Telecom companies are known to annoy customers with advertisements or promotional messages and calls from time to time. However, this is sometimes used against customers by scammers who claim to be the telecom company but instead trick the customer into giving them sensitive information.
In this article, we’re talking about receiving calls from an unknown number, 8009220204 specifically, that’s claiming to be coming from Verizon instead.
Also read: Where is Verizon 5G available?
What is this number?
The number closely resembles Verizon’s sales and business contact helplines. The following two contact numbers for Verizon are rather similar to the aforementioned number:
- 800-225-5499: Sales and Consumers
- 800-465-4054: Sales and Business
The number is actually a spoof and chances are that there are potential scammers behind the call. Users have reported the number as coming from tech support and saying that their accounts have been deactivated, asking them for sensitive information or to do something to get their accounts back while in reality everything’s fine with their Verizon accounts.
Another popular scam related to this number involves calling people and offerings refunds between $30 to $60 in exchange for personal information required to process a refund check or service credit.
There have been numerous reports of this number being used for a host of different scams ranging all the way back to 2014. The numbers trick users into believing they are legitimate as the caller ID of these numbers reports being originated from Verizon’s customer service.
That said, Verizon or any other cell service carrier will never ask for your sensitive information under the pretence of fixing your account or initiating a refund.
How to protect yourself against phone scammers?
Avoiding phone scammers is actually rather simple. All you have to do is just keep the following things in your mind:
- Avoid answering calls from unknown numbers.
- Do not make transactions involving money or information over the phone unless it’s someone you know in real life.
- Cross-check the caller ID to ensure it’s a legitmate call.
- Do not give out your personal information to unknown callers.
Also read: What is Cellco Partnership? Cellco Partnership d/b/a Verizon explained
