What do you do when a scam operation calls you?

Started by kphoger, March 13, 2019, 01:56:54 PM

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What do you do when a scam operation calls you?  Choose as many as apply.

My phone alerts me that they're scammers, so I never even answer
I answer and then immediately hang up
I pretend to play along for a while before finally ending the call
I chew them out for calling
Other
I never get scam calls

1995hoo

I wish there were a way to use wildcards to block phone number patterns. I regularly get calls on my mobile phone from various area codes and various exchanges where the last four digits are always and invariably -9003. It's obviously an autodialler and a recorded message because I never answer, they always leave a voicemail, and it's always the same female voice excitedly telling me I'm now eligible for 0% interest on all my credit cards. Exact same thing every time. I'd love to be able to use a *.*-type thing to block all numbers from all area codes and exchanges that end in -9003, but I don't know of any way to do that nor of any app that allows it.
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commenting on the Capitals clinching a playoff spot.

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hotdogPi

There should be a way to block phone numbers that don't exist. I was called by one that I couldn't answer immediately, and I didn't know if it was a real call or not. I called back, and the number didn't exist.

Another time, the exchange began with 0.
Clinched, minus I-93 (I'm missing a few miles and my file is incorrect)

Traveled, plus US 13, 44, and 50, and several state routes

I will be in Burlington VT for the eclipse.

jeffandnicole

I simply don't answer if I don't recognize the number.

CNGL-Leudimin

I used not to answer if I don't recognize the number. Now I do, and if they don't reply back in 2 seconds (which is often the case), I disconnect.
Supporter of the construction of several running gags, including I-366 with a speed limit of 85 mph (137 km/h) and the Hypotenuse.

Please note that I may mention "invalid" FM channels, i.e. ending in an even number or down to 87.5. These are valid in Europe.

hbelkins

Spoofing of same-exchange cell numbers is getting to be a real problem around here. The state legislature just passed a law outlawing those calls, but I don't know how they will enforce it. And putting your number on a state or national no-call list is pretty much a waste of effort.

I failed to answer a 606-560 number on my personal cell the other day. Turns out it was my doctor, and he did leave a message.

It's more problematic for my work cell, however. I feel compelled to answer any calls from a 606-207 number. It could be someone calling to report a road closure or other situation that needs to be communicated to the public. It's especially frustrating when I answer it, only to hear a recording about my credit card account. I don't have any credit cards associated with my work number, so I know it's a scam.


Government would be tolerable if not for politicians and bureaucrats.

bing101


NWI_Irish96

If I'm home by myself, I put in earplugs and blast an air horn right into the phone.  Trying to make people regret working for companies that make these calls.
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jeffandnicole

This was an unfortunate issue from years ago: I had a lease on a Honda Ridgeline, which I turned in after the lease period.  I forget how I learned the next part, but...The car was resold to someone (a woman), ironically with the same initials as me.  However, my phone number remained connected with the vehicle.  I now get scam calls (and apparently, collection agency calls) for her, since my phone number got connected with her name.  Of the calls I actually answer, most of them are asking for her, not me.

Apparently she doesn't live too far from me.  When I checked out her Facebook profile, she's actually FB friends with a coworker, so I'll have to check his connection with her!

briantroutman

I have to think that the "same exchange spoof"  routine is quickly losing traction, especially for the under-60 crowd. As more people ditch landlines in favor of having a cell phone only, the likelihood that you'll receive legitimate calls from your own exchange continues to diminish.

Growing up in a small city, almost everyone I might be in contact with locally–my relatives, friends, school, doctors office, local businesses, etc.–all had numbers beginning with 321, 322, or 323. And if someone told you that their phone number was 368-something, you knew right away that they lived in the next town over. So if I had caller ID back then, I'd have been seeing these exchanges constantly.

When I got my first cell phone around 2000, it was assigned a number under a new exchange that apparently was set up just for mobile lines. My local high school friends all had cell phones with exchanges different from mine depending on which carrier they had, whether they bought their phone in town or at the local mall, and so on. By this point, the exchanges had become almost meaningless.

Almost 20 years later, I still have the same cell phone number, and when I see an incoming call from the same exchange, I'm 99% certain it's a scam call. And since I have a non-local number, I know that local Philadelphia-area calls are quite possibly legitimate.

kphoger

Quote from: 1 on March 14, 2019, 07:45:17 AM
There should be a way to block phone numbers that don't exist.

But doesn't Skype use phony number for their phone calls?  I know I've received Skype calls on my cell phone that came up as some weird 5-digit number on my caller ID.

Quote from: hbelkins on March 14, 2019, 11:39:28 AM
Spoofing of same-exchange cell numbers is getting to be a real problem around here. The state legislature just passed a law outlawing those calls, but I don't know how they will enforce it. And putting your number on a state or national no-call list is pretty much a waste of effort.

It also doesn't help me much, as nearly all of my scam callers are quite obviously calling me from India.

Quote from: briantroutman on March 14, 2019, 02:01:34 PM
I have to think that the "same exchange spoof"  routine is quickly losing traction, especially for the under-60 crowd. As more people ditch landlines in favor of having a cell phone only, the likelihood that you'll receive legitimate calls from your own exchange continues to diminish.

Phone numbers are allocated to phone companies and also traded between phone companies in large blocks, meaning that–even in the age of cell phones–the same exchange as yours is still likely to be in your area.  For example, I have a 316-640- number, and the vast majority of those will be cell phones in the Wichita area because they were allocated to my cell phone company in one big block.  I happen to only know one other person with a 316-640- number, but it's still somewhat likely that there's someone whose number I don't know who has the same exchange as mine.
Keep right except to pass.  Yes.  You.
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Male pronouns, please.

Quote from: Philip K. DickIf you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use them.

briantroutman

Quote from: kphoger on March 14, 2019, 02:14:51 PM
...even in the age of cell phones–the same exchange as yours is still likely to be in your area.

I don't deny that that there's still correlation between geography and telephone exchanges, but what I'm getting at is that for most people, there's far less correlation between your phone exchange and that of the people and businesses you're in touch with by phone on a regular basis.

As mentioned, in my town growing up, nearly every local person, business, and institution with which I had telephone contact was in one of three exchanges–all of which had the same first two digits. According to a quick search, it appears there are now 32 exchanges nominally assigned to the city. In the same time, the population of that city has declined by 5,000 people or about 15%, and the county's population (the de facto metro area) has declined by a couple of percent. So a stagnant to declining pool of people is now spread over more than ten times as many exchanges. And that's before you start to account for factors like transplants who've kept a cell number from another area code or locals who bought a cell phone near where they work, which might be 30 miles away.

Quote from: kphoger on March 14, 2019, 02:14:51 PM
But doesn't Skype use phony number for their phone calls?  I know I've received Skype calls on my cell phone that came up as some weird 5-digit number on my caller ID.

Skype allows you to "buy"  a phone number for nearly any geographic area. When I lived in the San Francisco Bay Area, I bought a 415 number because I was tired of getting funny looks when I gave clients and business associates an out-of-area number. Your Skype number can be used to both send and receive calls from Skype, and calls can also be forwarded to another telephone number (like your cell phone).

If you don't buy a Skype number, I believe there's a way you can set it to show another phone number, but I'm pretty sure that you have to verify the number by allowing Skype to call it and then entering in a code when prompted.

In the absence of either of the above, what shows on caller ID when calling from Skype has varied over the years. Around 2010, I recall Skype calls showing up as coming from numbers in the 661 area code, which is Kern County, CA/Bakersfield area. Some time after that, I recall Skype calls coming from either five-digit numbers or oddly long 15-ish digit strings of numbers. And more recently, I think I've seen them come through as "Unknown" .

But the bottom line regarding called ID–it seems to have been set up assuming that one benevolent corporation (i.e. AT&T) would always hold the keys to America's tightly locked-down telephone system. As such, I believe that caller ID is set up to be a trusting system: Your phone provider voluntarily provides a phone number to the recipient's phone provider, and they simply accept that number as accurate because...why would a member of the Bell System provide false information? The setup didn't account for the phone network rapidly becoming a "Wild West"  of VoIP providers, Internet telephony apps, and fraudsters from Asia.

hotdogPi

My cellphone is 978-701. My home phone is 978-68x (not giving away x so you won't figure out my location); 681 to 689 is common all over the area. I have gotten scams (all recordings) from 978-704 (and other last digits, but never 701 itself), 214-084, and various other 978 numbers. The one time I got a 603 number (adjacent area code, New Hampshire), it was a legitimate wrong number, not a scam.
Clinched, minus I-93 (I'm missing a few miles and my file is incorrect)

Traveled, plus US 13, 44, and 50, and several state routes

I will be in Burlington VT for the eclipse.

CNGL-Leudimin

In Spain we don't have that code-exchange problem simply because cellphones aren't attached to a particular province :sombrero:. They also start with different numbers to landlines. Landlines start with 9 and more recently also 8, and three digit prefixes are assigned by province (my province, for example, has 974 as prefix, and is expected to get 874 in the future), while cellphones start with 6 and more recently also 7 (however if a cellphone number starts with 7 then the second digit cannot be 0), and the first three digits of a cellphone number don't say anything about the area it could be, but rather the company it was originally assigned to. I have a cellphone number starting with 608, which means the number was originally issued to Movistar even though I'm now with Vodafone. While my mother has a number starting with 626.
Supporter of the construction of several running gags, including I-366 with a speed limit of 85 mph (137 km/h) and the Hypotenuse.

Please note that I may mention "invalid" FM channels, i.e. ending in an even number or down to 87.5. These are valid in Europe.

kphoger

Keep right except to pass.  Yes.  You.
Visit scenic Orleans County, NY!
Male pronouns, please.

Quote from: Philip K. DickIf you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use them.

MikeTheActuary

Back when there was still a decent number of humans making the scam/spam calls, every once in a while, when I was in a mood, I would answer:  "Office of the Attorney General.  How may I direct your call?"

Nowadays, various phone-spam filters block most of the scams.  Near-number spoofing is a pain, however, especially when they are spoofing numbers near my company's phone numbers.  (Telecommuter, so I have both personal and office numbers ringing on VOIP phones at home.)

Buck87

I usually don't answer my phone if it's not a number from my contacts, but every now and then I will, especially if I'm expecting a call, and
if it's a scam call I just hang up right away.

There have been a few times where I've tried messing with the caller, but it usually doesn't go to far. The best one I remember was when I kept getting calls that started with a recording saying "Hi, this is Rachel from cardholder services..." After about the 5th one in the same week I selected the number to be put through to a live person, then asked if this was Rachel, and after being told no I demanded to be put through to Rachel because she was the one who kept calling, and that she sounded kinda hot. I kept making this same demand in response to whatever was said to me until they hung up. 

SP Cook

I just got back from my yearly trip to Nicaragua and got at least 5 spam calls that were spoofed as being from El Salvador while there.  All were English (at least nominally) speaking scammers apparently in the USA, with typical USA scams like credit card rates, IRS, etc.


SectorZ

I just don't pick them up.

Since they like to spoof legit numbers, they've sometimes used numbers of people who have pissed them off. No thanks in that case.

tchafe1978

I've gotten calls lately where the number calling looks like a legit local number, so I answer thinking it may by the doctor's office calling or something. So I answer, and the person says, "Hi, is Theresa there?" I say no, you have a wrong number. Then they'll say, "Oh, maybe you can help me then..." and proceed to run through some script trying to raise money for the Police Union or something. I eventually say I'm not interested and hang up. Just mildly annoying...

bing101

#44
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yUn_fT__mM

Every 2 years there are political calls on your landline phones. Yes what is strange in some cases is that the Superpac and Lobbying group for a candidate that calls my phone will spoof area codes that are not 916, 202, 800, 877, and 888 to somehow make themselves look like they are "For the Average person" except I know the locations of at least the California branches of Superpac and Lobbying offices because I did commute to Sacramento in the past though.


https://www.wric.com/news/politics/local-election-hq/annoyed-by-political-text-messages-here-s-how-to-make-it-stop/1565010513

kphoger

Quote from: tchafe1978 on March 15, 2019, 08:44:43 PM
I've gotten calls lately where the number calling looks like a legit local number, so I answer thinking it may by the doctor's office calling or something. So I answer, and the person says, "Hi, is Theresa there?" I say no, you have a wrong number. Then they'll say, "Oh, maybe you can help me then..." and proceed to run through some script trying to raise money for the Police Union or something. I eventually say I'm not interested and hang up. Just mildly annoying...

I get those once every blue moon, but the guy always asks for Deborah.  I've had the same phone number about ten or eleven years now...
Keep right except to pass.  Yes.  You.
Visit scenic Orleans County, NY!
Male pronouns, please.

Quote from: Philip K. DickIf you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use them.

abefroman329

Quote from: kphoger on March 18, 2019, 02:43:37 PM
Quote from: tchafe1978 on March 15, 2019, 08:44:43 PM
I've gotten calls lately where the number calling looks like a legit local number, so I answer thinking it may by the doctor's office calling or something. So I answer, and the person says, "Hi, is Theresa there?" I say no, you have a wrong number. Then they'll say, "Oh, maybe you can help me then..." and proceed to run through some script trying to raise money for the Police Union or something. I eventually say I'm not interested and hang up. Just mildly annoying...

I get those once every blue moon, but the guy always asks for Deborah.  I've had the same phone number about ten or eleven years now...
I switched my cell phone from a 202 number to a 312 number about 2.5 years after moving here from DC, and it must have taken my apartment building's management company another two years to change my number in the call box at the building's front door.  I feel sorry for the poor bastard who got my old DC number and would have to field calls every time someone was delivering food to us.

roadman65

Well considering that most auto dialers give you the chance to hang up as it takes a couple seconds for the dialer to find an operator to pitch, I do not deal with them.

Most of the time if I see a number I do not know, I never answer it.  However that infamous IRS call that Clark Howard and local cops warn you about, leaves messages on my voice main making it sound like a warrant is out for my arrest.  That is more disturbing cause you do not get to stop them.  However, call centers are not supposed to leave messages, but these scammers are not following the law anyway, but that shows that they are fraud.  However, some people fall for it and that is sad.
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Sheryl Crowe

US71

My phone alerts me to most scams.  If I don't recognize a number or a name, I won't answer. Sometimes I will answer but not say anything to see what sort of response I receive. Usually, they hang up
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signalman

Interestingly, as I was reading this thread I got some b/s spoof call.  I often get the local exchange number trick, but this one came up restricted.  99% of the time I don't answer.  This one I answered, but all I said was "If you want to restrict your number from me then you're not worth my time," and hung up.



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