The future is notoriously hard to see coming. In the 1997 sci-fi classic Men in Black — bet you didn’t see that reference coming — a movie about extraterrestrials living amongst us and the secret organization that monitors them, the character Kay, played by the great Tommy Lee Jones, sums up this reality perfectly: While vistors from distant galaxies have yet to make first contact — or have they? — his point stands.

If you accidentally answer a spam call, scammers know your number is connected to a real person and can target you with more spam calls. These targeted spam calls will try to trick you into giving up your personal information which allows cybercriminals to steal your money, your identity and even your voice. You should avoid answering spam calls to help prevent cybercriminals from trying to steal your personal information.