NFT: Dozens of spam calls yesterday and today

just hang up.

Covid put a damper on how many people you could put in a call center, but that restriction is being lifted, apparently. USA Today had an article about it here:

Robocalls and scam calls persist during pandemic, so Americans have stopped answering the phone

The reason you're getting what looks like legitimate phone numbers is because of spoofing

Quote:

Spoofing is when a caller deliberately falsifies the information transmitted to your caller ID display to disguise their identity. Scammers often use neighbor spoofing so it appears that an incoming call is coming from a local number, or spoof a number from a company or a government agency that you may already know and trust. If you answer, they use scam scripts to try to steal your money or valuable personal information, which can be used in fraudulent activity.

spam calls daily. Usually a couple of vehicle warranties, some just blank and various others vendors. I will not answer the home phone. If it is legit, they leave a message.

On the cell, if it does not show a name in my directory I do not answer.

I did get a voicemail that my social security number is going to be suspended or something like that, so I’m fooked

work from home, and also get 6-10 a day. I never answer the phone unless it's somebody I know, either a client, a friend, or someone with whom I do business. I wait for my answering machine to start. People I know will begin to leave a message, and at that point I pick up the phone.

when processed meat in a can calls me. It's so annoying.

I got a call from a number I didn't recognize. Thankfully, I answered the call and won $1M in the Irish Sweepstakes! All I needed was to provide my bank information and the money will be wired to my account by the end of the week.

that they keep calling until you answer. So, I answer and just leave the phone there without saying anything.

I typically don't answer phone #'s I don't recognize, but my cell is basically my work phone now, so if it's from an area code where a client might be, I have to answer it.

While legislation might help, I suspect most of these calls are generated overseas, so I don't know how much good it would do.

In comment 15159306 BamaBlue said:

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I got a call from a number I didn't recognize. Thankfully, I answered the call and won $1M in the Irish Sweepstakes! All I needed was to provide my bank information and the money will be wired to my account by the end of the week.

Meh...still doesn't top the $10M I'm going to receive from a Nigerian prince for answering one email.

Nigerian Prince > Irish Sweepstakes

Your auto-warranty has expired

Maybe up to ten these days. If I am not busy, I always try to pick up the phone and talk to a human. I play along as long as I can. If they want a CC number, I make it up. If they ask me what car I have, I make it up. If they ask me if I'm interested in whatever scam they selling, I tell them absolutely.

The longer they are on the phone dicking around with me is less time they have to steal money from vulnerable people.

In comment 15159306 BamaBlue said:

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I got a call from a number I didn't recognize. Thankfully, I answered the call and won $1M in the Irish Sweepstakes! All I needed was to provide my bank information and the money will be wired to my account by the end of the week.

This just made me smile about a former co-worker who just passed away. He was from Nigeria and had real life Nigerian family scams. He had legitimate nieces and nephews and the like that he hadn't seen in years calling him asking for loans. They would lie to him that it was for school. He stopped giving, but they didn't stop asking. They viewed him living in the US as he was rich, which he was so far from.

brand new account, within a day its been getting robo calls.

unbelievable

Car warranties 6X a day, CC offers, Fake IRS, even calls from Jamaica where they don't even bother to spoof their number. It is amazing that this country does nothing about this problem

In comment 15159428 Beer Man said:

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Your auto-warranty has expired

I can't count how many "this is your last reminder" calls from "Linda" I've gotten from the car warranty jerks...

In comment 15159296 JohnF said:

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Covid put a damper on how many people you could put in a call center, but that restriction is being lifted, apparently. USA Today had an article about it here: Robocalls and scam calls persist during pandemic, so Americans have stopped answering the phone The reason you're getting what looks like legitimate phone numbers is because of spoofing Quote: Spoofing is when a caller deliberately falsifies the information transmitted to your caller ID display to disguise their identity. Scammers often use neighbor spoofing so it appears that an incoming call is coming from a local number, or spoof a number from a company or a government agency that you may already know and trust. If you answer, they use scam scripts to try to steal your money or valuable personal information, which can be used in fraudulent activity.

I do not have caller ID on my land line so I do not ever pick up my phone until someone starts to talk.

98% of the calls that come to my house during the day - NEVER do (start to talk).

Taking a recycled phone number for my business line. Man the person who had my business number before hand was a mess, debt collectors, drug/medical expenses, prostitutes, crazy shit. I had to answer a ton of them just to get them to stop calling so much, sometimes for the automated ones there is an do not call option button you just have to sit through all the crap. I here you, nothing more annoying than a phone constantly ringing and it’s all junk and Robo calllers.

In comment 15159521 short lease said:

Quote:

In comment 15159296 JohnF said: Quote: Covid put a damper on how many people you could put in a call center, but that restriction is being lifted, apparently. USA Today had an article about it here: Robocalls and scam calls persist during pandemic, so Americans have stopped answering the phone The reason you're getting what looks like legitimate phone numbers is because of spoofing Quote: Spoofing is when a caller deliberately falsifies the information transmitted to your caller ID display to disguise their identity. Scammers often use neighbor spoofing so it appears that an incoming call is coming from a local number, or spoof a number from a company or a government agency that you may already know and trust. If you answer, they use scam scripts to try to steal your money or valuable personal information, which can be used in fraudulent activity. I do not have caller ID on my land line so I do not ever pick up my phone until someone starts to talk. 98% of the calls that come to my house during the day - NEVER do (start to talk).

Same here. My landline rings all day and maybe we get 1 or 2 messages for the week and that is almost always spam.

Hell, my son's cell phone is getting a ton and he never uses the damn phone, has no social media accounts, has virtually no digital footprint.

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In comment 15159529 Greg from LI said:

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I love when my son gets that. He doesn't even have a learner's permit. At least call from a targeted list.

on these scammers. "Scammer Paybacks", Kitbago", Scammer revolts".

I posted a link to a youtube video where this 1 guy had him on the phone for 10 hours ...

I still laugh my ass off listening to this. The scammer will not hang up but, is clearly frustrated



the shorter version - ( New Window )

And for some reason it's open to outside calls. Some occasionally I'll be at work and hear a car warranty or fix your debt service ad played over the loudspeaker.

We had an issue a couple years ago when one of the robocallers got stuck in a loop and kept calling that number over and over again. Every ten or twenty minutes you'd hear a spam call for some bullshit thing played over the loudspeaker.

The solution from the telecom people was to tell me to find the rack where it lives and unplug the phone jack.

... I mean, I keep renewing every time they call, but they keep calling!!!

It's amazing how they use phone numbers that are obviously not their own. I got 2 calls from my own number.

In comment 15159531 short lease said:

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on these scammers. "Scammer Paybacks", Kitbago", Scammer revolts". I posted a link to a youtube video where this 1 guy had him on the phone for 10 hours ... I still laugh my ass off listening to this. The scammer will not hang up but, is clearly frustrated the shorter version - ( New Window )

Sorry - I think I copied the link where it was almost 1/2 way through. Start it from the beginning .... I dare you not to laugh. lol


The number counting in the top right corner is the number of hours he has had this jackass on the phone. I urge you to listen to as many as you can find. 1 is funnier than the next.

Some of these guys take over the SCAMMERS computer and DELETE all of THEIR files - the scammers files (in the cases where they try to take over the victim's PC and charge them a "Ransom").

It really is very gratifying to listen.

In comment 15159529 Greg from LI said:

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I get that call pretty much every day. Serious question - why is the car warranty the subject of so many calls? I mean ... why not other things? Or are more people worried about car warranties than I'm aware of?

the worst. I ask people to tell me their phone numbers prior to calling. Literally getting a car warranty call as I type!

I stopped answering the phone if I dont recognize the number, and the spam service is completely useless.

and they sell that further down the line.

They’re all automated, so when I tell them to fuck off, I’m wasting my time. Still, I’m compelled to do it. I hate these fuckers.

The kicker is I live in NYC, so I don’t own a car. Whose warranty are you speaking of? I am not the car owner you are seeking.

Called to tell me that someone tried to purchase an 1100 iPhone on my account and that I needed to provide information and to verify if it was me submitting the order.

I get these calls all the time anymore. Just seems to have gotten get worse and worse. They are such a pain in the ass, I wonder why I even bother having a landline anymore.

In comment 15159544 Del Shofner said:

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I get that call pretty much every day. Serious question - why is the car warranty the subject of so many calls? I mean ... why not other things? Or are more people worried about car warranties than I'm aware of?

I've wondered that myself - who does this work on???

Is it me you're looking for"...I had to keep myself from laughing

In comment 15159549 glowrider said:

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and they sell that further down the line.

I call bullshit. Everybody gets multiple calls a day, whether or not they pick up.
You can be the guy who never picks up and gets six calls a day, or the guy who picks up and gets 8 calls. Picking up has nothing to do with it (except being a waste of time).

In comment 15159676 NoPeanutz said:

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In comment 15159549 glowrider said: Quote: and they sell that further down the line. I call bullshit. Everybody gets multiple calls a day, whether or not they pick up. You can be the guy who never picks up and gets six calls a day, or the guy who picks up and gets 8 calls. Picking up has nothing to do with it (except being a waste of time).

Well, you’re wrong.

Quote:

That initial call you get, with silence on the other end, "[is] essentially the first of the reconnaissance calls that these fraudsters do," Balasubramaniyan says. "They're trying to see: Are they getting a human on the other end? You even cough and it knows you're there."

Link - ( New Window )

with a phone who has not gotten a robocall? The only people who say "Don't pick up! They'll know we're here!" are people whose phones are already ringing from robocalls.

They get QUALIFIED at several steps. And if you land on a qualified list, you get the special treatment.

Perhaps you should take up your position with the FTC or the folks who were interviewed in that article.

I never calls from numbers I don't recognize.

they are IRS agents.

The caller says that the IRS has filed an action against me for collection of back taxes and that if I do not cooperate the FBI is going to come to my house to arrest me at any moment.

I reply, "oh my god, what do I have to do to keep from getting arrested?"

Then the fun starts.

I usually play along with them for between 5 and 10 minutes before I get bored.

What is not so funny is that my ex-wife got scammed by fake IRS agents out of 45K in a similar manner. She wired the money from her bank account to The Bank of China after getting called from purported IRS agents.

How in God's name anyone would think wiring money to The Bank of China to pay an IRS debt is legitimate is beyond me. That's why she is my ex-wife.

What I really can't believe is that a Wells Fargo Bank employee personally facilitated the transfer and did nothing to intervene.

Incredible.

Tell them to send their communication in writing via USPS. Government doesn’t call. They show up in writing or in person.

Other people, ask the caller for a reference number for the matter at hand, and tell them you will call them back on the phone number youve already been provided by the bank, etc.

Everyone else can eff right off. Truly awful people who take advantage of mostly elderly folks by scaring them into submission.

Jim Browning on YT does God’s work.

In comment 15159689 glowrider said:

Quote:

In comment 15159676 NoPeanutz said: Quote: In comment 15159549 glowrider said: Quote: and they sell that further down the line. I call bullshit. Everybody gets multiple calls a day, whether or not they pick up. You can be the guy who never picks up and gets six calls a day, or the guy who picks up and gets 8 calls. Picking up has nothing to do with it (except being a waste of time). Well, you’re wrong. Quote: That initial call you get, with silence on the other end, "[is] essentially the first of the reconnaissance calls that these fraudsters do," Balasubramaniyan says. "They're trying to see: Are they getting a human on the other end? You even cough and it knows you're there." Link - ( New Window )

I have suspected for years now that those calls with silence were tests to see if you would answer.

On iOS 14 you have two settings that can restrict incoming calls to your contacts or numbers of outgoing calls. I'm sure androids have a similar feature.

The problem then is how to allow legitimate calls in. If you're expecting an important call from some switchboard how do you let it in ?

In comment 15160285 Ron from Ninerland said:

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On iOS 14 you have two settings that can restrict incoming calls to your contacts or numbers of outgoing calls. I'm sure androids have a similar feature. The problem then is how to allow legitimate calls in. If you're expecting an important call from some switchboard how do you let it in ?

Yeah. That is the problem...

For instance, and for some unknown reason, my local pharmacy calls are labeled "spam likely" by T-Mobile. This one instance gives me pause regarding enabling the IOS 14 spam call blocker.

Seemingly, nothing will ever stop these scams because humans are largely preditory bastards that ruin just about everything they touch.