Telephone scams

Have you been in an accident

When did this happen

Next Wednesday

Can you tell me what happened

I was fatally injured…

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Or

I’m calling about the accident

It’s ok I wasn’t hurt

We can get you compensation

Can I take your name?

Why

So I can report you for incitement to commit fraud…

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Sorry, but that’s like saying that burglars, car thieves and other criminals are doing a job they “need as it pays the bills”. Nobody “needs” to do a job whose sole purpose is defraud the vulnerable.

It’s all very well that some of us on here can recognise these scum and have a bit of fun pretending to play along with them, but there are plenty of people in our society who don’t have that ability. If you had an elderly relative lose their life savings to one of these scammers perhaps you wouldn’t feel the need to be so reasonable with them.

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I was thinking of those that are “legal” rather than those who are engaging in illegal activities, who should be put against a wall and have those they have defrauded decide what should be thrown at them and how hard…

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I am in full agreement and with you all the way on this one! :+1:

There is no such job title called “Harassment Cold Caller” that I am aware of.
Because that is all they are doing.

We don’t get so many after moving house and going ex-directory, the only recent one is the:

“Your internet will be disconnected due to connection problems, press 1 to contact your ISP.”

This one is a nusiance because it actually ties up the line. Even if you hang up/hold the call end button etc. as soon as you lift the receiver again the call continues. The only way that we could get to end the call was to press 1 and then instantly hit end call before anything bad has a chance to happen. Had the call twice now in as many weeks. The fact my internet goes down multiple times a day means these calls are somewhat ironic.

In the past on a family holiday (I was a passenger) we had a slight bump at a junction. Months after it was settled I started getting nuisance calls (no one else in the family did from memory) about being involved in an accident. This went on for some weeks until the insurance company rang to let us know their computer system had developed a fault and re-opened old cases. It was because of this all these companies were now cold calling me. Once the system was sorted the calls stopped.

I really loved hearing the one which said that my internet downloads were corrupting and to visit such and such website to download software to fix this. I could imagine (had I not hung up) talking to the person at the other end and explaining to them that I couldn’t download the software they were offering because the download kept corrupting :smile:

If you ask them which Windows computer they insist the Windows computer over and over however many times you ask which of your four computers it is…

I once had a genuine call from a well known mobile phone company trying to get me to switch to them because they could offer me a cheaper monthly rate:

Them: How much do you pay a month on phone calls?
Me: I don’t know exactly, but I could say how much in a year.
Them: Ok, how much is that?
Me: Around £5-10 a year.
-dial tone-

Seems a bit unfair that they hung up on me, I did answer them truthfully.

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I enjoyed agreeing to an appointment with a conservatory salesman who was offering a great “show home” deal in our area.

He was somewhat disappointed when he turned up to my flat on the second floor.

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Now that did make me laugh :joy::joy::joy:

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I’ve had two robot-voiced calls in the last week from “HMRC”. The first said a fraud case was being investigate implicating me and if I didn’t press 1 to talk to them an arrest warrant would be issued in my name.

A follow up call a day or two later had the same gist but said the arrest warrant had been issued.

I imagine if I had fallen for it I would have been given some opportunity to pay my way out of trouble. It’s laughable of course but it makes me angry to think of the distress these criminals cause people they bamboozle.

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A friend of mine took a call from a potential scammer asking for his wife.
She can’t come to the phone,he said, she’s a bit tied up.
The caller asked again and my friend repeated that she was tied up. On the 3rd time of asking he told the caller that they were about to have sex and she was tied up
The caller hung up

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My favourite recently was “your Internet has been used for fraudulent purposes”.

I asked if they knew who they were talking to, and told them that the number they had rung was the Greater Manchester Police fraud squad and I was a detective serg… - didn’t get a chance to finish as they hung up :rofl:

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I guess the one piece of training the operatives get is to hang up at the first sign of an objection or challenge. They must hang up on 99% of their calls. Must go down as one of the most unrewarding frustrating jobs going.

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Yes indeed! So there is some justice in this world! :+1:

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Very easily sorted with a call blocker phone. It only let’s through those in your phone book or the genuine ones who say who they are. The rest get blocked. Cured the problem for my elderly parents who were bombarded with the things.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/BT-Advanced-Cordless-Nuisance-Answering-Black/dp/B0787H2X6Q/ref=sr_1_4?dchild=1&keywords=BT+call+blocker+phone&qid=1605529208&sr=8-4

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I agree a call blocker is the way to go. The one I have is called CPR V5000 and is already pre programmed with blocked known scammer numbers when unboxed. I had a call this morning from an 00550 number which is a scam call. Didn’t answer the phone and then blocked it. The next time they ring they will hear a deadline tone and I don’t hear anything. Telephone providers offer call blocking often for a fee and is usually limited to so many numbers. My call blocker which is 3 years old can hold 1500 blocked numbers although so far I have just 40 blocked. Well worth the investment.

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It’s very unlikely that they will ever display the same number when/if they call you again. VoIP allows the scammers to present a different calling number for every call that they make.

Using a “whitelist” (known numbers that are allowed to call you) is good, but using a “blacklist” (numbers which are blocked) is increasingly ineffective.

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You are probably right but every contact I have is programmed into my phone so if I don’t see a name I recognise I don’t answer it. Most people ring my mobile anyway. However with only 40 blocked calls in 3 years it does seem to act as a deterrent despite some scammers using multiple numbers so it works for me.

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Yep literally just had one on my Land Line and they always get blocked. :roll_eyes: :rage:

Something in the water today as after none for ages we have had 2 calls to the landline presented in UK mobile number format and both telling us that our internet was causing errors…

They must be watching and reading this thread! :joy: