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Post by DotRen on May 21, 2019 14:47:32 GMT
Over the past 3 weeks, I've started getting 5-6 a day on my home phone!
I report them on nomorobo.com but still, it seems to be a lot more now than before.
I checked and my numbers are all on the state and national do-not-call list (no that these scammers care).
Has anyone else noticed them happening more?
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Post by linda72 on May 21, 2019 15:31:45 GMT
I was also getting 5-6 calls a day before I noticed the "call block" button on my new panasonic cordless phone. I started blocking the unknown calls after I googled the number to be sure it wasn't something important. 99% of the time the number was a robo/scam call. Since I started blocking all of these numbers, my calls have dropped off a lot. Occasionally, the phone will ring one time and then it stops and my phone screen says "call blocked". That is so satisfying!  |
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Post by zazzles on May 21, 2019 16:40:43 GMT
today is the 21st—three weeks into May. I’ve received 38 phone calls on my “land line” (which is really an Internet-delivered line). Checking the incoming call record, it appears that five calls at most were legitimate; 33 scam/spam calls in 21 days.
Of course because I use itpvoip.com for the house phone, with their sophisticated call blocking based on a white list (i.e., numbers I put in the list get through; all others get routed—at my option—to voicemail or the bit bucket), I do not get disturbed by these calls.
The cell phone is a bit more complicated. The best I can do there is to have a ring tone that is total silence. People I choose to receive calls from on my cell phone have a specific ring tone that lets me know they are calling; others don’t ring. But since the iPhone also drives the Apple Watch, the watch vibrates whenever one of these calls comes in. However, I can simply raise my wrist and touch the “Decline” button on the watch and away the call goes.
The FCC is working with the major phone carriers to implement a new, spoof-proof protocol that will verify the actual caller id and enable eople to opt out of unverified calls. That can’t happen soon enough.
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Post by Jennifer on May 22, 2019 11:27:09 GMT
Something I'd like to know is... WHO is responsible for sending robo calls? I don't know anyone who doesn't hate them, so what benefit could they possibly be? If it's a company (Rachel from card services ugh) why can't they be stopped at the source?
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Post by itsrad on May 22, 2019 12:39:58 GMT
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Post by DotRen on May 22, 2019 13:30:04 GMT
zazzles, we're voip as well and comcast has started to use nomorobo also, but I still report every one that gets through. Not sure it does any good though. I guess the criminal element is just on the rise with these guys. I remember when "this is adam with microsoft, your computer is sending out viruses".. I'd always say "not mine, I have a mac" (I didn't but that stumped the hell out of "adam" every time).
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Post by mom2casey on May 22, 2019 13:40:35 GMT
This is a new thing for me....I've been getting texts. "Hi, this is Mike, Steve, (whoever). I am interested in buying your house at 123 Adams St. Are you interested in selling?"
I guess this a spam in a different way. I just block the number like I do the calls.
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Post by zazzles on May 22, 2019 15:54:55 GMT
Jennifer, what itsrad said. VOIP—Voice Over Internet Protocol—got its start in the 1970s. It was conceived as a way, mostly for companies, to save money on phone systems. An internet connection can route untold numbers of calls simultaneously over high-speed internet using just a single cable. It took years to develop and catch on, but once it did companies like CISCO started creating router equipment specifically to support VOIP and phone equipment vendors started creating phone switches (electronic automated switchboards) that handle calling. Eventually it spread to the consumer retail space where compamies like Vonage (one of the first) started offering phone service to home users at a fraction of the cost of Ma Bell and with many more sophisticated features included to boot. Of course, like all things in today’s world, people who don’t like to work hard to earn money legitimately eventually jumped on the technology and began using it for their nefarious emterprises. The reason it is so difficult to stop is this: almost all of the calls originate from outside the United States where countries don’t recogtnize or honor our laws such as the Do Not Call list, etc. It will take further invention in the field of telephony, led by the FCC and major phone carriers, to create a sure-fire way to identify legitimate (or bogus) calls and permit the bogus ones to be routed to an electronic garbage can. Finding and arresting the people involved in these enterprises is very unlikely to happen given the cost, time, and then the issue of where to lock them up and pay for their keep. mom2casey, yes, this has started spreading to texting. But I believe there isn’t a way to spoof the “from” address of a text, so it seems few are willing to risk getting caught. Although political campaigns can text legitimately and drove me crazy in the last election. When I received those political texts, I almost always wrote back, “Thank you for your text. I was undecided as to whom I would vote for until you invaded my privace without my consent to end me this political text. I have now made up my mind—I will vote AGAINST your candidate.” Followed by a few rude words!
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jeanie
Epic Member
HI :D
Posts: 662 
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Post by jeanie on May 22, 2019 17:52:15 GMT
All the time on cell phone 🙄
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Post by finreporter on May 23, 2019 0:48:30 GMT
My mom had an elderly neighbor who got scammed by the "we'd like to buy your house and you get to keep living in it" thing. Not sure if that was by a scam phone call or what. I think it's the reverse mortgage thing to make it sound not at all like they're conning the elderly into giving them your house for what is probably a nominal below market value. When the gentleman died, his daughter who lived with him and supposedly knew nothing about this got kicked out and didn't have much money herself so was kind of stuck with nowhere to go.
Sounded awful and I was very disgusted by whatever spineless smooth talker got the man to agree to this.
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Post by zazzles on May 23, 2019 2:13:37 GMT
My mom had an elderly neighbor who got scammed by the "we'd like to buy your house and you get to keep living in it" thing. Not sure if that was by a scam phone call or what. I think it's the reverse mortgage thing to make it sound not at all like they're conning the elderly into giving them your house for what is probably a nominal below market value. When the gentleman died, his daughter who lived with him and supposedly knew nothing about this got kicked out and didn't have much money herself so was kind of stuck with nowhere to go. Sounded awful and I was very disgusted by whatever spineless smooth talker got the man to agree to this. Although there legitimate reverse mortgage companies, they all target the elderly who often have limited resources. They make things sound like a great deal. But the details in the fine print can be frightening. I know two people who have taken reverse mortgages. One of them mentioned that there is a clause which requires continuous occupancy of the residence by the mortgagee; if they have to go into a care facility for a lengthy stay (perhaps six or twelve months or longer), then a clause kicks in which pays them the balance of the pre-determined amount they haven’t yet collected and the property transfers to the mortgage company. I know how heartbreaking it is to leave one’s home, and how disruptive it is to have to move, but people would be a whole lot better off selling their houses at market value, moving to a modest, affordable rental, and safely investing the money they realize from the sale of their home. |
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