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Several times during the last month there have been reports on the news for people to be aware of phone scams. People receive phone calls in which the callers say that they are conducting a survey for some well known organization. They ask for personal and private information. Never provide this information to any caller.

Parents should discuss phone scams with their children. The children should be instructed to not give out any personal information over the phone. They should just hang-up. Children should also not tell someone on the phone if their parents are home or not.

When your phone rings and there is a delay before someone begins to speak then hang up immediately. This is a telemarketer or someone conducting a survey. They are using the computer to dial a lot of numbers and then when someone answers the call is transfered to the telemarketer. Thus, there is a short delay.

I have heard about people who do things to harass the telemarketer. They feel like that since their time has been invaded, then it is okay to waste the caller’s time. One guy said that when they call and ask for him, he tells them that he is outside so wait and he will go get him. Then he just lays the phone down and leaves them holding. Another person said that they blow a whistle real loud. I don’t recommend these tactics, but you can get on a do-no-call list or have calls with unknown numbers screened.