Robocall Madness

[W2R]

Maybe I found a smoking gun.

An hour or so before all these calls started I enrolled in Walmart Pay, which included providing my cell phone number. No way to know if that is the source of the sudden explosion of robocalls, but the timing is suspicious.

I'm going to try to cancel the account but I think Pandora's box is already open.

I had a marked increase in spam phone calls a few years ago when CVS absolutely INSISTED on having my cell phone number if I was to get a flu shot there. They already had my land line number, but claimed that Medicare required my cell phone number too. That sounded fishy to me, but finally I gave up and gave it to them. A few days later, I started getting (seemingly unrelated) spam phone calls. I asked a manager to take my cell phone number off my account, and they did, but the calls continued.

My wild guess is that in my case, it was the individual employee, not CVS, who sold my cell phone number to spammers.

The silver lining to the cloud is that the calls slacked off in a month or so.

 

[Another Reader]

I had a marked increase in spam phone calls a few years ago when CVS absolutely INSISTED on having my cell phone number if I was to get a flu shot there. They already had my land line number, but claimed that Medicare required my cell phone number too. That sounded fishy to me, but finally I gave up and gave it to them. A few days later, I started getting (seemingly unrelated) spam phone calls. I asked a manager to take my cell phone number off my account, and they did, but the calls continued.

My wild guess is that in my case, it was the individual employee, not CVS, who sold my cell phone number to spammers.

The silver lining to the cloud is that the calls slacked off in a month or so.

No, it was CVS or a hacker targeting them. It's a great source for picking up phone numbers. They insist on you agreeing to receive phone calls to get your prescription. My number? 000-000-0000. Someone else mentioned using the local IRS number in another thread. When people insist on getting my cell phone number I tell them I don't use one. If you want to talk to me, use the land line.

 

[txtig]

This past weekend, I started receiving robo calls from “Apple Support”. I hung up on them each and every time, but they left voice messages telling me that my iCloud account had been compromised and that I needed to press 1 to be connected to customer support to reset my account. Over a two day period, they called almost every hour or two, from different numbers, but always showing up as “Apple Support” on the caller ID. I kept blocking the numbers, but the calls kept coming from new numbers. And then (finally!), the calls stopped. Thank goodness, because I was about to throw my new iPhone out the window. It’s hard to put up with this kind of nonsense when there’s nothing you can do to stop it.

 

[audreyh1]

This past weekend, I started receiving robo calls from “Apple Support”. I hung up on them each and every time, but they left voice messages telling me that my iCloud account had been compromised and that I needed to press 1 to be connected to customer support to reset my account. Over a two day period, they called almost every hour or two, from different numbers, but always showing up as “Apple Support” on the caller ID. I kept blocking the numbers, but the calls kept coming from new numbers. And then (finally!), the calls stopped. Thank goodness, because I was about to throw my new iPhone out the window. It’s hard to put up with this kind of nonsense when there’s nothing you can do to stop it.

That had nothing to do with your iPhone or iCloud account. I got a message once, checked my account, nothing suspicious, decided it was phishing.

 

[REWahoo]

Final count for yesterday was 37, with 12 of those from the same number.

The count for today is up to 11, with only one of those from the number that called me a dozen times yesterday. Maybe they are giving up...

 

[kgtest]

This past weekend, I started receiving robo calls from “Apple Support”. I hung up on them each and every time, but they left voice messages telling me that my iCloud account had been compromised and that I needed to press 1 to be connected to customer support to reset my account. Over a two day period, they called almost every hour or two, from different numbers, but always showing up as “Apple Support” on the caller ID. I kept blocking the numbers, but the calls kept coming from new numbers. And then (finally!), the calls stopped. Thank goodness, because I was about to throw my new iPhone out the window. It’s hard to put up with this kind of nonsense when there’s nothing you can do to stop it.

I got this one too! And I have never owned an Apple product.



I've found that if its the same # calling repeatedly its easiest just to block it. My phone has an internal feature via Android to do this.


I (usually) never answer unless it's a number I know or a name I know. I feel like answering the robot just confirms to the bot that its a valid # and keep spamming.

 

[jim584672]

I have been telling the robo scammers to add me to their "do not call" list. It seems to have helped. I am also on the "do not call" registry. They can get fined $16k for DNC violations.

 

[aja8888]

I have been telling the robo scammers to add me to their "do not call" list. It seems to have helped. I am also on the "do not call" registry. They can get fined $16k for DNC violations.

My bold..do you really believe they will be caught, tried and fined?

 

[jim584672]

My bold..do you really believe they will be caught, tried and fined?

Probably not. I would file a complaint anyway.

 

[scrabbler1]

I have been telling the robo scammers to add me to their "do not call" list. It seems to have helped. I am also on the "do not call" registry. They can get fined $16k for DNC violations.

I have never found this helpful. Before I switched my land line to an internet-based system capable of adding Nomorobo to block calls (and my system has its own call-blocking feature), I sometimes "entered 1" to ask the live human to stop calling me and add me to their do-not-call list. They always just hung up on me before I could get more than 4 or 5 words out, they must get this all the time. And the robocalls keep coming.

With the call-number spoofing, you can't track down the source of the call to report them as a violator anyway, making the already-worthless DNC registry even more worthless.

 

[Lakedog]

Usually have a few calls a week but with a different twist the last two days -- my own cell number shows as the caller. I never answer calls from unknown numbers (or my own number lately) but sometimes add them to my block call list.

 

[CoolRich59]

Final count for yesterday was 37, with 12 of those from the same number.

The count for today is up to 11, with only one of those from the number that called me a dozen times yesterday. Maybe they are giving up...

Wow. Those numbers are off the charts for me.

I get one or two a week; they are almost always the spoofed local prefix calls. I generally don't answer the phone for anyone who is not an identified contact, but when I see the call is from the same prefix as mine, I immediately know it's spam.

 

[CoolRich59]

Usually have a few calls a week but with a different twist the last two days -- my own cell number shows as the caller. I never answer calls from unknown numbers (or my own number lately) but sometimes add them to my block call list.

I wonder what would happen if you added your own number to the blocked call list?

 

[REWahoo]

I wonder what would happen if you added your own number to the blocked call list?

I did it a couple of years ago and it worked. I no longer call myself.

 

[braumeister]

But what do you do in an emergency when you really need to talk to yourself?

 

[REWahoo]

But what do you do in an emergency when you really need to talk to yourself?

Twitter. Or Snapchat.

 

[Floridatennisplayer]

Never give your cell phone number. The same with stores when you buy something at check out they say what’s your email address. I politely tell them no way am I giving it to you I get enough emails as it is

 

[braumeister]

When someone in a store asks for my phone number I simply say "Sorry, it's unlisted." I've never had a pushback to that.

 

[CoolRich59]

I did it a couple of years ago and it worked. I no longer call myself.

 

[Aerides]

Never give your cell phone number. The same with stores when you buy something at check out they say what’s your email address. I politely tell them no way am I giving it to you I get enough emails as it is

"I don't give it out" - that's been my response for as long as I can remember.

few reasons:

1 - no I don't want to be on your list (and if I do, I'll do it myself)
2 - no, I don't believe that you'll never share your list, or won't be hacked
3 - I don't feel like sitting here while you get the number wrong, or can't spell, and I have to repeat either 3 times for you, just let me get on with my life and take my money and be gone
4 - I don't want the 7 people in earshot of me to get my number as well (paranoid? Maybe, but if I wanted to get lists of numbers and emails, I'd just go around the mall and spend time hanging around near cash registers)

 

[ocean view]

I got a robocall today that was a little disturbing. My nomorobo screened it out after the first ring, but the name on the caller ID was that of friends of from college, with their last name and husband & wife initials (Smith J&M). The number shown was spoofed as it was not their area code.

This means that I’ve been hacked, gmail or iCloud most likely. I’m thinking it’s gmail since other caller IDs have been relevant to recent online searches (College Board and DH’s alma mater). I thought those were just coincidence.

I guess it’s time to reset passwords again.

Has anyone else seen this scenario?

 

[MichaelB]

I got a robocall today that was a little disturbing. My nomorobo screened it out after the first ring, but the name on the caller ID was that of friends of from college, with their last name and husband & wife initials (Smith J&M). The number shown was spoofed as it was not their area code.

This means that I’ve been hacked, gmail or iCloud most likely. I’m thinking it’s gmail since other caller IDs have been relevant to recent online searches (College Board and DH’s alma mater). I thought those were just coincidence.

I guess it’s time to reset passwords again.

Has anyone else seen this scenario?

This is not good. It could be your college friend is the one that was hacked. Or, it could be a clever spammer using yearbook info. Any way you look at it, though, it pays to be safe and change passwords.

 

[ocean view]

This is not good. It could be your college friend is the one that was hacked. Or, it could be a clever spammer using yearbook info. Any way you look at it, though, it pays to be safe and change passwords.

There is nothing from our college years that could tie back to my current residence and/or her married name.

After looking at my “in the cloud” contacts, I decided that it was the friend who was hacked, not me, as she is listed in my accounts as Mary Jones-Smith, not just her married name. I have contacted her to alert her of the situation and I will change my passwords as well, just in case.

These hackers/spammers are always one step ahead of us. Just think if they used their intellect for something more productive to society.

 

[GalaxyBoy]

An unexpected benefit of my Apple Watch is that I can quickly tap the red button on my wrist when the phone rings with an unknown number and I don't have to get up and find the phone, or listen to it ring until it goes to VM.

I also set my phone to announce callers so if I'm in the next room I'll hear SIRI say "unknown caller," or "Wife." That way I immediately know if I can ignore it. (You all can decide which one of those is which.)

 

[GalaxyBoy]

Just think if they used their intellect for something more productive to society.

Ha! I've had that exact same thought many times. I once worked on a prison expansion project and the facility manager told us some amazing stories about how the "guests" cleverly fashion or hide weapons made from the smallest scraps of metal you can imagine, and that was also what I told him.