Scam Calls Incoming

Just a heads up that I've received a few calls in the last week that are scams, and how to recognize one.

The first one came on Thursday over obon week. I missed the call but wondered what that number was as 425 is an area code in the US that I recognize. I found an article about a reporter who happened to pick up a call starting with those numbers. The caller claimed to be a police officer telling him he was a crime suspect. This kind of call has been increasing lately.

The Asahi Shimbun article is worth a read if you aren't familiar with this kind of scam.

If there is a plus mark at the beginning of the number, it's an international call.

If you are expecting an international call from someone who isn't in your contacts, be cautious and try to know what time to expect the call.

I don't receive international (or many local) calls to my Japanese phone number, so that's the first warning.

The second thing that you can see is the country code, and the first numbers of these scam calls are not any country's code. 

Yesterday I was using my phone while I got another call from a similar but different number so I declined it. Immediately I received another. The scammers are likely using AI to make these calls.

Even if you do answer a call like this, be aware of how to recognize something is not quite right and never give sensitive information to strangers.

If the call is from "Private number," it's best to skip those too. Usually they are just telemarketers or sales calls.