, it is surprising how convincing they can be.

In reality, it is estimated that in the previous year alone, approximately 70 million Americans fell victim to telephone scams, resulting in a staggering loss of $40 billion.

How Do Data Brokers Get Your Information?

If you have ever enrolled in a customer loyalty program, downloaded an application, utilized a chatbot, or disclosed personal information online, it is likely that a portion of this data has been obtained by data brokers. Every company you engage with has a privacy policy, and embedded within some of these policies are provisions to sell or exchange your information with third parties.

Even information that has not been explicitly or legally exchanged or sold can be unlawfully obtained. Despite the presence of robust privacy policies and advanced security measures, companies have experienced data breaches where customer information is stolen or unintentionally leaked. As a result, individuals become susceptible to scammers who gain access to such information.

However, there is a way to remove your information from the compromised state and reduce the chances of falling victim to scams or fraud.

How to Stop Data Brokers From Getting Your Information and Put a Stop to Scam Calls

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To start, individuals who wish to avoid receiving calls from telemarketers should register their phone number with the National Do Not Call Registry, a service provided by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). This simple action can help you steer clear of a significant number of unwanted calls. Furthermore, once your number is included in the registry, you have the option to report any additional unwanted sales or scam calls to the FTC. However, it is important to note that while legitimate businesses adhere to the FTC's regulations, scammers operate under different circumstances. Therefore, enrolling in the Do Not Call Registry is just the first step to protect yourself.

To effectively deal with scam calls, it is essential to promptly hang up without engaging in any button-pressing, even if they instruct you to do so to halt further calls. Additionally, it is crucial to block the respective number. Even though these calls often originate from constantly changing spoofed numbers, it is still possible to prevent calls from repeat offenders.

After blocking scam callers and registering your phone number with the FTC, it is advisable to erase your digital footprint. Incogni, an online privacy service, specializes in targeting all platforms where your personal information may be present, including databases of data brokers, people search sites, marketing companies, and more.

When you subscribe to Incogni, your personal data will be completely erased from questionable parts of the internet, and it will prevent any unauthorized selling of your information by third parties. Incogni estimates that the average person would spend around 304 hours effectively securing their privacy by manually submitting data removal requests. However, Incogni's services automatically handle these tasks for you.

Furthermore, Incogni ensures ongoing peace of mind by regularly sending requests to delete your personal information from 170 databases owned by data brokers. This means that even if more of your information becomes exposed, it will be promptly removed before scammers can exploit it.

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To ensure your privacy and minimize the risk of falling victim to scams, consider an Incogni subscription. With continuous protection year-round, HowToGeek readers can enjoy an exclusive discount of 55% off Incogni's annual plans by using the code GEEK55. Take control of your privacy today with an Incogni subscription.

Don't hesitate any longer! Enroll in the most renowned personal data removal service globally (based on Google Trends data) and begin safeguarding your privacy today.

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