News 12 viewers are Turning To Tara for help with a phone scam to which a number of Hudson Valley residents have fallen victim.

The “Can You Hear Me” phone scam is nothing new but has recently started infiltrating the Hudson Valley at an alarming rate. The Better Business Bureau of the Hudson Valley is tracking hundreds of the local cases.  It says there were hundreds of scams in the area in September 2017 alone.

The goal of the scam is for a victim to say “yes” after a voice asks if they can be heard. The response is then secretly recorded and edited by scammers, who later use it to make unwanted charges on bills and credit cards.

If the scammers already have some of the victim’s personal information, they can combine it with the “yes” response and commit identity theft.

Experts advise people to look at their phone bill for extra charges that could be fraudulent, including small monthly service charges that could be billed hundreds of times.

They also suggest answering the phone with just a “Hello.”