Senior News Line: Outwitting the scammers

My phone number appears to have gotten on another list somewhere, and the potential scammers are coming out of the woodwork — again.

I have my suspicions about where they could have found my number this time, but I can’t prove it, of course.

All I can do is keep fending them off — by not answering the phone if I don’t recognize the number or hanging up quickly if I’ve answered and realize it’s a scam.

After a period of time, it will wind down as they don’t have the satisfaction of anyone answering or falling for their scheme.

I try to stay off their radar by keeping to a minimum the number of places that have my information, but sometimes it’s just required that you provide a phone number.

We have to weigh the value of what we’ll get — perhaps it’s the grocery store loyalty card that requires a phone number to sign up, or even for voter registration — versus the potential abuse of our phone number when the scammers get it.

I keep a spare email address for the same reason. If forced to give one out, and not really trusting what will be done with it, I give the “trash” address and once a month go through and delete what generally turns out to be 95% spam email.

Then there are the passwords for the things we need to do online. We’re advised to have “strong” passwords, but what does that really mean?

It means using all the types of keys on the keyboard: upper and lower case letters, symbols and numbers. Don’t go with something that’s too easy for a thief to figure out, like the name of your former high school.

We can outwit the thieves who want our money and peace of mind. It just takes a little work.