Worn out by scam calls? How they work, and what helps

It’s a Tuesday evening and your phone rings. The number looks local. You pick up, because it might be the pharmacy, or your kid’s school. It’s a recording about your car’s warranty. You hang up. Twenty minutes later it rings again: a calm, polite voice from “your bank’s fraud department”, who already knows your name.

If that sounds like every week, you’re not imagining it, and you’re not alone. People told the FTC they lost $15.9 billion to fraud in 2025, across 3 million fraud reports, up from just over $12 billion the year before (FTC). Among the 2025 reports where someone lost money and said how the scam reached them, 11% started with a phone call (FTC).

This article is for the person on the receiving end: what a scam call is actually trying to do, the tricks to listen for, what to do in the moment, and how to keep strangers from ringing you at all on the number you care about.

What a scam call is really after

Most scam calls aren’t random chatter. They follow a script with a few stages, and once you see them, they’re easier to spot.

1. Get you to pick up. Scammers can make any name or number show up on your caller ID (FTC). A local-looking number or a familiar company name is the hook.
2. Make it urgent. Something is wrong right now: your account has been hacked, your Social Security number is linked to a crime, a family member is in trouble. Pressure to decide on the spot is one of the FTC’s main warning signs (FTC).
3. Sound official. Fake badge numbers, case numbers and a second “specialist” who joins the call to back up the first one (FTC).
4. Move your money, or get the keys to it. A payment by wire, gift card, cryptocurrency or payment app, a transfer to a “safe” account, or the verification code your bank just texted you (FTC, FTC).

Every step is designed to keep you on the phone and stop you from checking.

The scripts you’re most likely to hear

Impersonation is the big one. People reported losing $3.5 billion to imposter scams in 2025, including nearly $1 billion to people posing as businesses and about $920 million to people posing as government agencies (FTC). The common versions:

• “This is your bank’s fraud team.” They’ve spotted suspicious activity and want to help you “protect” your money by moving it. Your money is fine where it is; anyone telling you to move it is a scammer (FTC).
• “Your Social Security number has been used in a crime.” A fake government official makes threats, sometimes of arrest (FTC, FTC).
• “Your computer has a virus.” A fake tech-support call that ends with you paying to fix a problem you don’t have (FTC).
• “Grandma, it’s me. I’m in trouble.” A family emergency, sometimes in a cloned voice. The FTC says a short clip of someone’s voice posted online can be enough (FTC).
• “You’ve won.” A prize, a lottery or a sweepstakes you never entered, with a fee to collect it (FTC).
• Debt relief, extended car warranties, and “free” trials that turn into monthly charges (FTC).

What to do when one gets through

You don’t need to win an argument with a scammer. You only need to end the call and check for yourself.

• Hang up. Don’t press any numbers on a robocall, not even the one that promises to take you off the list. Pressing numbers can lead to more calls (FTC).
• Don’t trust the voice or the caller ID. If it’s “your bank”, call the number on your statement or card. If it’s “your grandson”, call him on a number you know is his (FTC, FTC).
• Never read out a verification code. Banks use those codes to prove you’re you. Share it, and the scammer can use it to prove they’re you (FTC).
• If you paid, move fast. Contact your bank, card company or the payment app right away; quick reports sometimes mean money can be recovered (FTC).
• Report it at ReportFraud.ftc.gov, or DoNotCall.gov for an unwanted call where you didn’t lose money (FTC).

Why the usual fixes only go so far

The Do Not Call Registry is built to stop sales calls from real companies that follow the law. Scammers don’t, so it won’t stop their illegal calls (FTC).

Blocking a number helps with a repeat caller. But scammers can make any number show up on caller ID, so the next call may come from a different one (FTC).

Call-blocking apps and carrier services help too, and the FTC lists them as options. It also warns they may block some calls you want (FTC).

Your phone’s own screening is worth turning on. We compared the built-in options, and their trade-offs, in should you answer calls from unknown numbers?

All of these try to work out which callers are bad. There’s another way to look at it: you already know who the good callers are.

Flip it: ring for people you know

Think about who actually needs to reach you on the number you care about. Family. Friends. Your kid’s school. The plumber you called this morning. You have most of them in your contacts already.

So instead of guessing whether a stranger is a scammer, let a stranger’s call go somewhere else first. People you know ring you. Everyone else gets a polite answer, can leave a message, and you read it when you choose.

That doesn’t decide whether a caller is a scammer. A scammer can still leave a message. But you’re no longer the one picking up a stranger’s call at dinner, mid-script, under pressure. You read what they said, calmly, and call back on a number you trust if it matters.

How this works on a Redtie number

Redtie is a phone line with an AI assistant built in. You can use a Redtie number as your personal number, or as a second number you give out when you’d rather not hand over your cell. Each line now has a setting for exactly this.

The setting. On each line, Callers not in your contacts can be set to:

• Ring me (the default). Every caller rings you, as before.
• Send to the assistant. Callers who aren’t in your contacts go straight to the AI assistant without ringing you. People you know ring you as usual.

Who counts as someone you know:

• someone saved in your contacts: people you added or synced. Contacts Redtie created automatically from earlier calls don’t count.
• someone you’ve called from that line in the last 30 days.
• a verified cell number on your account.

What happens to everyone else. The assistant answers, takes a message, and you get a summary by email. In the web console, those calls carry a Not in your contacts label, so you can see why the assistant took them.

If the check is slow, you still get the call. If the contact lookup is slow or fails, the call rings you. You won’t miss a real call because of the check itself.

Turning it on

1. Sign in to the web console at phone.getredtie.com, or open the Redtie desktop app on your Mac (version 0.8.6 or later).
2. Pick the line.
3. Set When it answers to Off or After no answer. With Always, the assistant already answers every caller, so the switch is greyed out.
4. Set Callers not in your contacts to Send to the assistant.
5. Make sure the people who should always reach you are in your contacts.

The iPhone and Android apps don’t have the switch yet. Set it in the web console or the Mac app; it’s a setting on the line, so it applies to every call to that line.

If a stranger turns out to be someone you want to hear from, add them to your contacts. Next time, they ring you.

What it won’t do

• It doesn’t judge callers. It helps screen calls by keeping strangers from ringing you. The assistant takes their message; it doesn’t decide whether the caller is a scammer, and a scammer can still leave one.
• A faked contact still rings you. Scammers can fake caller ID (FTC). A call that shows a number in your contacts is treated like that contact. And a familiar voice can be cloned, so call back on a number you know (FTC).
• Calling a number back makes it known. Return a call to an unknown number from your Redtie line, and it counts as someone you’ve called for the next 30 days.
• New people meet the assistant first. A new doctor’s office or a delivery driver who isn’t in your contacts gets the assistant, not you. If you’re expecting a call from a new number, save it first or switch back to Ring me for the day.
• US numbers only.
• It may not support 911 or other emergency calls (terms). Keep your regular phone for emergencies.

If you run a business line, the trade-offs are different. Read ring for people you know, send strangers to the assistant for when to use it on a business number, and when not to.

Take back the first ring

Scam calls work by getting you on the line, fast and unprepared. Whatever phone you use, hang up, check for yourself, and never move money or share a code because a caller said so. And on the number you care about most, let the people you know ring through, and let the assistant take the first call from everyone else.

See how Redtie works as a second phone number for gig workers and independents, or read what to look for in a second number. There’s a 7-day free trial when you sign up on the web.