Robocall Madness

[jim584672]

Rachel is back , but now works at " The Auto Warranty Center " It was good to hear her voice again, and hang up on her. Been a long time, but I guess she still wants me.

 

[scrabbler1]

I'm getting more and more of those fake Amazon callers telling me I ordered something expensive and to "press 1" to cancel the order. I have been pressing 1 just to yell at them, calling them scammers.

Another frequent robocaller topic recently has been from some tax debt relief program.

 

[JoeWras]

I'm getting more and more of those fake Amazon callers telling me I ordered something expensive and to "press 1" to cancel the order. I have been pressing 1 just to yell at them, calling them scammers.

The more you press 1, the more they call. Yelling doesn't help. Your engagement puts you on the hot list.

Perhaps someone else will answer next time? That's one reason they keep calling. Perhaps you'll have a bad day or have a cognitive issue, or be drunk, or whatever. Another reason they'll keep calling.

 

[scrabbler1]

The more you press 1, the more they call. Yelling doesn't help. Your engagement puts you on the hot list.

Perhaps someone else will answer next time? That's one reason they keep calling. Perhaps you'll have a bad day or have a cognitive issue, or be drunk, or whatever. Another reason they'll keep calling.

Hanging up and not pressing 1 hasn't done anything to stop these calls the last year or so. So I might as well do something which makes me feel a little better.

 

[Sunset]

We are now getting a lot less scam phone calls.
For years we had answered the phone, and hung up, and the calls continued.
Then for a couple of years or more, we let the answering machine with it's default answer screen the calls. It made no difference we got a LOT of calls.
I suspected that default answering machines could be recognized by the scammer software (that's how I'd program it).

I found a free website, where I can pick voices and type in my own text and then play back the words which I used to create our own custom answering machine message. I used this as I don't want my voice record picked up and used by a hacker for voice verification on other systems like banks.

The beauty is it also allows for a LONG message where we tell the person we don't answer calls as they could be scammers.

Our calls have dropped off a lot.

If you want to play with it (voices, speed,etc), here is the website:
https://www.ibm.com/demos/live/tts-demo/self-service/home

 

[CaptTom]

Talking, hanging up, pressing one, not pressing one... I don't think it matters.

They're going to auto-dial every number in your exchange anyway.

I've noticed spam call volume is cyclical. It has ups and downs. If yours went up or down after you changed something, it may be just luck.

I will say that there's been a very dramatic downturn for the past few months. I'd estimate I'm down to maybe one spam call per week on average. It could be the carrier is doing a better job, but my wife on another carrier is also seeing fewer spam calls.

Could it be that the new laws and new technologies we've been hearing about for years are actually starting to pay off?

 

[JoeWras]

Yes, many of these are through high speed "war dialing."

If you and someone you know have numbers close to each other, you'll notice this.

DW and I have cell numbers on the same exchange, less than 100 apart if you treat it as a large number.

Very frequently, one of us will get spam, and within seconds, the other one of us will get the same spam call.

 

[Car-Guy]

It seemed to be slowing down last year but it's picking up again... There must be money in it (some people are still taking the bait) or they'd quit.

 

[Car-Guy]

 

[jollystomper]

The majority of the robo/scam calls we have been getting this year are related to Medicare. DW turns 65 later this year and we are getting many calls for her along the lines of "we can help you with your Medicare options, just give us all your personal information". Yeah, right.

I turn 65 next year, so I am sure the calls for me will start sometime later this year.

 

[scrabbler1]

The majority of the robo/scam calls we have been getting this year are related to Medicare. DW turns 65 later this year and we are getting many calls for her along the lines of "we can help you with your Medicare options, just give us all your personal information". Yeah, right.

I turn 65 next year, so I am sure the calls for me will start sometime later this year.

My ladyfriend has for the last 8 years or so been getting lots of calls from some outfit trying to get her into a Medicare program. It doesn't matter that she is only 60 now (so she was 52 when these calls began arriving). Somehow, her late mom's address got switched to hers even her mom never lived in NY (she lived in another state hundreds of miles away), so she also gets a lot of Medicare-related mail addressed to her mom. She yells and yells at these callers to stop calling her because she isn't anywhere near 65 yet, and that her mom has been deceased since late 2014. She gets these calls on her cell phone while at work, which risks getting her into trouble. But these calls continue.

 

[lesjrp]

Hanging up and not pressing 1 hasn't done anything to stop these calls the last year or so. So I might as well do something which makes me feel a little better.

+1

 

[Sunset]

Talking, hanging up, pressing one, not pressing one... I don't think it matters.

They're going to auto-dial every number in your exchange anyway.

I've noticed spam call volume is cyclical. It has ups and downs. If yours went up or down after you changed something, it may be just luck.

I will say that there's been a very dramatic downturn for the past few months. I'd estimate I'm down to maybe one spam call per week on average. It could be the carrier is doing a better job, but my wife on another carrier is also seeing fewer spam calls.

Could it be that the new laws and new technologies we've been hearing about for years are actually starting to pay off?

It may just be luck since I added the new message.

I was thinking I might make my message extra LONG because if everyone did this it would double the 'cost' to spammers. Since we rarely get a phone call from people we know, it would rarely be an issue.

I wondered during Covid if the spammers had to close their offices, and now are having trouble hiring people

 

[SALTedOut]

I'm a T-Mobile customer and have recently added a T-Mobile app called Scam Shield. Its worked really well at blocking calls on my cell phone and it doesn't even ring on blocked calls. It also shows me how many calls its blocked over the past 30 days and shows me the numbers.

 

[jazz4cash]

I reactivated “silence unknown callers” on my iphone. We dont have a landline. I’m still getting 8 or more unknown calls per day but expect it will taper off. What’s annoying is now I get an empty voicemail about 50% of the time. I think the robodial software does not disconnect promptly. That did not happen before.

 

[scrabbler1]

Re: Those fake Amazon callers.

Last week, I have an online chat with an Amazon CS Rep who discussed this with their team. Within a few days, I received an email (the same one someone in BH posted the other day) sent to Amazon customers warning us about these scammers. It is shown below.

"We want to help protect you from scammers that attempt to impersonate Amazon. Remember these important clues so that you can identify scams and keep your account and information safe:

1.Never feel pressured to give information (such as your credit card number or account password) over the phone, especially if the call was unexpected. Scammers may try to use calls, texts, and emails to impersonate Amazon customer service. If you're ever unsure, it's safest to end the call/chat and reach out directly to customer support through the Amazon app or website.

2.Never pay over the phone. Amazon will never ask you to provide payment information, including gift cards (or “verification cards”, as some scammers call them) for products or services over the phone.

3.Trust Amazon-owned channels. Always go through the Amazon mobile app or website when seeking customer support or when looking to make changes to your account.

4.Be wary of false urgency. Scammers may try to create a sense of urgency to persuade you to do what they're asking. Be wary any time someone tries to convince you that you must act now.

For more information on how to stay safe online, or to report suspicious communications, visit the Amazon Customer Service page, which can be found in the Help section at the bottom of the Amazon home page."

It's good to see Amazon making an effort.

 

[mf15]

Since I spent a year in Korea while in the Army, I answer some in Korean.
Does not do much good,but I have fun.
Oldmike

 

[aja8888]

Since I spent a year in Korea while in the Army, I answer some in Korean.
Does not do much good,but I have fun.
Oldmike

My latest gig when I get a spam call my spam blocker lets through is I say in a crackly voice that I am in a nursing home and need them to send me a credit card so I can buy some drugs. Never hear from them again.

 

[jim584672]

Ally Bank called with a fraud alert. It sounded just like those fake IRS robot voice calls. I hung up and checked online, see a $15 transaction in my account that isn't me. Called Ally, massive wait, hung up. Sent a secure message about the bogus transaction. 48 hours later they say we don't handle fraud alerts on secure message. See the transaction removed. Ally you can do better than this.

 

[aja8888]

Ally Bank called with a fraud alert. It sounded just like those fake IRS robot voice calls. I hung up and checked online, see a $15 transaction in my account that isn't me. Called Ally, massive wait, hung up. Sent a secure message about the bogus transaction. 48 hours later they say we don't handle fraud alerts on secure message. See the transaction removed. Ally you can do better than this.

That is surprising. Thanks for posting this. I have several accounts at Ally.

 

[Sunset]

Re: Those fake Amazon callers.

...... Within a few days, I received an email (the same one someone in BH posted the other day) sent to Amazon customers warning us about these scammers. It is shown below.
........
It's good to see Amazon making an effort.

+1
I got one of those emails too. Good to see.

We are down to 1 scam call per day, maybe coincidence, maybe it's my custom answering machine response using IBM's voice website.

Right in the message it tells them we get lots of fake scam phone calls, so won't be answering the phone, but they can leave a message .... Only it's quite a bit longer.

 

[ERObjd]

we get these calls mostly on the land line phone and we have a call blocks that blocks about 99% of them. We rarely get robo calls on our cell phones. There is a "do not call list" and we are registered on it, but criminals tend to not follow or care about laws.
I think that the only way to stop these robo calls is for phone companies to start charging for long distance calls. even if LD calls were charged 1 cent per minute these scammers would stop..it would simply cost them too much because these phone scammers( most are overseas in India or Pakistan, they make millions of calls per day and even at 1 cents per minute it would be too costly for them to make nearly as many calls.

 

[Markola]

I’ve largely blocked the scam phone calls but now I get lots of scam texts. Is there a good blocker for those? I haven’t tried to read this whole thread, so please pardon if this is a repeat question.

 

[ls99]

Just happened to be near phone when it rang. Dispay showed no name. Some 800 #. Picked up and immediately hung up. About 30 seconds later rang again, no name but different 800 number. Repeated pick up, hang up routine.
Did not ring again.
My good deed for today is done.

 

[Turbo29]

I got a call and the woman on the line says, "I'm calling concerning your credit card balance, we can help you with an alternative payment plan." I said, "Oh, great! Which card are you calling about?" In the background, I head the woman tell someone, "He wants to know which card we are calling about. The other person answers, "Just tell him that we deal with all of them."


At that point I hung up.