Do you answer the phone?
Do your remember the last time you answered the phone without checking the caller ID?
Used to be, and I might just be old enough to remember those days, you picked up the phone without a second thought simply because it rang. Maybe it was a friend or family member. Maybe it was a stranger. Maybe it was a wrong number. Maybe it was a telemarketer. Whoever it was, you almost always answered.
I have multiple layers of screening that I do with my phone these days. Call display, pre-answering services, and voicemail screening are just the three big tools I use these days to prevent getting unwanted calls.
And why do I screen all my calls lately? Why don’t I just pick up the phone whenever the damn thing rings?
I screen because enough of those calls are people calling to try to scam me. I am filtering what gets through to reduce the amount of thought and effort I would need to do “on the fly” if—and ultimately when—I answer one of those calls.
I don’t want to be scammed, and I doubt anyone actually does. So, moreso lately I have honed techniques and used tools to avoid being tricked by a stranger.
Now… and be honest here: Do you remember the last time you clicked on a link and read the article behind it with the same vigilance with which you probably screen your phone calls? Do you really think those scammers are restricting themselves to the phone system?