About three years ago, I found myself in a totally unexpected situation. I was out in a cafe enjoying my favorite coffee when my phone rang. It was an unknown number and to be honest, I usually ignore such calls. But this time, I decided to pick that up as I had recently submitted an inquiry through phone pay application regarding a refund issue that I raised few days ago. On the other end of the line was a man who introduced himself as a representative from phone pay. He sounded fairly professional and at first I thought maybe this is going to help me to resolve my concerns. However, he quickly started asking for my account number and other bank details which made me a little uneasy. Later, he requested me to open phone pay app and even mentioned downloading the Inidisk application saying he could assist me further which raised multiple red flags in my mind. At that moment, I felt a wave of suspicion wash over me. I mean, anyone can claim to be from a company, right? So, I asked him for some form of identity proof to verify if he is the real authorized person. But he couldn’t provide anything concrete and seemed frustrated with my request and that made my suspicion strong. So, I gracefully ended up my call without giving any information. It turned out to be a smart decision as I later learned that phone pay scams or other phone calls scams asking for personal and bank details. Especially those pretending to be from reputed companies are incredibly common. So, this incident definitely taught me to be more vigilant with unknown colors, particularly in public places where we cannot always ensure our privacy.
Band 8+: Describe a time when you answered phone call from someone you did not kow in a public place
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About three years ago, I found myself in a totally unexpected situation. I was at a cafe enjoying my favorite coffee when my phone rang. It was an unknown number, and to be honest, I usually ignore such calls. But this time, I decided to pick it up as I had recently submitted an inquiry through the Phone Pay application regarding a refund issue that I raised a few days ago. On the other end of the line was a man who introduced himself as a representative from Phone Pay. He sounded fairly professional, and at first, I thought maybe this was going to help me resolve my concerns. However, he quickly started asking for my account number and other bank details, which made me a little uneasy. Later, he requested me to open the Phone Pay app and even mentioned downloading the Inidisk application, saying he could assist me further, which raised multiple red flags in my mind. At that moment, I felt a wave of suspicion wash over me. I mean, anyone can claim to be from a company, right? So, I asked him for some form of identity proof to verify if he was the real authorized person. But he couldn't provide anything concrete and seemed frustrated with my request, which strengthened my suspicion. So, I gracefully ended the call without giving any information. It turned out to be a smart decision, as I later learned that Phone Pay scams or other phone call scams asking for personal and bank details, especially those pretending to be from reputed companies, are incredibly common. So, this incident definitely taught me to be more vigilant with unknown callers, particularly in public places where we cannot always ensure our privacy.
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Speaking Time: 116 seconds