‘Can you hear me?’ phone scam has police urging people to hang up

Police are telling people to not be polite and hang up the phone if they don’t know the person on the other end.

A new scam has victims receive a phone call from a familiar local area code. The person on the other end introduces themselves and then asks “can you hear me? ” and if the victim replies with “yes,” their response is recorded for the criminal to use.

Cops say if the con artist has you saying yes, they already have your phone number and many phone providers will pass through third-party charges. When a victim tries to dispute a charge, the crook counters that they have your approval on another line.