here’s what I don’t understand - why isn’t all education related to this kind of shit very simple. never answer a call (or return a call from voicemail) and never open/respond to an email. being in this industry for 2.5+ decades the first thing I thought my wife was exactly this. and my daughter as soon as she was of age where she started her digital life. 100% no exceptions. never ever answer a call from anyone you don’t know and if you get a voicemail that says whatever never callback. same on the email side, SMS side. no one will be calling you, no one will be emailing you… except scammers, no exceptions.

"no one will be emailing you… except scammers, no exceptions."

Might be, because I was travelling a lot, but I got lots of unknown numbers calling me that turned out to be friends with a new number. Now I surely could have locked myself up in a cage then there would be no risk, but also not reward.

Calling a unknown number back - no. But taking a call and saying hello did never cost me anything. I also don't just send money away or would install weird things on my computer because someone on the phone says so, so what is the danger?

Have you ever answered a robocall, and the first thing they ask is "Can you hear me OK?" or "My Bluetooth is acting up. Can you hear me?"

They want to record your voice, saying "yes."

I always say "I can hear you." I never say "yes," or anything like that, during the short time I'm on the line with them.

However, that is probably not valid, anymore, because they just need to record a fairly short segment of your voice, to generate a deepfake.

If it is a robocall, I would hang up and not say yes. Otherwise "I can hear you" and avoiding saying yes is good advice.

And as for deepfakes, I assume they become good and widespread enough soon, that no telephone contracts become enforcable.

friends with a new number can leave a voicemail saying they are who they are (or text or hit you up on social or…)

taking a call from unknown number, never under any circumstance. people calling you do this for a living, you pick up and your odds are stacked against you. maybe not yours or mine but my Father’s for sure :)

Well, I allmost did fell for a phone scam once, but due to weird circumstances I believed it was official Microsoft support as I expected them. Still, I won't install shady things from shady sites on request from a phone, so it did not got far.

You think people remember half of the shit they learned in their middle school or high school classes?

The number of times I've had someone ask "how do you know this stuff" when it's something I learned in 7th grade or similar is astounding.

It is pretty easy to remember and follow things if you keep it simple. with this it is remarkably simple.

- never answer unknown number calls - never answer unknown number texts - never open any emails from anyone you don’t know or do anything that email tells you to do if curiosity gets the best of ya and you open it.

ALL communication with any “business” or “government” (state/local/federal) is in one direction, YOU contact THEM. That’s it, can’t be any simpler

It's not like phishing trainings don't exist, but almost all of them are just wrong. They tell you things like "look out for spelling mistakes and sketchy looking URLs".

How will you get business done if you never answer a call or open an email, no exceptions?

Because the advice is actually

* Don't respond to any unsolicited communications. Period.

* If some business you have a pre-existing relationship reaches out to you unsolicited and you suspect it might be real, still don't respond. Go reach out to them via their posted customer support channel.

I have complicated feelings about phishing training because while it's good they're teaching you about common manipulation tactics and scams, trying to sus out from vibes the legitness of an email is the wrong approach. Just don't do anything.

wow, the scammer tried to steal your wife?

Maybe. She said he had “a golden voice.”