Sudden rise in nuisance calls

My DM of 84 has had three this week of a morning. It's a recorded voice saying about being taken to court. 1471 rings back but no one picks up. I googled it and it was a spam call. BT have been told time and time again about these and she still gets them grrrrr

We don’t (touch wood) get them on the landline but I get lots of calls on my mobile. If I don’t recognise the number I don’t answer, I figure that if it’s genuine they will leave a message. I then block the number but of course they just use another number to call from. I have no idea what they are trying to sell as I won’t answer on principle, plus I tend to worry I’ll be landed with a huge mobile bill if I do answer (suspicious? Me?)

I get fewer 'human' nuisance calls but have recently had a spate of 'recorded' ones which are a right pain

I think most of the nuisance calls we get come from abroad, I think it is now an offence to cold call In the UK. I read somewhere that Talk Talk sold telephone numbers on to others and were prosecuted.
I started getting calls on my mobile which can only be computer generated as I don't give out my number except GP and hospital.

BT have a system too that blocks known nuisance callers and lets you add any that do get through to the blocked list. It’s part of our calls package and we get hardly any these days.

I don't get as many as I used to. I report UK based ones to the Information Commissioners Office (I found TPS to be absolutely useless), perhaps the word has got around that ringing my number results in a report to ICO. My problem is the international calls - I get a regular international call usually around 7.45 pm on Sunday nights! I obviously don't answer but it is annoying and there is nothing either the TPS or ICO can do about it.

I've not had any to my land line but several to my mobile recently saying they've heard I've had a car accident which is not my fault ( I obviously haven't) so I just ring off straight away but it is annoying

Yes, after weeks of no nuisance calls I had three yesterday, first one at 7.30. am.
I just put the phone down, but very annoying, nonetheless.

I don't know, FarNorth, good question. But I don't feel so uptight about it when I let it go to to message.

I don't answer International or Withheld calls and hadn't had any for a while, but have had 2 or 3 a day for the last few days.
I wonder if answer machine, or 1571, counts as answering, making us seem like 'live numbers,'.

We leave the answering machine on permanently. If it's someone we want to talk to, we pick up while they are leaving a message. Most nuisance callers hang up without leaving a message. Some leave a recorded message - which we promptly delete. If you pick up the phone every time it rings, you are making the situation worse. The automatic diallers used by these call centres detect 'live numbers, i.e those which are answered, and target them over and over again.

Sky have a similar call vetting system to Talktalk. It works very well.

I have reported UK numbers which have called me to the tps, and had an email telling me the company would be contacted to remind them not to phone me. It gave me a huge sense of satisfaction because some of them are so rude!

Over the last three weeks the nuisance calls have increased to 2/3 a day ( they had previously tailed off) they include insurance on washing machine, expired debit card , registration to T.P.S has expired, free coins from the royal mint, and we have tracked down shares you have in a race horse and the perennial supposed hacking computer problems! We are still registered with the official T.P.S and we live in Suffolk. I am a member of a local forum where members are also experiencing an increase in number of calls .

It might be an idea to check you are still registered with TPS

I live in Essex and we have been having a lot of nuisance calls lately to our landline. Always foreign voices. I don't even listen, just say 'not interested' and put the phone down. We had one at 7.50 this morning.
I've also had a lot to my mobile recently as well.

I used to be plagued by them even though I m with TPS but this year so far they ve tailed off considerable and I now only get one or two a week (at the moment)

I was told that was the case. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I don't have to do that often! I did it online, on 'my account.'

That's useful as my phone is part of a Talk Talk bundle. Contacting Talk Talk is soul destroying enterprise, however.

I have a code to dial after a call if I want to bar it. Then I press 1 or 2 to which identifies it to talktalk as either a scam or sales call.

I had this this morning. The phone rang and as I was in the middle of cleaning my teeth, it had stopped ringing before I reached it. I dialled 1471, and the voice gave me a number but when I rang it, I was told it wasn't a valid number. I did this twice. DH googled the number and the dialling code was recognised as being Motherwell, in Scotland, but the number was unrecognised.

Quite a few calls merely deny the number is available when 1471 is dialled.

If you dial 1471 and keep a list of which numbers call and which are silent you can send it to the TPS . There have been quite a few have been taken to court and heavily fined.

I have to say, I have 100 percent less nuisance calls. I sound like a sales person, but talktalk provide everything you need to stop these calls altogether, and they're all part of their phone plans. My life was a misery, to the point of tears, at times, with these constant calls.

Very occasionally but my call blocker seems to work very well.

I sometimes resort to "che che" putting on a foreign accent to the caller and that soon gets rid of them if they think I do not understand or speak English.