Scammers spoofing as KSL to trick people into answering their calls
Aug 27, 2021, 7:01 PM | Updated: Jul 14, 2023, 2:54 pm
HOLLADAY, Utah — At KSL TV, we’ve been building a name you can trust for over 72 years. Unfortunately, scammers are now using our name to trick people into answering their phones.
When Kathy Orme got a call and the caller ID said KSL, she was not surprised.
“I have two daughters who work at KSL,” Orme said.
But it was not either of her daughters on the line.
“I heard a woman’s voice,” recalled Orme, “a recording that said, ‘If you have a loved one… something,’ and I don’t remember what she said after that because I hung it up. Thought, well, this isn’t KSL.”
No, it was not KSL, but it was a legitimate KSL phone number.
Kathy was a victim of what’s called “spoofing,” where an imposter disguises the number from which they are calling by making the caller ID look like it is from a legitimate company or government.
Many times, those bogus callers are someone pretending to be the IRS or a utility company.
In July, we spoke to Melissa Brink who was duped into giving her debit card number to a scammer posing as representative from her power company.
“How could I fall for something so stupid?” Brink said. “I know better. I mean, there’s so many scams out there.”
“No, I don’t need arm reconstruction right now,” laughed Kathy Orme about the call she received.
Orme shared her experience in the hope it will help other KSL viewers.
“Just to bring awareness at how adept they can be,” she said. “How they get those numbers is just amazing.”
According to the Federal Trade Commission, imposter scams cost U.S. consumers $1.2 billion dollars in 2020, with the average per person loss amounting to $850.
