This is more dangerous than the Collection call: subscription scam, as more people fall for it. The scammer calls and claims he is a representative of your telephone company.

Very official, he says you have an unpaid bill and the service is about to be disconnected. “It is $53 to pay now, but if you want to reconnect at a later date it will be $149”.

You might not believe him, so you ask him to prove himself. “By all means, he says. I am going to interrupt the service for two minutes. Hang up and try to make any phone call you want”. You hang up and when you pick it up again – no tone! Your phone is dead and he is right!

He calls you back in two minutes, and you give him your credit card, to pay the balance on your bill.

How to avoid: what the scammer did after you hung up was just to stay on the line, but with the Mute button on. You can’t dial out, and he can actually hear you trying. This is because he is the person who initiated the call, so he has to be the one who terminates it as well. He just called you back when he heard you were not dialing anymore. Don’t fall for this.