Using voice commands is just another step for a better and easier human-device interaction.
With it, things have never been easier. For example, people can search the web, play music, control their smart home devices, make appointment and more, using nothing but their voice. The world's information is practically a few sentences away. People know that, and so do scammers.
This is according to the Better Business Bureau, or BBB.
The organization that focuses on advancing marketplace trust issued a warning about how calling a business using voice assistants could expose people to a whole lot of danger.
When people want to call a company, but don't have the phone number of that company, they can certainly use their smart devices' smart assistants - such as Google Home, Siri, or Alexa.
Connected to the web, these digital assistants should know a lot of information, and finding a phone number isn't at all difficult for them. Rather than browsing the web by the more traditional typing, using the command like "call [business] name", these assistants can pull up phone numbers from the web in a fraction of a second.
"But when the company’s 'representative' answers, the conversation takes a strange turn. This representative has some odd advice! They may insist on your paying by wire transfer or prepaid debit card. In other cases, they may demand remote access to your computer or point you to an unfamiliar website," said BBB.
This is because the “representative” isn’t from the company at all.
"Scammers create fake customer service numbers and bump them to the top of search results, often by paying for ads. When Siri, Alexa, or another device does a voice search, the algorithm may accidentally pick a scam number."
Depending on voice assistants mean that people have little to no choice for comparison.
For example, when voice assistant comes up with an answer, users may either believe the information it is giving, or discard it. But the case is different when users browse the web for the same information.
If users were to see the ads in their own search results, they can better identify scam when they see one. By looking at the URL, the ads, the site and so forth, scam ads are relatively easy to spot. But for digital assistants, they aren't necessarily good at making those distinctions, and often give preference to results that rank higher in search.
To avoid being scammed, BBB suggests users:
- To be really careful when searching for support phone numbers. Rather than doing an online search or letting smart device to look up a number, users can instead use the contact information on the business's website (double check the URL), on the bill, or in the confirmation email.
- Beware of fake ads, as scammers can make create ads with fake customer service numbers. Avoid using voice search to look for a phone number.
- To make payments with credit card. This is because if anything goes wrong, it’s easier to dispute a credit card payment. Paying by wire transfer or pre-paid debit card is like using cash, which leaves almost nothing for users to get their money back.
And for last, if people call a number and feel that the call isn't right, they can always hang up. Just don't rely on voice assistants for this seemingly easy task.