Current Scams...

[pattricia 574]

22 minutes ago, tinfoilhat said:

Had one today. 

Was it from Amazon ? What did they say ?

7 minutes ago, RollingJ said:

Oh, how I hate this forum software - I had just composed a detailed response, hit 'post' and it trashed it  due to the move this should NOT happen!

 

Anyway - the short answer: Amazon will NEVER call you out of the blue for any reason and coming out of the phone directory will not stop this type of call. The scum that run these scams don't rely on the directory, they merely use autodiallers to ring a sequence of phone numbers - e.g. 0114 xxx xxxx to 0114 xxx xxxz and unfortunately some people will be caught out.

 

I have found the best way of getting away from this crud is to ignore any number I don't recognise, and after a reasonably short time, your number is marked as a waste of time in the scammers systems and they don't bother with you. I've reduced my volume of spam calls to maybe 2 or 3 a month using this technique.

I don’t have caller display on my phone so can’t do this.

Edited December 22, 2020 by pattricia

[RollingJ 1,999]

12 minutes ago, pattricia said:

Was it from Amazon ? What did they say ?

I don’t have caller display on my phone so can’t do this.

OK Pattricia. Is it possible get caller display on the phone, or is not a compatible one? - the service is free from your phone service provider.

[tinfoilhat 11]

30 minutes ago, pattricia said:

Was it from Amazon ? What did they say ?

I don’t have caller display on my phone so can’t do this.

Exactly the same as you. Recorded message banging on about an iPad from Amazon. It's a con. I'll get another couple by Christmas I'm sure.

 

Was it actually Amazon? No. 

Edited December 22, 2020 by tinfoilhat

[pattricia 574]

40 minutes ago, RollingJ said:

OK Pattricia. Is it possible get caller display on the phone, or is not a compatible one? - the service is free from your phone service provider.

Ok, I will look into that.!

26 minutes ago, tinfoilhat said:

Exactly the same as you. Recorded message banging on about an iPad from Amazon. It's a con. I'll get another couple by Christmas I'm sure.

 

Was it actually Amazon? No. 

Thank you for your advice.

[BigPP 91]

1 hour ago, pattricia said:

For the second week I’ve had someone phone me up saying they are from Amazon. The first one said if I didn’t want to continue with Amazon Prime I had to press  1 to cancel. I am with Amazon but not with Amazon Prime.

The second one just now was a recorded voice saying that according to Amazon I had ordered an IPad. If I hadn’t ordered this Ipad could I press 1 to cancel it. I have Call Blocker with BT so blocked both numbers. I am seriously thinking of coming out of the telephone directory as Im sure they sit at their phones all day going through the directory. Someone who works at BT told me that Amazon would never phone me up. Have you had any calls like this ?

Hi Pattricia. They don't use a telephone directory. They use a computer which dials random numbers. If the call rings and you answer they have no idea who they're speaking to. It's well worth looking at this video by Jim Browning. You'll see that most of these calls originate from Kolkata, India.

 

When I get these calls I usually press 1 just so I can waste their time. Alternatively, you can just tell them you don't have a computer. 

 

 

[altus 537]

15 minutes ago, BigPP said:

When I get these calls I usually press 1 just so I can waste their time. Alternatively, you can just tell them you don't have a computer.

Don't press any buttons - that itself may be a premium rate scam. Just hang-up.

[RollingJ 1,999]

48 minutes ago, BigPP said:

Hi Pattricia. They don't use a telephone directory. They use a computer which dials random numbers. If the call rings and you answer they have no idea who they're speaking to. It's well worth looking at this video by Jim Browning. You'll see that most of these calls originate from Kolkata, India.

 

When I get these calls I usually press 1 just so I can waste their time. Alternatively, you can just tell them you don't have a computer. 

 

 

Interesting watching, @BigPP - but no great surprise to me, sadly. Never been caught myself as I've been on computers since the days when you only had the intranet - local networks - and used to work in IT security for a wile.

30 minutes ago, altus said:

Don't press any buttons - that itself may be a premium rate scam. Just hang-up.

That 'information' is a little out of date, @altus - pressing '1' these days actually only adds the caller to your 'permitted callers' list. I usually press a sequence than can occasionally totally bork the callers system.

[Thirsty Relic 208]

Totally agree with RollingJ , with the addition that I use this in association with my answer machine. 

If I don't know the number, it goes to the a/m, and I am free to pick up if it is someone I know.  Any other (Genuine) callers will say their bit, and I am free to pick up and answer, or ignore them.  Scammers etc get to waste their breath talking to a machine, and (assuming the actually can be bothered leaving a message), I get to hear their scam, then happily press the "Delete" button.

[RollingJ 1,999]

3 minutes ago, Thirsty Relic said:

Totally agree with RollingJ , with the addition that I use this in association with my answer machine. 

If I don't know the number, it goes to the a/m, and I am free to pick up if it is someone I know.  Any other (Genuine) callers will say their bit, and I am free to pick up and answer, or ignore them.  Scammers etc get to waste their breath talking to a machine, and (assuming the actually can be bothered leaving a message), I get to hear their scam, then happily press the "Delete" button.

I don't bother with my answer machine as 99.9% of these robo-calls seem to disconnect when the 1571 cuts in these days, so I don't even get to hear what con the prats were going to try.🤣

[pattricia 574]

I think there is a special thread for scam calls but I’m sure the mods will move my post. Was woken at 8am this morning by a lady with a foreign accent informing me that my call blocking service will expire today. As I do have Call Blocker from BT I asked for her number which she declined to tell me and cut me off. I dialled 1471 to get her number, then reported the call to BT. They took the phone number which the call had come from and said they would report it to their scam department. What I didn’t know until BT told me this morning, was that I shouldn’t have dialled 1471 after the scam call but should have dialled the BT call blocker number. ( 1572) and blocked it first. This was new to me as I’ve always dialled 1471 after scam calls and THEN blocked the scammers number. BT said by doing 1471 first then the call blocker number , it would stop call blocker working. I did not know this did you ? So from now on if I think it’s a scam call I have to dial 1572 first to BLOCK the call and THEN report it. 

[steved32 55]

Today a colleague of my wife contacted her to say her elderly father had been offered a Covid vaccine, which required him to provide his bank details.

 

Scam!

[RollingJ 1,999]

So they've started, @steved32. I'd call 'em scum personally.