AG’s office warning Michigan residents of smartphone voice search scams - WNEM

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LANSING, Mich. (WNEM) – Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel is warning residents to be wary about certain smartphone features that can put users in danger of being scammed.

The AG’s office said the Better Business Bureau put out a recent warning about how using a smartphone’s voice search and virtual assistant technology apps – such as Siri, Google Assistant, or Alexa – to look up and dial phone numbers can increase a person’s risk of being scammed.

According to the AG’s office, scammers are aware of people’s reliance on smart devices to find and call phone numbers, so they will create fake customer service numbers that will appear in the search results when a person uses voice search, and assistant apps might choose that fake number because it appears at the top of the search results.

The AG’s office said these fake numbers may try to direct a caller to a website designed to steal personal information or may try to charge a fee for assisting a person, saying they can only pay by wire transfer or a prepaid debit card. These things should be red flags.

“Smartphones and devices can provide time-saving convenience and assistance but beware voice search apps are vulnerable to misdirection by scammers after your money,” Nessel said.

The Better Business Bureau said smartphone users should do the following to avoid falling for these kinds of scams:

Verify support phone numbers by using information on a business’s website, on a bill, on a receipt, or in a confirmation email rather than using a smartphone to find the number.
Watch out for fake ads made by scammers by consulting a business’s official website.
Go right to the source by finding contact information on a business’s app or website.
Use a credit card for payments rather than a prepaid debit card or a wire transfer as credit card payments are simpler to dispute.

If you have been a victim of a smartphone voice search scam, you can click here to file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau.