Harassing Phone Calls, up at a new level.

[George7941]

Previously, I would occasionally get phone calls from unknown senders and they would just go into the Blocked Callers list. They might call a few times and then give up after not getting a response.
Couple of months ago, I started receiving calls and they are persistent. Twice a day, they call, my phone does not ring because I have blocked them, and the calls go to my voice mail. They do not leave any messages. A minor annoyance for me, having to delete them. My cell service provider only allows four messages and then stops accepting any new messages. Even though they do not leave any messages, every call generates a message because the call went to voicemail.
They do not call outside of office hours 8 - 5, they do not call during weekends or holidays and there is a Canadian connection, they do not call on uniquely Canadian holidays like July 1. They have about five different numbers they use to call from, every few days they switch to a different number. One of the numbers is a toll-free number, 888xxxxxxx
Wonder what they hope to accomplish. I am never going to respond. It must cost them money to make these calls, and I must be among hundreds or thousands on their call list.
I can only guess I offended them in some way and they are getting back at me.

 

[goblin]

You'd be surprised, it could be one of the services you're subscribed to, just having lousy automations.
I get calls from Optimum every other day, they didn't identify as Optimum till I researched the number and figured out it belongs to them.
They keep calling because they want to switch my coaxial to fiber, and I don't care about it. When I pick up and don't say anything, the bot waits for a couple of seconds then crashes miserably.

 

[George7941]

You'd be surprised, it could be one of the services you're subscribed to, just having lousy automations.
I get calls from Optimum every other day, they didn't identify as Optimum till I researched the number and figured out it belongs to them.
They keep calling because they want to switch my coaxial to fiber, and I don't care about it. When I pick up and don't say anything, the bot waits for a couple of seconds then crashes miserably.

Thanks, time for me to google the numbers and see if I can identify any.

 

[Hall]

A minor annoyance for me, having to delete them. My cell service provider only allows four messages and then stops accepting any new messages.

What service is this ? That's a joke.

 

[Vercingetorix]

My father and my wife would have a competition to see who could get the caller to say the worst thing after they realized they were the ones being messed with. I once asked a caller out on a date.

 

[Wylie6G72]

I just got into the habit of picking the call up and immediately muting it. Most of the time I hear nothing, and the call will just sit there for 30 or 40 seconds and disconnect. I got one tonight and the bot said "hello" twice and hung up. I have no idea what any of these calls are for because I don't engage with them. They don't even get a hello. As soon as the call disconnects I block the number. I've gotten a few voicemails over the last few weeks but that's what the little trash can icon is for. Just an annoyance, like a mosquito. Back when it was live people calling me, I used to have a lot of fun with them. My favorite was the threat that if I don't send money now to settle my IRS debt, they're going to send the police to my house. Oh my gosh those were fun. I got one of them to call me an a-hole, with another bad word in front of that.

 

[oldhp]

I tell them I'm his brother in town for his funeral. Please don't call for him any more as the wife is beside herself. Calls STOP for about 90 days. Then his other brother tells them he has died.

 

[George7941]

What service is this ? That's a joke.

Freedom Mobile,it is a very inexpensive $119/yr 15 GB Canadian provider. I was previously paying $35 / month. After the third message, they text you that your voice mailbox is close to full.

 

[rstcso]

Thanks, time for me to google the numbers and see if I can identify any.

Scammers are spoofing bank and credit union numbers to look like legitimate calls, texts, or emails. Just because the number or email address you see seems legit, if you weren't expecting it, best to delete it, then reach out to whomever yourself, but do not answer the original call/text/email.

Currently from one of our credit union's front page of their website:

 

[Marcozi]

When we get a scam call I answer it by saying, "Federal Trade Commission, Enforcement Division." They hang up quickly.

 

[alarmguy]

I don’t pick up my phone if I don’t recognize the phone number or Area Code.
I let it ring if it’s important they’ll leave a message

 

[Owen Lucas]

We need to disconnect the internet and phone lines to certain parts of the world.

These people cannot be trusted, abuse our high trust society, and don’t contribute an any value to anything.

Wait till you learn about vishing / voice cloning. Your voice can be cloned from a 3 second clip!

 

[SC Maintenance]

I assume there automated dialing apps. They dial multiple numbers at once likely and If someone actually answers it routes it to a person who will then give you a sales pitch. You can figure this out because if you say hello it will take 3 or 4 seconds before an actual person comes on the line. Sometimes you still get nothing - I assume that means they don't have an available spammer to talk to you.

My only phone is my company cell phone. I get a lot of calls. I am pretty good at screening them, but not perfect. Nothing much you can do but block the number and wait for the next one.

 

[KCJeep]

As mentioned above they can fake the source, even making a call appear to be coming from one of your contacts.

 

[BobsArmory]

A service like Optery/DeleteMe can help remove a lot of your information from the internet if you don't mind paying out some cash. I started using Optery just for giggles a few months ago and my telemarketer calls are greatly reduced.

They can't remove you completely but they can remove about 98% of whats out there.

 

[oldcodger]

These automated calls are horrible here. Sometimes we get 15-20 per day. I have listed our numbers with the no-call organizations. We have blocked so many number it is unreal. Nothing works.
I wish our state would outlaw telemarketing.

 

[Elkins45]

We need to disconnect the internet and phone lines to certain parts of the world.

These people cannot be trusted, abuse our high trust society, and don’t contribute an any value to anything.

Wait till you learn about vishing / voice cloning. Your voice can be cloned from a 3 second clip!

There's a scam on Facebook Messenger now where they fake a video call that won't go through to convince you the person on the other end asking you for emergency help is legit.

I got a FB message from a former student who is in my friends list. I hadn't seen her in person since she was in middle school 30 years ago but she sent a message saying she was in a dire situation and needed money. I ignored a few messages but then a video call popped up with her moving her head around in front of the camera but never actually talking to me. The call only lasted a few seconds and then disconnected.

Apparently they've found a way to capture a few seconds of one of your video calls and then use your image as evidence that it's really you asking for the money. Not surprisingly it wasn't really her.

 

[opus1]

...I used to have a lot of fun with them. My favorite was the threat that if I don't send money now to settle my IRS debt, they're going to send the police to my house. Oh my gosh those were fun. I got one of them to call me an a-hole, with another bad word in front of that.

I had one a couple of years ago with the same threat, only they were going to send the sheriff to my workplace. I told the caller that I was having a really bad week and could use a legit excuse to get away from work for a few days, so let's dispense with the formality and send the sheriff now. I even offered to meet them out front so they didn't have to deal with corporate security. The guy's response would put me on the bad-list here so you'll have to guess what it was.

 

[Wylie6G72]

I had one a couple of years ago with the same threat, only they were going to send the sheriff to my workplace. I told the caller that I was having a really bad week and could use a legit excuse to get away from work for a few days, so let's dispense with the formality and send the sheriff now. I even offered to meet them out front so they didn't have to deal with corporate security. The guy's response would put me on the bad-list here so you'll have to guess what it was.

Same. He got really irate when I told him I was walking down to the end of my driveway to meet the police. That's when the swear words started flying.

 

[Wylie6G72]

These automated calls are horrible here. Sometimes we get 15-20 per day. I have listed our numbers with the no-call organizations. We have blocked so many number it is unreal. Nothing works.
I wish our state would outlaw telemarketing.

You're talking about people who are not operating within the law. Kind of similar to the prospect of making guns illegal. The criminals will keep theirs.