Contact 6: Avoiding robo-calls from "card member services"
MILWAUKEE -- A lady with a friendly voice is making an offer regarding saving money and lowering interest rates that sounds great, but not everyone is happy to hear from "Rachel."
"Rachel"...or "Katie," or "Jenny" from the so-called "card member services" is responsible for 2.6 billion calls a year, according to the Federal Trade Commission. The friendly female voice provides information on reducing credit card rates, but only after you pay a fee for that service.
It's actually a scam -- "Rachel" is a robot that fooled close to 13 million people in 2010 alone!
"People are just willing to trust someone. The Better Business Bureau is all about building trust with reputable companies versus just answering a robo-call from some high-tech company in any part of the world that's making up a spoofed phone number to make you think that it's a real conversation and that they're going to save you money," Ran Hoth with the Wisconsin BBB said.
Robo-calls used for sales purposes are illegal, unless a consumer specifically gives a company permission to contact them.
Contact 6 advises hanging up on "Rachel" or signing up for the Federal Trade Commission's "Do Not Call List."
Also -- file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission, which will help investigators recognize patterns and possibly disconnect "Rachel" for good.
CLICK HERE to register for the National Do Not Call List.
CLICK HERE to file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission.