The Lemon Fool

I am being called at least twice a day and have been for about three months by some financial company wanting to offer me a trading account, in bitcoin I think.

I have spoken to the callers and said no thanks I'm not interested. Now I just block each new number as it comes up, they seem to have an endless supply of numbers to use.

Does anyone know why a company would do this, since I have told them several times quite forcefully that I am not interested and will never sign up to anything...do they really think they will change my mind by repeated calling me. I just can't see what they hope to achieve by this.

John

They're not phoning "you". They are automatically calling a huge list of number which uyou are in.

Its simpler for them to just dial it rather than remove it from the list.

They expect as low as 1% (0.5% ?) "hit" rate - its no skin off their nose to phone somebody that doesn't want to be called.

Annoying though it is.

The endless supply of numbers are all false ones. Try calling one back and you will receive "number unobtainable".
As with text messaging, is it relatively easy to impersonate any sending number.

stewamax wrote:The endless supply of numbers are all false ones. Try calling one back and you will receive "number unobtainable".

Which tells you all you need to know about the integrity of the Company who are phoning you.

Others using fake numbers are "Microsoft Technical Department" who have detected that your computer is running slowly and "BT" who are convinced there's a problem with your internet connection.

Assuming these are calls to your landline, get a call blocker. These whitelist known, trusted numbers, force unknown numbers to identify themselves and can completely block known spammers.

As I work from home, I use a trueCall unit and have done for a few years - best £100 I ever spent. You simply wouldn't believe the piece of mind it gives you.

https://www.truecall.co.uk/product-p/cb1.htm

I believe BT Call Protect offers a similar service free of charge

https://home.bt.com/tech-gadgets/phones ... 4136279348

Good luck - Andy

mrbrightside wrote:I believe BT Call Protect offers a similar service free of charge

It doesn't work terribly well. I've lost count of the number of times I've tried dialling back "Microsoft", "Windows technical department" etc only to get "The number you have dialled has not been recognised". 1572 purports to block these.

Alaric wrote:

mrbrightside wrote:I believe BT Call Protect offers a similar service free of charge

I've lost count of the number of times I've tried dialling back "Microsoft Windows technical department"...

Just curious - why would you even bother to call back an unknown number ? Occasionally they are premium rate numbers that are another element of the scam.

I signed up for BT Call Protect thinking it would solve my nuisance calls problems.

It took me a little while before I realsed that it was barring calls from the number(s) that HMRC use to send me the code to enable me to log on to the HMRC website for things like PAYE, Self Assessment tax returns etc. etc.

I reported it to BT but that didn't seem to make any difference and I couldn't work out how to unbar a number - if such a facility even exists.

mrbrightside wrote:
Just curious - why would you even bother to call back an unknown number ?

The number isn't unknown, you can establish what it is by 1471. It's to validate whether by a long shot, the call was actually valid. It can be more useful with recorded messages because then it isn't obviously an Indian call centre you are speaking to.

The spoofing is that the number looks like a regular number, so isn't an identifiable premium rate line.

Alaric wrote:

mrbrightside wrote:
Just curious - why would you even bother to call back an unknown number ?

The number isn't unknown...

Sorry - I meant 'a number that is unknown to you'. That's why Truecall is useful as it keeps detailed call logs so you review the numbers and search if necessary to confirm it a known spammer.

mrbrightside wrote:That's why Truecall is useful as it keeps detailed call logs so you review the numbers and search if necessary to confirm it a known spammer.

The problem is that they generate a new fake number every time they call.

Alaric wrote:

mrbrightside wrote:That's why Truecall is useful as it keeps detailed call logs so you review the numbers and search if necessary to confirm it a known spammer.

The problem is that they generate a new fake number every time they call.

That's not a problem with a call blocker as 'Unknown' numbers are blocked and can be reviewed. If it's a valid call from the hotel in Bournemouth confirming your reservation, Google confirms it and you can return the call and whitelist that number.

Laughton wrote:I signed up for BT Call Protect thinking it would solve my nuisance calls problems.

It took me a little while before I realsed that it was barring calls from the number(s) that HMRC use to send me the code to enable me to log on to the HMRC website for things like PAYE, Self Assessment tax returns etc. etc.

I reported it to BT but that didn't seem to make any difference and I couldn't work out how to unbar a number - if such a facility even exists.

BT Call Protect has the facility to whitelist and blacklist numbers.
Best to do it via the relevant page on their website
Good starting point might be (requires your login): https://www.bt.com/s/apps/appspstn/

Alaric wrote:

mrbrightside wrote:I believe BT Call Protect offers a similar service free of charge

It doesn't work terribly well. I've lost count of the number of times I've tried dialling back "Microsoft", "Windows technical department" etc only to get "The number you have dialled has not been recognised". 1572 purports to block these.

1572 does have some success: I've seen incoming calls to my landline in the BT Call Protect logs that haven't come through to my phone.
1572 is never going to be perfect as the scammers can keep generating new spoofed outgoing numbers so BT Call Protect has to play catch-up, partly relying on the reports of BT Call Protect users who report a number as a cold call/scam.unsolicited/"Microsoft Tech Support"/"internet cutting off shortly" type of calls.
1572 does not have the facility to check (dial a number back to set if it's un/obtainable) before it delivers the call to you. That would be really useful, but I imagine the intricacies of building such a system would be substantial.

My elderly mother-in-law was plagued by cold calls so we got her a BT call blocker phone. I can see that rogue calls are being received by logging into her BT account but they are not getting through. For those who don't know - the caller receives a recorded message asking for their details. Once given, the call will be put through. If no details are given, the phone rejects the call and it does not ring. There's nothing to stop cold callers giving details, but if they did, the receiver can choose to reject the call. In practice, none have left details and tried to get through. Known contacts can be programmed into the phone and these callers will be put straight through.

It works like a dream, she's had no cold calls in the last 2 months.

Thanks for the responses.

I should have mentioned the calls are to my mobile.

John

redsturgeon wrote:I should have mentioned the calls are to my mobile.

You might have to change your number. But aren't there apps that will do the call monitoring (assuming it's a smart phone)?

For landlines I would recommend something like the BT4600 - https://shop.bt.com/products/bt4600-pre ... -BY4H.html

I have one of the older models and for a relatively cheap price it does stop the nuisance calls. You have a choice about how the phone operates, but in full 'go away' mode, only callers in the phone book you have keyed in get through, otherwise everyone has to speak their name and press # before the phone even rings.

redsturgeon wrote:I should have mentioned the calls are to my mobile.

A kludgy solution if you have an Android phone is to set "Do not disturb" with everyone in your phone book able to override it.

AF62 wrote:For landlines I would recommend something like the BT4600 - https://shop.bt.com/products/bt4600-pre ... -BY4H.html

I have one of the older models and for a relatively cheap price it does stop the nuisance calls. You have a choice about how the phone operates, but in full 'go away' mode, only callers in the phone book you have keyed in get through, otherwise everyone has to speak their name and press # before the phone even rings.

redsturgeon wrote:I should have mentioned the calls are to my mobile.

A kludgy solution if you have an Android phone is to set "Do not disturb" with everyone in your phone book able to override it.

That would work for me.

John

An interesting question is why are some people plagued by these cold calls and others are seemingly not?

Is this just some random effect or is there something else behind it. Does anyone know or have any theories?