for display only
Big Blue Interactive The Corner Forum  
Back to the Corner

Archived Thread

NFT: Phone scam increase lately?

Pete in MD : 10/12/2018 3:41 pm
Has anyone else noticed an increase in scam phone calls the last few weeks. I don’t answer but get the obvious shady voicemails from “the IRS, electric company, credit card company, etc.”. Is there some quota they are trying to meet by the end of the month?
same here  
UESBLUE : 10/12/2018 3:44 pm : link
the Chinese calls and a bunch from Bayonne NJ lately about some insurance deal. I guess its bec everyone is fin with summer and focusing again...
I definitely noticed  
Gregorio : 10/12/2018 3:49 pm : link
an increase in unsolicited calls. It has gotten bad. Last night during family dinner, got a call, I got pissed off and laced into the telemarketer for interrupting my family.
I have a line  
Pete in MD : 10/12/2018 4:06 pm : link
that is only used to call into conference calls from my home office. I never answer incoming calls because nobody I know has the number. The ringer isn’t ever on. I had 25 missed calls over the last two days and 10 voicemails that are either robo voices or someone trying hard to sound “American.”
I've actually had few the past few weeks.  
Section331 : 10/12/2018 4:10 pm : link
I was getting a couple every day, but over the past 3-4 weeks, I've probably been getting a couple per week. I don't know if they decided I wasn't worth their trouble, or if they cycle from list to list.
If you were hacked  
BigBlueDownTheShore : 10/12/2018 4:17 pm : link
In the recent Facebook hack, there is an increase in chance of these spam phones. I was just reading about it.
The only reason I still have a landline  
fivehead : 10/12/2018 4:21 pm : link
Is for spam calls. Whenever I have to enter a phone number to sign up for anything, I enter the landline info.

I have the ringer turned off, the answering machine picks up immediately, and answers in a robotic French man's voice.
I get a lot of the chinese ones,  
Mad Mike : 10/12/2018 4:24 pm : link
I just tell them to have my General Tso's ready in five minutes or someone's ass is going to meet my foot.

Those are the only ones I get with any frequency, though I get a lot of hangups on my home phone, so I may be getting others as well that just don't leave messages.

Yup, and it's only going to get worse  
jcn56 : 10/12/2018 4:33 pm : link
.
https://firstorion.com/nearly-50-of-u-s-mobile-traffic-will-be-scam-calls-by-2019/ - ( New Window )
So you mean to tell me  
Mike in NY : 10/12/2018 4:39 pm : link
The IRS doesn't have a warrant for my arrest that they are passing on to local authorities?
RE: So you mean to tell me  
Jay on the Island : 10/12/2018 4:41 pm : link
In comment 14125323 Mike in NY said:
Quote:
The IRS doesn't have a warrant for my arrest that they are passing on to local authorities?

Hurry up and get some best buy gift cards to pay your fines!
I try to keep them on the phone as long as possible  
Jay on the Island : 10/12/2018 4:43 pm : link
so that they have less time trying to scam some senior citizens. The last one I received was about 4 weeks ago. I only had him on the phone for just over 3 minutes because he figured out I was messing with him.
They've wisened up though - I think they're on a timer  
jcn56 : 10/12/2018 4:48 pm : link
I continuously get the ones about my computer having been infected by a virus and them needing to remote access to it to resolve it (mostly from Microsoft, but the last time they claimed to be Apple Care).

I always tell them I need to boot, I wait, keep them on hold while I do other things. In the past I've managed to waste a decent chunk of their time, but now they just give up after 3 minutes.
My cable company Spectrum  
Fred-in-Florida : 10/12/2018 4:54 pm : link
Has a feature to block Robo calls. Go to your account and there’s a feature called something like ‘norobo’. Working very well. Eliminates a lot of unwanted calls.
I use nomorobo effectively (it just activated as I was typing!)  
Alan in Toledo : 10/12/2018 6:04 pm : link
I pay $1.99/month for cell phone coverage but it's free on my VOIP landline provided by Frontier FiOS.

Hardly anything gets through.
I have no problem what so ever  
Gene : 10/12/2018 6:58 pm : link
admitting I'm an immature prick. When I get settled in to watch tv (like I am now) I have a tab opened to a Three Stooges sound effects page.

When I get a telemarketing call the person on the other end gets and earful. Usually the Shemp snoring sound.
RE: I get a lot of the chinese ones,  
Carson53 : 10/13/2018 11:10 am : link
In comment 14125285 Mad Mike said:
Quote:
I just tell them to have my General Tso's ready in five minutes or someone's ass is going to meet my foot.

Those are the only ones I get with any frequency, though I get a lot of hangups on my home phone, so I may be getting others as well that just don't leave messages.
.

I got one of those about a week ago, didn't get to the call, so I get a voicemail in Chinese, pretty funny.
I got a few of the IRS calls about 6 months ago, just hung up, haven't heard from them since.
One suggestion for responding  
Alan in Toledo : 10/13/2018 11:11 am : link
"Hello, you're on the air."
A lot of those folks calling  
Carson53 : 10/13/2018 11:17 am : link
are on some automated dialer system.
Many many years ago, I dealt with an automated system,
so I kind of have an idea on that stuff.
As the OP asked if it's about a monthly quota, not really.
Back to the Corner