Updated “Echo Dots” are pictured at Amazon Headquarters.
(Photo by Stephen Brashear/Getty Images)"Smart devices" are everywhere. But unfortunately they're getting outsmarted. If you use Alexa, Siri or any of the other similar devices to make a phone call, beware. Channel 8 reports that scammers have come up with a plan that you have to admit is pretty brilliant. They create fake web pages and directories that attempt to fool the devices. So for example, if you ask your device to call your local pizza shop, scammers could create a clone of the pizza shop's web page and put a different phone number. If they get that fake website at the top of search engines, the device could dial that number instead. Let's say you give them your credit card number or a gift card number. See where this can go badly? So they say make sure if you make a call, you are getting the number from the official web site. Or if you insist on using Siri or Alexa to make that call, don't ever give out any information you wouldn't want a scammer to have.
Source: Channel 8
