Community Stories

I’m starting to wonder why I even have a phone number anymore

dsio
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The only people I actually want to talk to all iMessage or text or email me, every single time I pick up my phone its a scammer, a hawker, someone wanting something for nothing or someone I have no interest in whatsoever. I’m guessing if its this bad in Australia it has to be as bad or worse in the US…

It’s sort of mind blowing to me that the tech world has such good methods of addressing these issues via email now and quarantining dodgy spam mail yet with number spoofing I get endless calls from legit sounding sources after years of it being a problem. I literally just have it on Do Not Disturb indefinitely now and its probably the best compromise for now since I can still call people but they can’t ever bother me.

Or maybe I’m just getting old.
 
JimInOz
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I hear you.
It used to be easy to identify the spammers (international numbers calling me) but now they are spoofing genuine Australian numbers that have lapsed or simply been hijacked. I don't know what they're doing because if I do answer they immediately cut off.
I suspect they're just testing to see if the number is valid then they on-sell the number to cold call centres.

Due to the amount of cold calls (solar panels etc) and spam calls (ATO, NBN etc) I now make sure my contacts contain everyone who may need to contact me, all the way from the family to my Oncologist et al.
If it's an unknown number I ignore it, or if I'm in a naughty mood I'll answer and string them along.
 
Pun
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It's much worse in India. I accept this as perils of modern technology that has more negative effects than we earlier thought..
 
Canuck
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I have been notified that, because of suspicious activity that pertains to my social security number, my SIN has been suspended. I have been notified that this is the second time the government has issued a warrant for my arrest, and that they have been unable to reach me. I have been told that there were recent charges to my charge cards in the amounts of $400.00, and $2,400.00 to “international gift cards”, and since I have not previously dealt with either outfit, I should press 1 to authorize the charges, or two to speak to dispute them. My option is always “click”! Countless times I’ve been called from a call centre in Mumbai to inform me that there is a problem with my computer. A new wrinkle recently. My wife got an official looking thing on her iPad telling her NOT to shut it off as she would lose everything. She was to email a number for a solution. “Click”! Moist of these calls were canned computer voice recognition calls, identical to the calls many others get. It must pay off once in a while, because these events happen almost daily.
 
lillatroll
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Canuck Canuck
I have been notified that, because of suspicious activity that pertains to my social security number, my SIN has been suspended. I have been notified that this is the second time the government has issued a warrant for my arrest, and that they have been unable to reach me. I have been told that there were recent charges to my charge cards in the amounts of $400.00, and $2,400.00 to “international gift cards”, and since I have not previously dealt with either outfit, I should press 1 to authorize the charges, or two to speak to dispute them. My option is always “click”! Countless times I’ve been called from a call centre in Mumbai to inform me that there is a problem with my computer. A new wrinkle recently. My wife got an official looking thing on her iPad telling her NOT to shut it off as she would lose everything. She was to email a number for a solution. “Click”! Moist of these calls were canned computer voice recognition calls, identical to the calls many others get. It must pay off once in a while, because these events happen almost daily.
Yes you don't need to get lucky often. Usually it is older people, who may have 10sof thousands in the bank. It could be gone in seconds. My 78 year old father is susceptible to such scams, especially if they tell him he owes money. He has a lifetime fear of debt. His bills are paid the same day he receives them, his cars, always paid for in cash. People claiming to be from the tax authorities have almost fooled him, but he had the presence of mind to tell them he would call back later.
 
Evitzee
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If I don't recognize the phone number I just don't answer, if it's important they will leave a voice message. My phone system flags many of the calls and says 'spam risk' on the screen, so it's easy to ignore them.
 
Vercingetorix
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My wife and my dad used to have a contest to see who could get the cold caller to say the worst thing by being rude and/or wasting their time. I ask the callers if they are hot and would like to go on a date.
 
Foo2rama
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what is email? I just use Slack...
 
Pvt-Public
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Vercingetorix Vercingetorix
I ask the callers if they are hot and would like to go on a date.
First thing I ask them is what kind and color underwear they have on? It does not matter if they are male or female. They usually hang up at that point.
Edited:
 
Larry S
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My kid decided to play it these people recently. We’ve warned him it’s like engaging gypsies on the street. It was. The scam calls and texts mushroomed. Best to set your phone to ring only from contact list, of course you need to turn it off when waiting for a voice mail jail callback, I’ve also found that sending unwanted emails to junk is better than trying to unsubscribe. Just delete the garbage texts.
 
Donn Chambers
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Besides the typical spam calls (scams, my car warrant is expiring, etc), I get tons of calls from people asking if I want to sell my house. I live in a booming city in a desirable neighborhood, and there are a lot of investment companies trying to buy houses to either flip for a small profit or to rent out for outrageous prices. For awhile, I would tell them “Yep, for a million dollars” but I learned that just encourages them and they think they can negotiate me down to a reasonable price. Now I just let them go to voicemail, or if I do answer (because it’s a local number and I’m expecting a call from e.g., a plumber) I tell them to “F*** off.”
 
vbrad26
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But how will you be offered extended car warranties????
I've never had a landline in my adult life, or any place I have lived that was not my parents house.
We technically have a phone number through our cable/internet provider, and a way to hook up a phone through our router/modem.
But we do not keep a phone plugged in to that, I don;t even know the number!
It would be for a long-term loss of power situation or something like that, and we do have an old skool corded phone that we keep in our hurricane box.
 
Wryfox
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This came up a couple days ago... I appreciate the honesty.👍

20220609_185601.jpg
 
speedb
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At one point during the lockdowns last year I was receiving on average one call per hour on the landline - all of them spam calls. I ended up finding a website where you can check whether your phone numbers or email account passwords have been leaked and distributed online:

https://haveibeenpwned.com/

In case you're all a bit worried about clicking on links from strangers with low post counts, the site has featured in loads of news articles:

https://www.techradar.com/news/nordvpn-and-haveibeenpwned-creator-team-up-for-online-security-push
https://au.pcmag.com/security/91599/have-i-been-pwned-adds-over-225-million-passwords-from-uk-agency
https://www.seattletimes.com/sponso...o-know-in-an-ever-evolving-digital-landscape/
 
SkunkPrince
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I had a really hard time when I was looking for a job and had to accept calls. Now, I use the "block unknown callers" feature on the iPhone and also subscribe to AT&T's Call Protect app and service. Blessed silence! If they call and don't leave voicemail, I don't care who they are.
 
crd
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I used to just never answer calls from numbers that aren’t already saved in my contacts. Then I started trying out a call screening app on the phone where a robot answers for me and asks for more details to pass along. 90% of the time it serves the intended purpose of screening unwanted calls. The other 10% is a frustrating game of phone tag when I’m waiting for a call back for security verifications our similar legitimate reason.
 
STANDY
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Love it when I am standing next to a Border Force Officer (customs) who is getting a scam caller saying Border Force is going to arrest them. The scammers have called a Border Force government mobile phone number and are actually trying to scam a Border Force officer 😜😜
 
mydeafcat
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I also used to rely on my iPhone’s screening function - until I missed a call from my doctor, who uses a private number.

Here in Vancouver, the calls/messages left are almost always in Mandarin. The robo callers are simply trying to scam (presumably) wealthy Chinese folks. Of the 5 or so bullshit calls/day, a few look like legitimate numbers; the others are easy to ignore given there are no spaces between the digits - a dead giveaway.

I do receive the odd scam messages telling me Revenue Canada or the RCMP will come after me if I don’t comply with whatever horseshit they are threatening. Notwithstanding the ‘serious consequences’ I’ll experience if I ignore these ‘important’ messages, I can assure you I’m typing this from the comfort of my home and not a jail cell.
 
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