Phone calls that attempt fraud

[OldTrilobite]

Have others experienced a recent increase in scam phone calls?  After a lull of many months, some days I have been getting several phone calls, all attempting to set me up for some fraud. Even the ancient Amazon Prime scam has started coming in again.

Many calls are obvious fraud attempts, right at the start. For example: I pick up the phone and say 'hello' or give my phone number. The message immediately begins with something like "This is security. We are investigating suspicious activity on your xxx card" or "xxx account". Well, who do they know whom they are talking to? I said nothing that could identify me as the supposed card-holder. It could be someone else answering the phone - a child, some other family member, an employee. This opening immediately signals to me that they are about to try to get financially useful info out of me, so I hang up while they are still talking.

There are some very subtle and sophisticated telephone fraud calls. A relative of mine fell for one and lost some of her savings. I had a long and amiable chat a year ago with a man who said he was from the county police, with a criminal in custody. It was very very plausible, but it ended with me realizing that he was trying to get me to log in to my bank over his phone line! I quickly hung up. He tried to phone me twice more that day but I ignored the displayed number.

Edited 19 January, 2023 by OldTrilobite
bad wording

[Gaz]

Maybe time to buy a phone with Call Guardian/blocking on it?

 

Some useful advice and options here:

https://shop.bt.com/guides/ideas-inspirations/how-to-stop-nuisance-calls

 

We simply let the answerphone vet calls from any number not in our phone book.  I don't think we've had any scammers leave a message.

 

Gaz

[Ootohere]

Sad, but the UK Government really does not address this or the devolved governments.

 

Maybe near impossible to do so, but they make no effort and they have had decades to. 

The banks that actually have the criminal proceeds go through them do nothing, nobody does nothing.

 

My mum and neighbours get these calls, some have been conned.  One that was daily calling my mum called when i was there. 

A detective with a Glasgow accent, i recorded it, there was a snide number that the call was diverted using.

I called Police Scotland, reporting a person pretending to be a police officer.

 

They could not care less.

Yet, THE LOCAL PRESS WERE WARNING OF ATTEMPTED CONS AND PHONE CALLS AND SAID TO CONTACT YOUR LOCAL POLICE.

There is no way to contact the local police, they are POLICE SCOTLAND, the call is answered someplace in the Central Belt and they might direct you to someplace.

THE OFFICER or CALL CENTRE STAFF person had a Glasgow ACCENT. Like the con man.

 

The £600 transaction on your card, AMAZON, SKY, BROADBAND SERVER crap at very early morning stuff scares elderly and many that have little common  sense and might watch the TV all day but somehow seem to be unaware of fraudsters and scammers. 

Never see the advert from the guy that lost all his pension.

Edited 19 January, 2023 by toot

[Ootohere]

PS.

Australia is not happy at the Company registered in the Irish Republic that provides the Phone Numbers used by those for cons and scams.

Not happy at the UK, Ireland or the EU for allowing the company to earn their millions doing what they do.

It was only a few weeks ago i checked the Directors names etc, i will find the company name again and the article from the Australian Government.

[OldTrilobite]

That's interesting, that some Irish company supplies the phone numbers.

Most of the scam calls that we get are displayed as numbers that are always faked. This is obvious when identical fraud attempts (pre-recorded and put out by some robot) come in day after day and always with a different caller number displayed.

Phones that offer 'call blocking' facilites are useless if they just block a (faked) caller number. The next call from the same scammer will get by, apparently coming from a different number.

[KenONeill]

1 hour ago, Gaz said:

 I don't think we've had any scammers leave a message.

Not a "real message" anyway; some "I can't hang a phone up properly" messages though.

[Ootohere]

@OldTrilobite An Irish Registered Company, or Israelis. 

The Country where Spy Ware and much more comes from.  That will very likely be Russia as well. 

 

 

I have asked my friend to send me the phone number that i traced for them and then i will get the company name and the details of the Australia Government official complaints

[Gaz]

1 hour ago, OldTrilobite said:

Phones that offer 'call blocking' facilites are useless if they just block a (faked) caller number.

 

Perhaps they're a bit cleverer these days then as Trading Standards nationally report a 92% success rate:

 

 

Excerpt taken from the Good Housekeeping website 22/11/2022, but the same figure is reported elsewhere.

 

[Ootohere]

Where you buy a block of phone numbers that can leave a local code for a town near you when the call is not from anyplace near there.

http://didww.com/About-Us

What people then do with these are nothing to do with them !

 

http://uk.trustpilot.com/review/didww.com

 

http://linkedin.com/in/benasher/?originalSubdomain=iI

 

 

scam-nuisance-calls.pdf Formal Warning IPND Code - DIDWW Ireland Ltd.PDF

Edited 19 January, 2023 by toot

[Schtum]

I had a very polite lady from the Indian subcontinent call me once to tell me that there was a problem with my computer.

 

I told her that she was a very bad woman and that she was going to burn in hell.

 

She seemed a bit upset... 

[VWD]

3 hours ago, Gaz said:

Maybe time to buy a phone with Call Guardian/blocking on it?

 

Some useful advice and options here:

https://shop.bt.com/guides/ideas-inspirations/how-to-stop-nuisance-calls

 

We simply let the answerphone vet calls from any number not in our phone book.  I don't think we've had any scammers leave a message.

 

Gaz

+1 for BT call guardian phone.The announce message puts them off and I then block the area code. 

"Who called me" is also a good help

[VWD]

Schtum, my son plays them along for a while and eventually they ask him to press the Microsoft key. His reply" do I have on an Apple PC".

[Ootohere]

They just need or want often to confirm a name with a number or address. 

It all assists the selling of information.  

Get off the line asap, but picking up has you flagged as a possible.

[KenONeill]

26 minutes ago, VWD said:

Schtum, my son plays them along for a while and eventually they ask him to press the Microsoft key. His reply" do I have on an Apple PC".

...Do I have that on a SparcStation!?

[Davevon]

On 19/01/2023 at 16:12, Gaz said:

Maybe time to buy a phone with Call Guardian/blocking on it?

 

Some useful advice and options here:

https://shop.bt.com/guides/ideas-inspirations/how-to-stop-nuisance-calls

 

We simply let the answerphone vet calls from any number not in our phone book.  I don't think we've had any scammers leave a message.

 

Gaz

 

On 19/01/2023 at 14:00, OldTrilobite said:

Have others experienced a recent increase in scam phone calls?  After a lull of many months, some days I have been getting several phone calls, all attempting to set me up for some fraud. Even the ancient Amazon Prime scam has started coming in again.

Many calls are obvious fraud attempts, right at the start. For example: I pick up the phone and say 'hello' or give my phone number. The message immediately begins with something like "This is security. We are investigating suspicious activity on your xxx card" or "xxx account". Well, who do they know whom they are talking to? I said nothing that could identify me as the supposed card-holder. It could be someone else answering the phone - a child, some other family member, an employee. This opening immediately signals to me that they are about to try to get financially useful info out of me, so I hang up while they are still talking.

There are some very subtle and sophisticated telephone fraud calls. A relative of mine fell for one and lost some of her savings. I had a long and amiable chat a year ago with a man who said he was from the county police, with a criminal in custody. It was very very plausible, but it ended with me realizing that he was trying to get me to log in to my bank over his phone line! I quickly hung up. He tried to phone me twice more that day but I ignored the displayed number.

 

On 19/01/2023 at 14:00, OldTrilobite said:

Have others experienced a recent increase in scam phone calls?  After a lull of many months, some days I have been getting several phone calls, all attempting to set me up for some fraud. Even the ancient Amazon Prime scam has started coming in again.

Many calls are obvious fraud attempts, right at the start. For example: I pick up the phone and say 'hello' or give my phone number. The message immediately begins with something like "This is security. We are investigating suspicious activity on your xxx card" or "xxx account". Well, who do they know whom they are talking to? I said nothing that could identify me as the supposed card-holder. It could be someone else answering the phone - a child, some other family member, an employee. This opening immediately signals to me that they are about to try to get financially useful info out of me, so I hang up while they are still talking.

There are some very subtle and sophisticated telephone fraud calls. A relative of mine fell for one and lost some of her savings. I had a long and amiable chat a year ago with a man who said he was from the county police, with a criminal in custody. It was very very plausible, but it ended with me realizing that he was trying to get me to log in to my bank over his phone line! I quickly hung up. He tried to phone me twice more that day but I ignored the displayed number.

 

[Davevon]

I have BT call guardian on my landline, I like the fact that unless the caller’s phone number is in my list of contacts the caller has to identify/announce themselves so they soon put the phone down. 

[StevesTruck]

I had someone call from "EE Network" the other day to discuss renewing my contract (I'm not with EE, and he didn't know who he'd called), I was driving at the time and handsfree, so I kept him talking for half an hour to tie him up from calling someone who might believe him. 😆

[VWD]

On 05/02/2023 at 11:12, Davevon said:

I have BT call guardian on my landline, I like the fact that unless the caller’s phone number is in my list of contacts the caller has to identify/announce themselves so they soon put the phone down. 

Nicest feature on it is ability to block area codes, as well as numbers. One problem I find is that the memory allocation for area codes is not big enough.

 

[Ootohere]

The call can be from anyplace with the call showing your own Area Code or a neighbouring one.

[PetrolDave]

Caller ID spoofing is very common on scam calls, I've even had one which suggested I was calling myself!!!

[@Lee]

There's a program about to start on Channel 5 about phone scams. I expect it'll be on My5 later. 

[Aspman]

On 06/02/2023 at 17:58, PetrolDave said:

Caller ID spoofing is very common on scam calls, I've even had one which suggested I was calling myself!!!

Not uncommon.
Telecoms companies can block that easily since it is implausible but choose not to either because they can bill you for a service or they can't be bothered.
If you suddenly get lots of calls/emails its because your details have made it onto a list which is being sold and used by scammers. It could have been randomly generated or someone you have dealy with in the past has been hacked and their customer list taken and sold on.

confirmed emails and phone numbers have a value on the black market.