Phone scam survival guide

Is anyone else horrified that the almost 30 per cent of victims affected by recent scams by phone in Macau, causing monetary losses of around MOP12.5 million in less than a month, were university students?
Judiciary Police (PJ) reported this week that upon analysing the complaints and investigating data collected from the cases filed from July 20 to August 9, the PJ are meeting with the Tertiary Education Services Office (GAES) and education institutions to ‘discuss the development of several awareness and prevention campaigns in academic institutions.’
It seems that students are falling for phone scams due to their lack of knowledge on the issue.
On August 8, I received a PJ advisory by text message warning that there had been a ‘huge spike in the number of phone scams in Macao.’ The message explained that scammers are posing as Customs officers, Immigration department officials, and even the PJ.
With scams on the rise, we all need to remember these important points to avoid fraud. 1- Do not answer phone calls from unknown numbers. Simply picking up the phone is an indication to criminals that your number can be used for fraudulent activity. If the call is legitimate or important, the caller will leave a voicemail. 2- Remain cautious and sceptical if answering calls from a stranger. This is especially true if the questions being asked require you to answer an affirmative “Yes” or “No.” These questions might include, but not be limited to “Can you hear me?” “Is it a convenient time for you to talk right now?”
3- Do not give your personal information to strangers. This seems obvious but since recent scammers in Macao are posing as officials pretending to be legitimate, it is better to give no personal information over the phone. 4- Configure your phone to automatically switch calls from unknown numbers to voicemail. One thing you should know is that scammers never, under any circumstances, leave voice messages.
Do not let your guard with email, either. In early August, the local telecommunications company’s name – CTM – was being used to send fraudulent email scams. Once CTM learned of the scam, they were quick to warn customers confirming that the company would not normally request customers provide personal information such as their ID number, user ID, password and account number over the telephone or via email. 
Safeguard your money and identity from scammers and please do not become a statistic.