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Anyone ever get scam calls/scam artist calls? 		[Down to Last]

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Post# 964442   10/26/2017 at 22:20 (2,367 days old) by Maytag85 (Sean A806)        

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Lately I have been getting a lot of scam calls lately, and i was wondering if anyone else gets scam calls/scam artist calls. The scammers that call me call from spoofed phone numbers.




Post# 964448 , Reply# 1   10/26/2017 at 23:08 (2,367 days old) by wayupnorth (On a lake between Bangor and Bar Harbor, Maine)        

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Sorry Sean, even though I am 46 years older than you to the day, these scam calls have been going on for many years. Nothing new about spoofed phone numbers. Usually its a new Rachael wanting your credit card numbers to lower your interest rate or IRS with a warrant. I only answer calls from numbers I know as Caller ID is mostly worthless now, otherwise it goes to my answering machine and deleted.

Post# 964449 , Reply# 2   10/26/2017 at 23:11 (2,367 days old) by MattL (Flushing, MI)        

No-Mo-Robo works wonders...
Post# 964450 , Reply# 3   10/26/2017 at 23:12 (2,367 days old) by wayupnorth (On a lake between Bangor and Bar Harbor, Maine)        

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Not on a landline phone.

Post# 964456 , Reply# 4   10/27/2017 at 00:19 (2,367 days old) by washdaddy (Baltimore)        

I don't have a landline so that isn't a problem. As far as my cell goes, I only answer calls that are listed in my directory that I have stored. If I know I'm going to be speaking with you on the phone I make it a point to make sure your number is part of the directory.

I don't answer any calls that I don't recognize especially if it's from an unidentified number. If the call is important enough and that person is trying to reach me they will leave a message for me to call them back. I've never had a problem with getting spam messages in my voice mail.

Post# 964472 , Reply# 5   10/27/2017 at 06:04 (2,366 days old) by retro-man (- boston,ma)        

Home phone I don't answer I let it go to the answering machine. Now my cell phone is a different matter. I am going through a lot of medical testing and procedures at present, so I am getting many calls from doctors offices and labs. So at this point I have to answer all calls because I have no idea whose number is calling. Many times they are legitimate calls coming in so I don't want to miss them, but then there are quite a few that are not legit and then I just hand up.

Jon

Post# 964477 , Reply# 6   10/27/2017 at 06:57 (2,366 days old) by joeekaitis (Rialto, California, USA)        
Heard often at my Computer Clinic church fundraiser:

 joeekaitis's profile picture

 

 

"Someone called and said they were from Microsoft* so I did what they told me to do.  They found a bunch of stuff wrong and want $200.00 to fix it and I keep getting a pop-up with their phone number."

 

There's no gentle way to tell them the only real solution is a clean installation of the operating system.

 

*or McAfee, Norton, etc.

 

 
Post# 964479 , Reply# 7   10/27/2017 at 07:13 (2,366 days old) by iheartmaytag (Wichita, Kansas)        
For android phones

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You can get an app called call control. I love it, it looks through a database of calls, and blocks reported calls.

Unfortunately I have Cox for home phone, and they won't allow third party software.

Post# 964488 , Reply# 8   10/27/2017 at 07:29 (2,366 days old) by Laundromat (Hilo, Hawaii)        

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What I do when the scanners call is give them a special phone number to call. It's the local police department. They don't call back.

Post# 964489 , Reply# 9   10/27/2017 at 07:31 (2,366 days old) by Laundromat (Hilo, Hawaii)        

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What I do when the scammers call is give them a special phone number to call. It's the local police department. They don't call back.

Post# 964514 , Reply# 10   10/27/2017 at 10:15 (2,366 days old) by vacerator (Macomb, Michigan)        
Sure, and I don't answer

 unless the caller I.D. is a person or a number I know is legit.
Scammers can use any name or number today. They try selling you things from computer protection to insurance, to saying the IRS is going to prosecute you.
Just hang up, or tell them you're an FBI agent.
I mean come on, Microsoft is not in area code 416. That's Toronto.

Post# 964542 , Reply# 11   10/27/2017 at 14:09 (2,366 days old) by RevvinKevin (Tinseltown - Shakey Town - La-La Land)        

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I've gotten to the point that I WILL NOT answer any call from a number I don't recognize.  I have No-Mo-Robo set up for my home phone (Vonage) and it works really well!   

 

I've noticed a much higher volume of "spam" calls coming in on my cell phone the last 6-10 months or so, but again I don't answer ANY number I don't recognize and send it directly to voicemail.  Quite a few of them have the same area code and prefix as my number.  Quite often I will see the number on my cell phone, I send it to voicemail and block the number.    I will then dial that number from my office phone (which is often blocked).  It rings and I get "boop-boop-beep... the number you dialed is not in service...."

 

IF the caller leaves a message, I know it's a real call and will unblock the number after listening to the message.

 

The latest scam: In the last week or so I've been getting spam text messages (1 to 3 per day) from a number that looks like my service provider, a 5 digit number like "986-57".  The messages have been something like "Hi Jaime, I have this great job for you, if you're interested click here: (some BS web link), test STOP if you're not interested".... or variations of that.  I simply BLOCK that number and delete the message.  If you click the link, who knows what sort of virus may upload into your phone.  IF I click "stop" I'm SURE it will start a barrage of new spam messages being sent.  So a word to the wise: do nothing other than delete the message. 

 
Post# 964580 , Reply# 12   10/27/2017 at 20:06 (2,366 days old) by twintubdexter (Palm Springs)        
hate those scam/spoofed number calls

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I have something on my landline called "Peace & Quiet" which takes care of almost all unwanted calls. Blocking specific numbers is very easy too as is accepting calls only from specific ones. As far as the cell, I pretty much never use it unless I need it to Bluetooth Pandora to the car radio. Fortunately the cell only costs me about $16 every 3 months and I've accumulated more talk and data time than I could ever use. It keeps growing every month. I'm an "old-school non-cell-in-my-face" person. I don't need anyone calling me while my head's stuck in the freezer at the supermarket interrupting the close relationship I have with Haggen Dazs.
Post# 964587 , Reply# 13   10/27/2017 at 21:17 (2,366 days old) by DaveAMKrayoGuy (Oak Park, MI)        

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I have to see a NAME or even PLACE that I recognize or am expecting a call from before I answer--often these numbers beginning with EIGHT in the Area-Code, just to name ONE, really gives it away that I don't want to, have to or need to answer--and is there even a way to disconnect a NEW phone as you would back the you had rotary-dial or whatever touch-tone, in-between? I think I miss the luxury of taking the phone off the hook, or disconnecting the receiver from the unit, to eliminate annoying & distracting calls; those were the days...



-- Dave

Post# 964596 , Reply# 14   10/27/2017 at 23:02 (2,366 days old) by fan-of-fans (Florida)        

Yes they call the home phone often, usually showing a spoofed city. I never get them on my cell although often it's turned off.

Whsn they called at home and I happened to answer I would blow in the phone. This once resulted in a barrage of return calls with them blowing back at me, until I left the phone off the hook for a while.

Sometimes before I heard of long distance charges associted with these calls I would call the numbers. Usually it resulted in the number not in service message but once it was a real person upset that I called them.

Post# 964605 , Reply# 15   10/28/2017 at 00:56 (2,366 days old) by Maytag85 (Sean A806)        
fan-of-fans

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This is how you bait with a scam artist!

CLICK HERE TO GO TO Maytag85's LINK
Post# 964734 , Reply# 16   10/28/2017 at 20:10 (2,365 days old) by speedqueen (Metro-Detroit)        

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Somebody created a program to send hundreds of prerecorded calls to one of those Indian scam call centers. Here it is in action.





Here is a tech support scammer encountering Shango066. His comments and their reactions are hilarious.






Post# 964849 , Reply# 17   10/29/2017 at 16:53 (2,364 days old) by Maytag85 (Sean A806)        

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Too funny! LOL! You can't help but laugh when people mess with scam artists!

Post# 965094 , Reply# 18   10/31/2017 at 06:50 (2,362 days old) by askolover (South of Nash Vegas, TN)        

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If I don't recognize a number and it calls more than twice I just answer it as ____ County Sheriff's Department.  They always hang up.
Post# 966053 , Reply# 19   11/4/2017 at 21:13 (2,358 days old) by cornutt (Huntsville, AL USA)        

If I answer a call from a number I don't recognize, and I don't hear anything on the other end, I won't say anything. I'll wait a few seconds and if no one on the other end says "hi", I hang up. Most of the boiler rooms and robocall outfits use a "dial-ahead" mechanism. It dials your phone first, and then it listens for someone to answer. Not until then does it connect the call to an operator. If you hang up without saying anything, it will assume that a machine answered, and it won't call that number back (at least not on that round).


Post# 966087 , Reply# 20   11/4/2017 at 23:08 (2,358 days old) by wayupnorth (On a lake between Bangor and Bar Harbor, Maine)        

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I had another Rachel one for the credit card crap yesterday. Caller ID said Possible Fraud. Too bad they all wouldnt display that.


Post# 966136 , Reply# 21   11/5/2017 at 07:51 (2,357 days old) by johnrk (BP TX)        
I'm Now Getting

 lots of crap calls that will show my local area code and also my city's local exchange. I've made the mistake of picking them up, thinking it's someone local calling me.

BTW I bought one of those 'call killer' things on Amazon that you just press the button if it's an unwanted call and it blocks that number, holds thousands of them. And it works--but the autodialers are getting smarter. Amazing thing now is how many of them I get on my little flip phone.

Post# 966140 , Reply# 22   11/5/2017 at 08:15 (2,357 days old) by vacerator (Macomb, Michigan)        
I'm getting one currently

 from a local number. Left a message the first time about my current credit card balance to high or something. A woman with a foreign accent. Since, have had two call backs and it hangs up after the second ring.
Could be from "Peggy" in Russia? That was TV commercial a few years ago.
Unless they hire local unknowing immigrants who think they are working a legit from home job.

Post# 966153 , Reply# 23   11/5/2017 at 08:53 (2,357 days old) by DaveAMKrayoGuy (Oak Park, MI)        
When I get Strange Numbers/Would be-Strange Calls:

 daveamkrayoguy's profile picture
"Block Caller" is what I have been doing on my Cell Phone--much like how "Spam" becomes of unwanted eMails...

Never hear from again...



-- Dave

Post# 966260 , Reply# 24   11/5/2017 at 18:45 (2,357 days old) by iej (.... )        

I'm using TrueCaller on my iPhone which seems to be catching most of them.

On the landline, I just turned on Anonymous Call Rejection so anyone doing that gets "The person you are calling does not want to talk to callers who withhold their number. Please hang up and call again, without withholding your number" and I just hang up on any spam calls straight away. If it gets any worse, I might look at getting a call blocker.


Post# 966295 , Reply# 25   11/5/2017 at 21:13 (2,357 days old) by cornutt (Huntsville, AL USA)        
Caller ID

 is pretty much worthless now. There are lots of Internet services that bridge calls to the phone system using Asterix or some such, and they will let you put in absolutely anything you want for the caller ID. Lots of scammers use this to make it look like it's a local number, or a number on your own cell carrier.

The FCC has been talking to phone companies and cell carriers about what to do about this. There is another caller-identifying system called Automatic Number Identification, or ANI. It is not so easy to fake ANI because the carriers use it for billing purposes, and they watch for fraudulent ANI. Normally ANI information is not sent to the consumer, but there are some proposals to bridge it over to the caller ID system. It still wouldn't provide caller ID for all international calls, but it would at least identify such calls as originating from offshore. That in itself would cripple a lot of the boiler rooms.

Post# 966339 , Reply# 26   11/6/2017 at 05:21 (2,356 days old) by iej (.... )        
Traditional Telephone Network plugged into Cyberspace = Spam

 I was talking to someone who knows a lot about these things here in Ireland and Europe and she was saying the issue is they don’t originate “off shore” in the sense that they’re VoIP traffic that’s often being fed into the network through multiple local gateways that link VoIP services to the PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network), skipping the international gateway switches and traditional tandem switching nodes entirely and presenting to the PSTN mixed with regular traffic.

Typically in the original design of these systems, traffic from other networks only came in at specific specialised switching centres usually 'gateways' which could be either a specialised centre like an international gateway, or else perhaps part of a tandem switch (regional exchange that switched calls to other central offices, but has no customer connections itself).

Due to technology changes and market changes, that stuff has become less specialised and more distributed and you have traffic entering networks at much more local level than ever before. So there's far less central control. It's basically more like the internet and less like an old hierarchical telephone system these days, even if it's not using IP technology.

These days, we have a vast array of smaller PSTN voice carriers who provide wholesale interconnect services, international connectivity, SIP trunks, connectivity for businessss as residential products and then you’ve local small VoIP operators and even a possibility of things being potentially routed through compromised networks that may not even know they’re being abused.

It's also currently a mixture of VoIP and legacy TDM (Time Division Multiplexing) technologies and that is likely to be the case for a few years yet as the transition from TDM is taking much longer than anyone has anticipated.

Carriers aren’t necessarily seeing the advantages of ripping out legacy central office equipment that can be adapted to function in hybrid networks. Everything is about minimizing capital expenditure and maximizing revenues. POTS (Plain Old Telephony Services) aren't the money spinners they were in the past and they're basically not really willing to throw money at new technology to provide dumb voice services. So you're finding they're just adding layers of VoIP to what are still old tech based voice services where pretty old and dumb tech is still sitting in local central offices, even if it's onward connected through VoIP and the higher levels of the network are very high tech.

They're rapidly moving businesses to SIP trunks and hosted services and pushing a lot of home and small businesses onto VoIP that is just carried on their broadband connection, much like how cable companies did things. So the number of customers using TDM services (dial tone / ISDN etc) is shirking.

Also, there's obviously a huge degree of migration to mobile phones and away from landlines entirely, with businesses now becoming the primary users of fixed lines.

Also POTS revenues in the Europe and the US are evaporating and PSTN really is just becoming an application on a data network, rather than the core business of these telecommunications companies and a lot of their ideas no longer really resolve around telephony, certainly not fixed line anyway.

She was also saying that realistically, they’re very limited in what they can do as the vast majority of VoIP traffic coming through those VoIP gateways is completely legitimate, normal calls. You can’t just flag it as entirely suspicious as you’d end up blocking calls from genuine callers and disrupting real businesses who are using new tech.

What they’re talking about now is developing extra security to authenticate traffic using digital certificates.

She also reckons that it will become easier in a few years as the older TDM technology is replaced entirely by VoIP, as then you can get into much more sophisticated ways or authenticating traffic at every level of the network.

The legacy digital TDM networks were never really designed to deal with traffic from unverified sources. You’re talking about 70s, 80s and 90s tech that was designed to function in and between companies like Bell and European PTTs in a closed system where the operators were all trusted.

Caller ID is just a text field for a number and text contained in SS7 signalling that's sent with every call. It’s as secure as the ReplyTo: field in email - you can put any garbage in there. That gets processed by telephone switching systems that just pass it through and display whatever that message says without parsing or analyzing it in anyway, other than maybe to add or remove area codes to make it display more logically. There's no intelligence in those areas of the network though.

Basically we are sitting in an era between two technologies. The traditional phone networks using SS7 signalling and TDM will be history in a few years but until then, expect plenty of spam calls as they expose old tech to traffic originating in cyberspace.

Welcome to an era of very cheap, very democratized telecommunication!!

Brilliant for taking to your friend in Australia for very little money or entirely free of charge, but expect plenty of people to use it to scam precisely because it’s cheap, ubiquitous and easy!

The phone is simply becoming an internet application and that's wonderful in many ways but a bit chaotic too.

You can already see how Caller ID is being reimagined on mobile phones with directory services apps checking incoming numbers against databases and acting as spam filters.

I would suspect that's probably where we're going to go generally is probably towards some kind of authentication system for phone numbers and probably one that will just work internationally. It's already very much possible with mobile phone numbers in Europe.

I would also say that Caller ID was *NEVER* intended to be a secure service. It's a supplementary service that is there for convenience only.

People just also need to be more careful about giving information out over the phone to incoming callers and generally be more willing to slap the phone down if someone is spamming them / trolling them / wasting their time.



This post was last edited 11/06/2017 at 07:49
Post# 967786 , Reply# 27   11/13/2017 at 19:08 (2,349 days old) by Maytag85 (Sean A806)        
A scam artist happened to call me today!

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I checked my recents on my iPhone 4S earlier today, and the phone number was in red, so I knew immediately it was a scam artist who spoofed their caller ID!

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Post# 967880 , Reply# 28   11/14/2017 at 08:29 (2,348 days old) by vacerator (Macomb, Michigan)        
I had one

 yesterday from a local residents name. It wasn't them. The message left was a credit scam.

Post# 969900 , Reply# 29   11/25/2017 at 15:11 (2,337 days old) by hairyskinbear (UK)        
It does not matter

I am in the UK, and no I am not fooled by the scammers that call. sometimes on my mobile phone be they about a recent compensation claim for an accident I have recently had, I answer to either him or her "OH GO AWAY YOU STUPID WOMAN" OR GO AWAY YOU STUPID MAN" I disconect them then turn off the phone for a few minutes. I say the say to bank scammers and wait until they ask for that 4 pin number, I say to them I most certainly will not then hang up quick but report this to my bank. It does not matter we all have to act on it for our own care and safety, report it however minor your preventing someone else heartache.

CLICK HERE TO GO TO hairyskinbear's LINK
Post# 969903 , Reply# 30   11/25/2017 at 15:24 (2,337 days old) by 48bencix (Sacramento CA)        
New Phone Number

 A couple of years ago I got a new phone number, unlisted. I did not add it to the do not call list. Pretty much free from scam calls. My cell has never been added to the do not call list and it is almost free from scam calls. I think the scammers check to see if a number is on the do not call list, that means it is a real number.

The phone companies can do something about the spoofed caller ID if they want to (are forced to).


Post# 969932 , Reply# 31   11/25/2017 at 16:41 (2,337 days old) by iej (.... )        

If I’m bored I will play them along and waste their time and money.
You can have great fun wirh a bit of creativity.

Post# 969933 , Reply# 32   11/25/2017 at 16:43 (2,337 days old) by iej (.... )        
The classic






Post# 969934 , Reply# 33   11/25/2017 at 16:43 (2,337 days old) by perc-o-prince (Southboro, Mass)        
Not on a landline phone.

Hey Tim, it's been working for a few years quite well on our landline. Not quite as good as before as the spoofing's gotten better, but there are still relatively few who get through.

One called while Andy was here for dinner TG evening. It was between dinner and dessert, so I took it. Had a little fun and went to dessert.

Whenever I have time, I make sure to waste as much of theirs as possible. Every minute I waste for them is a little tickle for me, and another minute less they have to possibly contact someone gullible enough to fall for their scam.

Chuck

Post# 969940 , Reply# 34   11/25/2017 at 16:57 (2,337 days old) by wayupnorth (On a lake between Bangor and Bar Harbor, Maine)        

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What works on my landline for one of those calls I dont know is to hit answer, wait 2 seconds and hang up. That 2 seconds disconnects them. And they wont fill my answering machine with crap for me to delite.


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