How to Avoid Cell Phone Ringtone Scams
You will be able to avoid cell phone ringtone scams by following simple steps to get you the best information to avoid these hassles. Many cell phone ringtone sites offer you ringtones for a cheap one time payment, or free in general. This is not true for many of them. You sign up to receive their services, and then you have to pay the monthly fee that they do not tell you about. Even though the site says free ringtones, you will want to do some research on the site to find out if they are actually free. Stay on top of the sites that offer you free ringtones by knowing the facts.
You need to make sure that you protect yourself against the sites who advertise free ringtones, because nine times out of ten, they are not free. Businesses that want to give ringtones to customers; often times are looking to make money. More than likely, most people do not want to pay a monthly fee for a certain amount of ringtones. As long as there is something on the site stating they are charging you, no matter where it is on the site, they are legally allowed to charge you. This allows them to make money off of unsuspecting customers who are looking for free ringtones.
Free Web Ringtone Sites
When you come across one of these sites, you will want to know all the facts about them, or stay away in general. By staying away from these sites, you are allowing yourself to not be sucked into what they are trying to sell you, without actually telling you they are selling it. A lot of places will keep the monthly fee in small text on the bottom, or a place on the site where you will not be able to see it without searching for it specifically. This is one of the various ways that they can get you. When you download a song from one of these websites, some of the files may be corrupted with viruses.
This gives hackers the chance to get into your phone system, and ruin the software. This also allows them to get any pictures, files, or personal information such as contacts off of your phone. Peer to peer ringtone sharing sites also are made with the same threat of receiving a virus, and being charged for the monthly payment associated with signing up. This proposes a threat of downloading viruses on your phone, as with the other ringtone sites. This allows other users to “share” their ringtones with other people that are signed up with the site. This gives hackers a chance to upload a virus straight into the file, and transfer it to your computer and your phone, gathering any personal information that they can in the process.
Free Ringtone Commercials
When you see free ringtone commercials on your television set, you should adhere to these warnings. They will give you advertisements where you send one word, or number to the proper number they give you, and you will be able to get a free ringtone. Of course, what they do not tell you is that you will also be charged monthly for your one ringtone. They may also put the warning on the screen, either showing you this at a fast rate, or putting it in small, hard to read text. This makes it hard for the viewers to adhere to the warning of the monthly payment that they will charge you, and they also will be able to charge you each month without you even knowing about it.
By sending the text to their number, you are agreeing to sign up for their subscription, which is usually between eight to ten dollars a month, and might not show up on your bill as a charge from them. This means, you will have to track the number down. Try to stay away from these advertisements; they usually come with a price. Not everything is free.
Subscribing
Try to stay away from anything that offers you a subscription. This can mean, entering your number into any forms that need to be filled out, or giving any personal information to them over the internet. They usually will not tell you that you are signing up, just that they would like this information to give you your free ringtone, and send it to your phone number. Make sure to read all fine print that goes along with any ringtone site. You do not want to get suckered into any membership fees without knowing about them before hand. You will want to know what the fine print entitles you to pay, or do when you are thinking about signing up for the membership.
You will want to know their privacy policy before you get the free ringtone, or sign up with the membership. Without knowing the privacy policy, they might be able to sell your personal information, or share any of your information with third parties for any reason that they choose. So you should make sure you know what they will do with any information that you give them. This does not only go for ringtone sites, but for any other site that would like your personal information.
Your Children
You will want to make sure that you children know all of the tricks that the scammers do. This way they can be sure to stay away from them, and will not be charged monthly for the subscription fees. This can also be true if they have any personal information or pictures on their phone. You do not want any of those personal things to be out in the open for hackers to take advantage of. Make sure you keep any of the following information off of your phone:
- Finance
- Personal
- Credit
In case something like this happens, you will want to play it safe so they do not get the information they want. You will want to play it safe by following all of these, make sure to stay on top of the hackers.