Spam Calls Spoofing Broussard Numbers Hit Acadiana Residents

(KMDL-FM) Are you getting a lot of phone calls from people that you don't know who appear to be calling from local numbers? If so, you are not alone. One Acadiana resident who contacted us said he has gotten 16 potential spam phone calls in the past week. Each of those spam callers was spoofing a Broussard, Louisiana, phone number.

No, I don't think anyone from Broussard, Louisiana, is attempting to run phone scams on unsuspecting people, but I do think that you need to be very careful when it comes to answering phone calls from unknown callers.

Now, as luck would have it, the individual who got 16 spam calls from several spoofed Broussard numbers was actually waiting to hear from a service technician whose phone service was listed as Broussard. So, he got to "speak" with the scammers, which is something that law enforcement, the Better Business Bureau, and anyone who deals with scams will tell you that's not what you're supposed to do.

What Is The Current Active Scam in Acadiana Right Now?

The scam was centered around "several hundred" dollars worth of grocery benefits via Medicare that the intended victim was entitled to. There are grocery benefits available through some parts of Medicare Advantage Part C, but not everyone is elegible and certainly not the intended victim of this particular scam.

You see, the individual who was getting spam calls about his Medicare/Grocery Benefits is only 31. So, right off the bat, when the intended victim answered his phone, he knew this was a play to get his personal information.

New Scammer Tactics Employ AI Voices to Make The Scammer Sound Local

In this particular scam, the scammers have wised up to the fact that most of us recognize foreign accents and background noise coming from scam call centers. They now scam with phone calls using AI voices and interactive responses. So the caller doesn't sound like a third-world thief; they sound like they could actually be calling from a legitimate office.

Which is what the scammers want you to think. Now, if you happen to pick up a spoofed phone call, all you have to do is ask some off-the-wall questions, and it will derail the AI program and disconnect the call. But unfortunately, the scammers will then call back. So, the best advice is the first advice: don't answer a call from a number you don't recognize.

How Can You Tell a Legitimate Call from a Scam Call? Here's the Sure-Fire Answer

If the call is legitimate, they will leave you a voicemail, and you can call them right back. But oddly enough, none of the scammer spammer calls bothered to leave a message. The potential victim that inspired this story was hoping they would because they would have loved to forward a callback number to the Attorney General's office.

The bottom line is this: scammer technology is moving faster than scammer prevention technology, so you have to be your own watchdog. Don't answer calls from numbers you don't know, even if they look local, because there's a really good chance that while the caller ID might say Broussard, Louisiana, the AI computer on the other end is in some stench-ridden suburb of Mumbai or Calcutta.

Oh, when the scammers aren't spoofing the phone number they are calling from, you'll need to avoid answering calls from these area codes as well.

Don't Answer Calls from These 10 Area Codes - It's a Scam

Those who are in the know about telephone and identity theft scams say these area codes produce the most problem calls for their clients. Unless you personally know someone who might be calling from one of the following area codes, you might want to let that phone call go unanswered.

Gallery Credit: Bruce Mikells