Before You Google A Business' Phone Number, Beware Of This Scam

Westend61 via Getty Images Be wary of the contact information listed on search engine results. Karin Zilberstein, vice president of product at cybersecurity firm Guardio, said “Fraudulent numbers can appear at the top ― especially for urgent searches like ‘bank customer support’ or ‘airline help desk.’” Once you are on a call with this business impersonator, you could get hoodwinked into sharing more than you should. As the FTC puts it, “Manual or other print material for your product is a good source of real customer service information.” Go directly to the company’s website. “If the website displaying the phone number is not using an official company domain or URL, that’s a big red flag,” Kain said. Zilberstein said to be suspicious of pushy or urgent language from customer service agents, because “scammers often demand immediate action.” If you do get pushed to take immediate action with your money, use that as your cue to hang up and double-check the number you see.