A suspicious voicemail can be surprisingly effective because it gives scammers time to deliver a carefully constructed story without having to answer questions immediately. The message may claim that money is at risk, an account requires urgent attention, a payment is overdue, or an important opportunity will disappear unless you call back.
The safest response is not to panic or return the call immediately. Seniors and families should slow the situation down, verify the message independently, and use tools such as landline call blockers to reduce future unwanted calls.
What Should You Do Before Calling Back a Suspicious Voicemail?
Start by listening to what the message is actually asking you to do. Scam voicemails often create a problem first, then offer a phone number that supposedly provides the solution. The caller might say there is suspicious activity on a bank account, an unpaid tax bill, an unclaimed refund, a loan application, or a subscription that is about to renew.
Urgency should immediately raise caution. In 2025, the Federal Trade Commission specifically warned about unexpected loan voicemails that encouraged recipients to call back about loans they had never requested. The FTC explained that scammers use messages like these to make people react before they have time to think and may contact the same person repeatedly from different numbers.
Do not assume that the phone number left in the voicemail is legitimate simply because the message includes a familiar company name. Scammers can impersonate banks, government agencies, retailers, technology companies, and other organizations. They can also manipulate caller ID information, so the name or number appearing on the phone should not be treated as proof of identity.
Instead, write down the basic claim without taking action. Who does the caller say they represent? What problem are they claiming exists? What are they asking you to do? Once you have that information, verify it separately rather than using the contact details provided in the voicemail.
Summary: Treat unexpected voicemail messages as unverified claims until you have confirmed the situation through a trusted source.
How Should You Verify a Scam Voicemail Safely?
If the voicemail claims to come from an organization you actually use, contact that organization through information you already trust. For a bank, call the number printed on the back of your card or a recent statement. For another company, use its official website, account portal, or established customer service information rather than the number provided by the caller.
The FTC recommends exactly this approach when dealing with unexpected calls about money or account problems. Its 2026 guidance advises consumers to gather basic information, end the interaction, and then contact the organization independently through its official website, application, statement, or the number printed on a financial card.
Families should also encourage seniors to involve someone they trust whenever a voicemail introduces an emergency or large financial decision. A second person may notice inconsistencies that are easy to miss when a message has created fear or urgency. Legitimate banks and fraud departments will not require someone to keep the situation secret from family members.
Never provide passwords, Social Security numbers, banking information, verification codes, or remote access to a computer simply because a voicemail instructed you to call. If the message requests payment through gift cards, cryptocurrency, payment applications, or wire transfers, that is another major warning sign. The FTC advises consumers to act quickly if money has already been sent because contacting the bank or payment provider may provide a chance to stop or recover the transaction.
If the voicemail involves someone claiming to be from law enforcement, the FBI, or another government organization, verify the claim independently before doing anything. The FBI states that it will never call private citizens and demand that they move money using wire transfers, cryptocurrency, gift cards, or prepaid cards.
Summary: Verify suspicious voicemails through contact information you find independently and never follow financial or security instructions simply because they were left in a message.
What Should You Do With the Voicemail After You Know It Is a Scam?
Once you have determined that the message is fraudulent, there is usually no reason to call the number back. Keep the voicemail temporarily if it contains information that may be useful for reporting, such as the number displayed, the time of the call, the organization being impersonated, or specific instructions given by the scammer.
Fraud can be reported to the FTC through its official reporting system, while unwanted calls and caller ID spoofing can also be reported to the Federal Communications Commission. The FCC explains that consumer complaints about unwanted calls provide information that may support enforcement efforts even though the agency does not individually resolve every complaint.
If money, personal information, or account access has already been provided, the situation deserves more immediate attention. Contact the relevant bank, credit card company, or account provider, change compromised passwords where appropriate, and follow the FTC's guidance for people who have already been scammed.
Families should also look at why the suspicious voicemail reached the household and whether repeated calls are becoming a pattern. Landline call blockers can reduce many known scam calls, nuisance calls, and robocalls before they create another interruption. The FTC describes call blocking as one of the strongest defenses against unwanted phone calls because scammers do not follow rules such as the National Do Not Call Registry.
For seniors, that reduction can make voicemail more useful again. Instead of sorting through a constant stream of suspicious messages, they can focus on legitimate calls from family members, healthcare providers, local businesses, and other trusted contacts.
Summary: Preserve useful evidence, report confirmed scams, act quickly if information or money was shared, and consider call blocking to reduce future unwanted messages.
Conclusion
Receiving a scam voicemail does not mean you need to respond, even when the message sounds urgent or convincing. Pause, verify the claim through an official source, speak with someone you trust when necessary, and report fraudulent messages rather than following the caller's instructions.
Combining these habits with landline call blockers can reduce exposure to suspicious calls and make everyday phone use easier to manage. Explore CPR Call Blocker to add another layer of protection against unwanted and fraudulent landline calls.
FAQs
Q: Should I call back a suspicious voicemail to find out what it is about?
A: Usually not. Verify the organization independently first using contact information you already trust.
Q: Should I delete a scam voicemail immediately?
A: You may want to keep it temporarily if you plan to report the scam, since the message may contain useful details.
Q: What if I already gave information to the scammer?
A: Contact the affected bank, account provider, or other organization immediately and follow official fraud recovery guidance.
Q: Can landline call blockers reduce scam voicemails?
A: They can reduce many known scam, nuisance, and robocalls before they reach the household, which may also reduce the number of fraudulent voicemail messages you receive.
