CONWAY — Phone scams are becoming increasingly sophisticated thanks to artificial intelligence. Scammers can impersonate a friend or relative on the phone, claiming to be in trouble, in jail or even kidnapped with an “urgent need” for funds to be transferred.
According to Conway City Attorney Charles Finkenbinder, scammers often spend a lot of time on a phone call to make a person feel comfortable with them before asking for money. He is warning the public about this and other fraudulent phone calls.
“Technology also makes it easy for scammers to cause your cell phone to falsely display a legitimate public or private agency (e.g., “Faulkner County Sheriff” or “US Bank”), so you should let any call from a number not already in your contacts go to voicemail,” Finkenbinder said. “Once you have listened to the voicemail, if the caller instructs you to call back, don’t use the number provided but rather go to the agency’s official website and call that number instead. A local woman recently did that, and it saved her from transferring thousands of dollars.”…