Keeping Yourself Secure from Solicitors

Whether it is ringing the phone early on Saturday morning or just as you’re sitting down for dinner, very few of us ever welcome a call from a solicitor.  Your approach may be a welcoming whistle being blown in the phone or perhaps a more polite “No, thank you;” but whatever it is, you must ensure you are not making yourself vulnerable to them.

Privacy is Private

If they are calling you, they already have some level of information on you from somewhere.  However, never ever should you volunteer any personal information to them.  They do not need to know how much you make or what political party you choose to vote.  You never need to state your address and certainly must never “confirm” your social security number or birthdate.  If they are calling you, you are under no obligation whatsoever to provide personal information, nor should you.  Scams and identity thefts are so rampant these days, one should never trust a simple phone call or provide any type of private, identifying information.

Need It in Writing

If they are claiming something that sounds like you actually legitimately do need to attend to, such as a collections agency, then ask for them to send you information on this matter in writing.  If they are lawfully trying to reach you regarding a rightful matter, then they will already have your address on file and will be able to send an acceptable document addressing the concern in writing.  If they refuse, assume they are scammers just trying to pull information from you and hang up.

Know Your Numbers

If you don’t like getting these calls, you should register your phone number with the National Do Not Call Registry.   There are specific guidelines pertaining to this registry, so educate yourself on them so you will know when solicitors are violating those terms.  You should also store all of your regularly called contacts so you can easily identify when an unknown number is calling you.  If it is important, most callers will leave a message for you.  Also, beware of scams where they will call and then hang up in hopes that you will call back the number.  These can end up costing you; so if you really need to know why a number called, try doing a quick search online to see if others have recently received a call from that same number.

Interested in securing your home?  Give Watch Guard Alarms a call today!