Troubleshooter Consumer Alert: Phone Call Scam
HOLLY SPRINGS, N.C. (WTVD) -- Karen Senchak says she was shocked to look at her caller ID and see a call coming in from herself. She says she's worried someone else is using her information to disguise their caller ID.
"My biggest fear is that someone is harassing people, or scamming people," Senchak said.
So anyone who gets a call that lists her information might think it's Senchak, a problem for the commercial broker who's worried the calls could affect her license.
"With the North Carolina Real Estate Commission, if someone is on a do-not-call list and gets a call from a broker, than you're in big trouble and there's a potential for losing your license. So I don't want that to happen, and I just want people to know, I'm not the one calling you," Senchak said.
She told us she tried getting in touch with her phone company, Time Warner Cable, and tried to put a stop to the misuse of her good name and phone number, but they said there wasn't much they could do.
"They said, 'Oh yeah, we've heard of this and it's happening with AT&T too, but there's nothing we can do'," Senchak said.
Now she's speaking out to let others know that you may not want to believe everything your caller ID says. It might list information for one person, when the call is being made by another.
"They're using local phone numbers to try to get people to answer the phone...whoever they are," Senchak said. "I don't want people in my community to think that I'm harassing them; I don't - because it's not me."
We reached out to Time Warner Cable and they said they have heard of this problem before but that there isn't much they can do.
They said the problem occurs across various phone carriers, and the best thing to do when you spot something like this is to contact the FCC by visiting http://www.fcc.gov/complaints or calling 1-888-Call-FCC.
Contact Troubleshooter Diane Wilson
