OT What's up with all these phone calls from odd ball callers

[L Vanice]

My wife and I keep the ringers on our cell phones turned off and very few people know our numbers. Most of those know that the ringers are off, so they call the house phone. We do turn on the ringers when away from home on a trip and the relatives know that we are travelling. If our call history shows a missed call, we can count on it being one we wanted to miss. If they leave a message it will be someone wanting to lower the cost of our AT&T cell service (not the brand we use), so checking voice mail once a month or so to delete the messages is a waste of time.

Unfortunately, the house phone rings often with crooks spouting the various scam spiels, or maybe just hanging up without a word. Our VOIP service lets us block each of those scam/hang-up numbers. The trouble is that they mostly use fake caller ID numbers, once even calling using our own number. So I have blocked our own home phone number. Fake numbers prevent any meaningful means of blocking spam callers unless the Feds get the phone companies to prevent fake caller ID. Domestic phone numbers have ten digits, so there are almost a billion possible phone numbers that can be faked. The scammers will never run out of fake numbers.

Larry

 

[john.k]

I got the landline cut because of nuisance calls .....back in the day ,when you just answered a phone call ,cause it might be important .....long time ago.

 

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

It really is a massive and growing problem in the UK. Nobody bothers robbing banks or armoured cars anymore over here, internet scams are much easier and nobody seems to get caught.
I listen to various consumer programmes on the radio and they’re dealing with these scams on a weekly basis. Some of them are amazingly sophisticated and really smart people can be taken in by them.

Regards Tyrone

 

[guythatbrews]

Last winter my elderly mother-in-law got a call from the "power company.". Her payment was late and they were gonna shut off her power in an hour unless she got gift cards to cover the payment. She was to hand over the gift cards to someone who would meet her at the store where she had just bought them. She panicked and called my wife for help.

The scammer had given my MIL a callback number. My wife called that number to confirm this was a real deal. It all checked out. Duh!

My wife became distressed because her mom was really distressed. She was determined to help her mom pay this scammer. I had a hell of a time convincing her this was a scam because she was so worried about her mom. All reason went right out the window.

I'll bet tons of old folks and some not so old are bilked with scams like this. And we never know because the marks never figure it out or are too embarrased to tell anyone.

 

[john.k]

The clever ones here are where a big payment,like a real estate settlement is stolen by infiltrating a business website and emails .....generally,they go undetected for a few days until enquiries are made about non payment...........for those who dont know,this is where bitcoin comes in to make the theft untraceable...........why any government tolerates bitcoin /crypto is beyond me.

 

[john.k]

Every night on the news is another collector of data has been hacked and thousands of ID s stolen.........a lot of these companies have 10+ year old ID s stored from past customers ......one asks why.....because they make money 'mining' peoples data......this is why they want your drivers licence,medicare card ,credit card numbers,phone numbers,email adress,tax file number,,just to buy crap with a card.,..........and having got all that they are careless about security

 

[Limy Sami]

Could the nuisance calls be down to AI and algarythems on PM?

 

[GregSY]

Every night on the news is another collector of data has been hacked and thousands of ID s stolen.........a lot of these companies have 10+ year old ID s stored from past customers ......one asks why.....because they make money 'mining' peoples data......this is why they want your drivers licence,medicare card ,credit card numbers,phone numbers,email adress,tax file number,,just to buy crap with a card.,..........and having got all that they are careless about security

Every time I deal with any company, they assure me I can rest easy because my data is kept secure. Of course, they all overlook the 'hacks' (which are probably half the time intentional) and they also love to ignore that their agreement to keep your data secure ends the moment they go out of business or are sold or merged with another company. All part of the degradation of ethics that happens when society sinks into the mud.

 

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

Last winter my elderly mother-in-law got a call from the "power company.". Her payment was late and they were gonna shut off her power in an hour unless she got gift cards to cover the payment. She was to hand over the gift cards to someone who would meet her at the store where she had just bought them. She panicked and called my wife for help.

The scammer had given my MIL a callback number. My wife called that number to confirm this was a real deal. It all checked out. Duh!

My wife became distressed because her mom was really distressed. She was determined to help her mom pay this scammer. I had a hell of a time convincing her this was a scam because she was so worried about her mom. All reason went right out the window.

I'll bet tons of old folks and some not so old are bilked with scams like this. And we never know because the marks never figure it out or are too embarrased to tell anyone.

One of the tactics they use is to rush you into doing something right away. They try not to give you time to think.
The latest one over here is stealing peoples houses. They pick on houses were the mortgage is fully paid up and the occupant is away for significant amounts of time.
The latest one on the radio was a guy who was working abroad. He comes home and his key won’t fit in the lock. Then he sees some movement in the hall. He bangs on the door and a painter opens the door. The guy says “ Who the **** are you “. The painter says “ Who the ++++ are you “ . The painter then tells him that the new owner of the house has had him painting the house before he moves in. So the guy phones the police and the painter phones the new owner.
They both arrive but the police say it’s a civil matter and leave. The new owner says he can prove he owns the house, he has access to the deeds.
Cut a long story short - by means of a sophisticated scam the scammers had contacted the UK Land Registry and had the name on the deeds altered into their name. Then they sold the house to the new owner.
The old owner has no way of getting his house back. In UK law whoever has their name on the deeds owns the house. So the guy who bought the house in good faith owns the house, the scammers got the money and the old owner got nothing.

I know it sounds incredible but look it up on the internet -

“ Luton Man Left Shocked As His House Is Stolen “.

Regards Tyrone

 

[john.k]

There was one here where a police sargeant was using the job to find unoccupied houses in the names of deceased persons , getting all the details changed so he could sell them......he was terminated with the force,but still kept the money from the sales.

 

[alphonso]

I have 736(as of ten minutes ago) blocked numbers on the landline at the shop. 1856 blocked numbers on the landline at home. Several hundred block numbers on my cell phone.

The shop calls were mostly spam or trying to sell something I don't want. Home phone, I have no idea as the few that leave a message that consists of a phone ring then fax squall or dead silence. Cell phone, caller usually hangs up before I can consider answering.

 

[Scottl]

For the last 12months or so, I have been getting calls on my cell phone from Cafe's, Auto part stores, etc and no one is on the end of the line when I answer. It has to be some sort of spam? The last couple of weeks I look at the caller ID and if it's from someone I know I answer it, if not I let it roll over to my voice mail. Then when I check it there is no message. My son put on Mr. Number App that is suppose to catch the Spam, but it still isn't working. Anyone else know what to do? If I answer can I get a Virus??

Calling number spoofing. This is the latest racket by criminal scum.

And neither uncle sam nor the phone carriers seem to give a shit about it.

 

[JoeE.]

Well, I don't understand how all you guys seem to be plagued with so many unwanted phone calls.
I've had the same cell phone number forever... I don't have any phone apps to stop scam phone calls, I haven't taken any proactive steps to prevent them.
I can count on one hand the number of scam phone calls I've had.. and it seems like they were all the "car warranty" types.
They've stopped.

When the warranty calls were happening, if it was a number I didn't recognize... I'd always answer the phone "Joplin Police Department".
If the person on the other end didn't hang up... which I was hoping they wouldn't... I wanted to talk to them... I'd interrupt them and say "hey, this is a police department detective bureau phone number and we can't be having calls like this and I'd ask them to kindly not call this number any more."
Who knows if this actually made a difference.. but I think it was pretty clever and made whoever it was actually think that "oh, shit.. the cops"...

 

[gmax137]

If everyone had to pay for calls, even just 1 or 2 cents per call, all of this would stop. I make probably less than 10 calls a week. So for 10 bucks a year...

 

[boslab]

I think it’s from the AIs , the machines are building a list, anyone that passes as interesting ends up on it, your laughing now, won’t be so funny when a 7’ shiny robot with a weapon looking like a chrome biax pushes your door in( I don’t think they are going to knock) we’re all screwed or will be, I’ve geared menical laughter coming out of siri
Or it could be a wrong number?
Mark

 

[Ron Hofer]

Last year I got a phone call and I answered it as it was a number from my same area code. It was a young woman who sounded American. She started out saying "Dad I got arrested and im at th county jail" I said what happened and she sounded as if she was crying and went on to tell me she had an attorney and he was going to call me so I could pay him and hung up.

It sounded like her, but the shock of it, it sounded legit. Then a few minutes later I get a call from a guy who sounded Nigerian. I told him I could drive to the County jail and meet him there as it's only 30 minutes. He then said no you have to pay me over the phone before we could meet. Then he said, go to Walmart and buy some prepaid credit cards and call me back with their numbers. His call really sounded phony from the and I hung up on him calling him the F-er word. I then called the Sherriff and they said many elderly people in the area were getting those calls. They said a few fell for it ang lost several hundred dollars to these creeps. I wrote on the local Facebook page warning people.

I hear you, Richard. I am now old enough for my computer overlords to know that I am officially a military grade old fart. 2-3 times a year, I'll pick up on a call, and the voice says "Grandpa?" Too often, my response is to laugh out loud, which spoils the fun. If I'm at my best, I'll respond "Tyler?" or "Tiffany?' The caller invariably says yes. I let them do the talking. If they ask how I am, I say "You haven't heard about the cancer spreading?" If they ask how grandma is, I say "You haven't heard? Grandma was run over by a beer truck 3 weeks ago. The whole family asked about you at the funeral." At some point, the hole they are digging frustrates them enough that they hang up. I consider this a victory.

Well, you get the point. Spam calls can bring out your best.

 

[10 fingers]

Last year I got a phone call and I answered it as it was a number from my same area code. It was a young woman who sounded American. She started out saying "Dad I got arrested and im at th county jail" I said what happened and she sounded as if she was crying and went on to tell me she had an attorney and he was going to call me so I could pay him and hung up.

It sounded like her, but the shock of it, it sounded legit. Then a few minutes later I get a call from a guy who sounded Nigerian. I told him I could drive to the County jail and meet him there as it's only 30 minutes. He then said no you have to pay me over the phone before we could meet. Then he said, go to Walmart and buy some prepaid credit cards and call me back with their numbers. His call really sounded phony from the and I hung up on him calling him the F-er word. I then called the Sherriff and they said many elderly people in the area were getting those calls. They said a few fell for it ang lost several hundred dollars to these creeps. I wrote on the local Facebook page warning people.

A few years back I had a frail, elderly uncle fall for this scheme. He was lured into wiring about $10,000 to a Western Union office in Columbia. Sooner or later, one of these scammers will cross paths with someone able to navigate the dark web, that has a violent temper.

Along those lines, in good faith, awhile back, I sent machine repair parts to an account in Serbia. They refused to pay. With very little effort discovered many collection agencies in that area. Thru dialog I negotiated deal. They could keep the full amount of the debt, (several hundred dollars) if they could prove breaking a particular person's legs. True story.

 

[john.k]

A item on BBC that a kingpin of net frauds and investment scams is being protected by the UK government against extradition requests from Georgia........he was a politician there and embezzled millions from the government,which set him up in the industrial scale scams business .....also mention ,the Ukraine appears very tolerant of mass scamming from their country..

 

[Joe Gwinn]

I get lots of scam emails that claim to be from <famous company> but with an unrelatedbut real email address hidden under. What has happened is the actual email address owner's computer systems have been hacked, and they have no idea that this is happening.

I also get lots of scam phone calls. What is generally happening is that both phone number and caller identity from Caller ID are both incorrect and inconsistent with one another. It appears to be a robo-dialer simply working its way through all the possible phone numbers looking for hits.

The way the Caller ID data is generated is changing. It used to be that the caller provided that data, and could lie. Which scammers do. Now, the phone company that accepted the original call is in charge of providing that data. This requires all involved phone companies to change their systems, so it will phase in gradually. The [V] and [SPAM] flags arise from this new caller-ID system.