Spam phone call

[Free At Last]

Being a low user I now only have a mobile and normally only answer recognised callers from my contacts list. There has been occasions when I have been expecting to be called from an unknown number so there has been the odd time I have answered a spam call.
I have noticed that the number calling has been the same as mine up to the last four digits, maybe to make you think you recognise the number. The last four keep changing on consecutive calls so blocking the number is of no use.

I found in my phone apps there was a call blocker that works using  prefix numbers so by inputting the first seven numbers of my own phone number I have not been disturbed by any more of these spam calls although they are listed in 'blocked calls' so you can see how many there had been. 
Ok I suppose if you have no contacts with a similar number to your own.
 

[ejstubbs]

3 hours ago, MarkC said:

Mobiles are, I agree, not quite so easy to prevent nuisance calls, but forwarding the number by text to 7726 should be done - before blocking the number on your phone...

 

My mobile phone spots calls from numbers that haven't called me before (and that aren't in my contacts) and, after I have summarily hung up* it asks if I want to block the number and report it as spam.  Easy peasy.

 

Landline calls are a bit trickier to shut down but I've found that a call blocking/screening phone, as mentioned upthread, shuts them up completely.  Legitimate callers don't seem to have any problem announcing themselves to the screening system.

 

* I honestly can't see the point of wasting my own time even further by trying to wind up a spam caller.  And it's obviously pointless if it's a recorded message, which it so often is these days.

Edited June 15, 2021 by ejstubbs

[JJGraphics]

I use a trick which has dramatically reduced the number of calls I get.

When an unrecognised number calls I put on my best "computer" voice and say, "The number you are calling from has not been recognised, this call is being intercepted." CLICK! . . . dial tone, is the usual result and I rarely see that number again or one in a similar grouping. Since starting to do this I get no more than one or two calls a month.

On occasions when the caller stays on the line, I then say, "Please say the name of the organisation you are calling from," which normally puts an end to the call.

If somebody does give a name (usually some idiot trying to get us to have smart meters or solar panels or something else we don't want) I then say, "Please wait (ten second pause) sorry your call cannot be accepted. Goodbye" and cut off the call. I've never had any of them call back!

John

[Binky]

I've had a couple of calls recently from someone claiming to be from Microsoft or an internet provider that I don't use.

I once knew of someone who made a note of some premium rate adult phone lines and when spammers called he would tell them the person they needed to speak to had "moved offices" and would helpfully give them the "new" number and tell them to update their records!

[johnofwessex]

I am working on a new service, in case anyone wishes to join my business.

 

When you get a spam call, you press a red button.

 

The number is then traced & location passed to CinC Fleet

 

I suspect that there will be issues over demand exceeding the numbers of missiles carried by the UK's Trident fleet.

[Ozexpatriate]

On 05/11/2019 at 17:52, 30851 said:

The one bit of good news here in the US is that they are changing the laws to allow the phone companies to stop these calls. At the moment even though the phone company can easily see these are spam calls they are not allowed to stop them. It would be nice to believe that this change is being done because these calls are, at the least, annoying but I believe it is due to another reason.

The US Federal robocall legislation has made a difference for both landline and mobile nuisance calls and many more of them are now flagged as "spam risk".

 

But not all. I had two yesterday claiming to be "Molly from Amazon", spoofing local numbers on caller ID. This morning I had one spoofing a post office number, but claiming to be the Federal Government insisting: "press one and you will be connected to the concern department if we don't hear from you then we will be forced to take legal action against you".

 

Then of course there's the "your car warranty has expired" - the number one consumer complaint to the FCC in 2020.

 

The FCC has a lot of web pages on scam calls and caller ID spoofing.

[Tankerman]

A friend of mine answers any 'this is Microsoft' calls with "Oh good, now I can tell you directly that your operating system and programs are a heap of sh*t! Goodbye!" and puts the phone down.

[darrel]

I've been getting several automated calls claiming to be from amazon claiming that they have taken £3000 from my account for an i phone. 

Also had another one about the warranty on my washing machine. Told them I didn't have a warranty as the washing machine was in the house when I bought it. They were still trying it on so told them to foxtrot Oscar and hung up on them.

I have a call blocker from talk talk on my landline unfortunately it stopped the doctors from contacting me about my covid jab

[Ozexpatriate]

"Stir/Shaken" enhancements in the US will likely help people here.

 

CNN:  Those annoying robocalls aren't going to stop today. But they could slow down soon.

 

Improvements are possible.

 

Edited July 4, 2021 by Ozexpatriate

[Bernard Lamb]

On 01/07/2021 at 11:37, darrel said:

I've been getting several automated calls claiming to be from amazon claiming that they have taken £3000 from my account for an i phone. 

Also had another one about the warranty on my washing machine. Told them I didn't have a warranty as the washing machine was in the house when I bought it. They were still trying it on so told them to foxtrot Oscar and hung up on them.

I have a call blocker from talk talk on my landline unfortunately it stopped the doctors from contacting me about my covid jab

Blimey. They must have a high opinion of you.

My calls are only about spending £800 on a new i phone.

Bernard

[jonny777]

I read in a newspaper article that anyone who answers these spam calls are filtered into a response list, which means they will be contacted more frequently with various scams until they find one which traps them. Then there are others who get filtered into a grey list because at one point they have given their date of birth to someone; and apparently the over-60s are more gullible, so they get put onto far more persistent call lists which can be bought by rogue companies. 

 

This may explain why I am shocked when staying at my brother's, how often his phone rings with time wasters. My answerphone even has a different ring tone for numbers I have moved into the non-family/friends section. The memory can only block 40 numbers at any one time, so the excess go there. It means I don't even have to bother getting off my fat backside for certain calls, even to check the number. 

[kevinlms]

1 hour ago, Bernard Lamb said:

Blimey. They must have a high opinion of you.

My calls are only about spending £800 on a new i phone.

Bernard

I get them that I have won an iPhone 11 or some other BS. The call is about the $1.89 or some trivial amount for 'postage' or something.

I tell them that they should just pay such a minor amount and just post it to me. That gets several seconds of silence, before 'click'!

 

I can't believe how gullible people are, in thinking that a payment of less than 1% of the 'prize' value, should ever be contemplated. But clearly it works, or the business would disappear.

[kevinlms]

42 minutes ago, jonny777 said:

I read in a newspaper article that anyone who answers these spam calls are filtered into a response list, which means they will be contacted more frequently with various scams until they find one which traps them. Then there are others who get filtered into a grey list because at one point they have given their date of birth to someone; and apparently the over-60s are more gullible, so they get put onto far more persistent call lists which can be bought by rogue companies. 

 

This may explain why I am shocked when staying at my brother's, how often his phone rings with time wasters. My answerphone even has a different ring tone for numbers I have moved into the non-family/friends section. The memory can only block 40 numbers at any one time, so the excess go there. It means I don't even have to bother getting off my fat backside for certain calls, even to check the number. 

It's amazing the scam callers, there is far more to it than being on a regular list for them to call. Doubtless it is true that people who have fallen for them before, will get more calls, but they still call people that have NEVER been scammed successfully.

 

I know people that claim that they have NEVER been rung by a scammer, not once.

 

I can't work it out, because they don't generally call numbers from phone books or web sites (too much effort), but often ring numbers in sequence. I've been told of businesses which have a block of numbers and the scammers gradually call them all in sequence - so an element of truth.

 

I've also been told by people that they often get 10 or more calls a day, never had that, I get 2 - 3 a day tops, with the same response from me. You'd think they would get the message, that some numbers aren't worth calling and gradually the calls would stop.

 

Something that has almost stopped is calls representing charities, by that I mean call centres calling on behalf of real charities. The problem is these call centres used to call people for multiple charities, calling weekly for different ones - nothing quite like messing your own bed!

[jonny777]

Allegedly, the 'dark web' is the place where lists of phone numbers of older residents can be bought and sold. I have no idea what the dark web is, or how to get there; but I suspect that being on one of those lists, which may be years out of date, is how some people get lots more phone calls than others. 

 

I know my Dad used to get between about 5 and 10 calls a day, which he answered religiously - at least when I was there. He was of a different generation who had been brought up to believe that a ringing phone was important and must be answered without delay. Few of my younger relatives bother with a landline these days, and if they have one they don't have a phone connected to it unless they need to use it for emergency purposes. 

 

So, I suspect the list of landline numbers is becoming confined more towards the age range of people who fall for the scams. 

 

I suppose it would be possible with modern technology to dial every number combination in the UK, but many would remain unanswered or be non-existent, and those which were not viable to the scammers could soon be struck off the list - but presumably they rest could be sold for a decent sum of money.  

[Icknieldrobin]

Over the past 12 mths or so I've had 'packets' of calls say 2-3 a day from no's within a range of 5 of each other. These have been from Switzerland, Italy, London Sheffield and Cardiff NONE of which were in my not insubstantial contacts list. 

 

This teed me off a tad so my process is simple. I don't answer the initial call, wait 5-10 mins for the caller to leave a voice mail [which they never had] and then go back to the no and add to my blocked list. Gradually the no of calls has reduced and this saves me hours of wasted time, I don't get into arguments and I'm far less likely to fall for any sales patter.

 

If as happened last week a friend called and I ignored him, but he left me a voice mail which I listened to in which he told me he had a new mobile no and subsequently called him back and added his new no to my contacts.

 

I have over 60 no's in my blocked list which is where they will stay.

 

Doug

   

[Nick C]

10 hours ago, kevinlms said:

I can't work it out, because they don't generally call numbers from phone books or web sites (too much effort), but often ring numbers in sequence. I've been told of businesses which have a block of numbers and the scammers gradually call them all in sequence - so an element of truth.

 

A friend of mine used to work for an ISP, which had a huge block of unallocated numbers- ones which had never been used at all. Their boss decided one day to connect them all to a robotic answering service, and record any incoming calls. There were quite a few, and some took a while to twig that they were talking to a machine...

[melmerby]

I've notived that all the latest spoofed number spam calls I am getting, are now in the mobile phone sequence of numbers. e.g. 07448 561623 or similar.

I haven't had any of the impossible number combinations recently.

Maybe they have realised most people now have mobiles and are more likely to answer a call from what appears to be another mobile.

They still haven't managed though to stop some of them registering as "International" in the CLI, which rather gives the game away.

[kevinlms]

1 hour ago, melmerby said:

I've notived that all the latest spoofed number spam calls I am getting, are now in the mobile phone sequence of numbers. e.g. 07448 561623 or similar.

I haven't had any of the impossible number combinations recently.

Maybe they have realised most people now have mobiles and are more likely to answer a call from what appears to be another mobile.

They still haven't managed though to stop some of them registering as "International" in the CLI, which rather gives the game away.

The spammers read threads, just like this one! Which is not as silly as it sounds - it's always worthwhile trying to find something out about your prey.

 

If it raises their success rate from 0.001% to 0.002%, that's a 100% improvement!

[Market65]

Well, a little while ago, in the afternoon today, I had one of those calls and a text message to say that a payment had been attempted from a new device, and to get in touch with the HSBC bank by clicking on the link. Here’s a screenshot of the message. Don’t worry, I have deleted the message.

 

 

Rob.