I’ve stopped answering my phone

One of the main reasons for NHS withholding personal information on voice mail or answering machines, is that a person may not want a family member knowing their medical information.

In the last week, I have had three text messages on my phone, reminding me I have a medical appointment tomorrow. That suits me perfectly, because it is going directly to me.

Years ago, I was waiting for an urgent appointment for the breast clinic. My sister in law with the same surname lived at no. 8 and I lived in the same street at no.48.
My SIL opened the letter, which had been incorrectly delivered and everyone knew my business. I hadn't even told my family, so as not to worry them. 😡

My GP surgery has now started leaving a message saying, this is a message for John Smith, please phone this number. In the past they said it was the surgery.

JennyCee

I wish they wouldnt!! When trying to block rubbish phone calls, the NHS ones are ignored too. What on earth is wrong with the NHS NOT withholding their numbers. How many NHS calls have been ignored because of this silly habit?

The thinking behind it was privacy and confidentiality though most of that seems to have gone out of the window nowadays. We are officially expected to tell the receptionist why we need the appointment!

The receptionist are daft to accept this because they will be thrown to the wolves if they confuse a rupturing appendix for a gastric bug or similar.

That's the way I play it too Tanith - no land line. And I don't answer my mobile unless I recognise the number. If they really want me they can leave a message and I will call back

Dickens, you sound just like me. I talk about the good old days when things were simpler, slower and quieter 😆

We've pretty much eliminated them except for (1) Bank Security Department; (2) 'your local energy/solar/insulation advisor'; and (3) 'your Visa/Amazon account has been debited £600'. (1) and (3) are scammers phishing for your details. (2) is just an annoyingly persistent cold caller. I just hang up.

We answer as there are still people who have our number. Eg Specsavers, Doctor has both but sometimes I don’t hear the mobile as it is in another room or charging.

Although registered with TPS I get heaps of scam calls from spoofed numbers. As other gransnetters have said, they don't leave messages, except for recorded ones about "suspicious activity on your account." My doc surgery no longer withholds its number, presumably to show it's genuine. Anyone who knows me knows they have to start speaking or I won't pick up. The only snag has been that I've had to turn the ringer right down as the scammers habitually call very early in the morning and wake me up!

Fairycakes

Dickens
Individuals who are prepared to rob your bank accounts or your identity are no different to those who would break into your home - they are criminal cyber thugs.

Life feels like a minefield these days. We have to tread carefully and keep our eyes peeled the whole time to protect ourselves from being scammed. It's stressful 😒

Life feels like a minefield these days.

I was saying the same to my OH recently. We were discussing the 'good old days' when all we had was telephones and letters. Although that wasn't particularly convenient in terms of paying bills, etc... life felt much simpler...

.. we didn't have to keep going online to read pages and pages of guff as we are now encouraged to do by various organisations and companies. For further information, please visit our website at www.xxx etc... My heart sinks when I see that phrase, I almost lose the will to live after 'visiting' said websites!

And I don't remember many scam telephone calls either.

If it's not coming up on my mobile as someone I know I don't answer, if it's that important they can leave me a message, do the same with landline if I don't recognise STD code.

I only get nuisance calls on my landline. I pick up, say hello, listen then ask ‘Who’s calling?’ If I don’t like the sound of the answer I say ‘No thank you’ and put the phone down. (I’m quite alive to the possibility of scams.)

It seems (from Googling) that AI needs 30 seconds of a recorded voice to clone that voice. I don’t think anyone would get that from what I do.

I also don’t think that scammers are more likely to ring again because I do that than if they get an answer machine. They know from hearing an answer machine that the number is an actual number, and they aren’t getting any further information.

This way I don’t miss any medical calls.

Gundy, I'll follow your suggestion for blocking unwanted phone calls. 👍

Elegran, I think you're right. They probably haven't been given my number. Sometimes they phone my mobile and ask for someone I've never heard of.

Dickens
Individuals who are prepared to rob your bank accounts or your identity are no different to those who would break into your home - they are criminal cyber thugs.

Life feels like a minefield these days. We have to tread carefully and keep our eyes peeled the whole time to protect ourselves from being scammed. It's stressful 😒

Grammaretto pleased to see you posting and you ahve arrived safely!

I still have a landline because some elderly friends know my number. I don't use it for making calls because I am charged for calls. BT package costs c£35 per quarter. It includes broadband. I still get spam calls but only on the landline.

A df, whose landline number I know ,has his LL and mobile numbers linked so he answers on his mobile. I must ask him about this.

Private number is usually medical but could be my DS! Always on my mobile.

Gundy

*You Can Block Unwanted Calls*
So easy if you have an iPhone:
• tap on phone icon
• tap on Recents (on bottom - it shows all incoming calls; the ones you don’t answer will be in red)
• on the Right side of unwanted call is a blue circle with an “i”
• tap on that
• scroll to bottom, tap on Block This Call
• DONE!

I do it all the time to solicitors, surveyors, political calls, etc. Fun!

Similar with android. Go to 'recents' (at the bottom of the screen) find the call you want to block, tap the screen on the left and the option to block will be there. Don't press the little phone receiver icon on the right or you'll call the number.

When BT went over to Digital, a few months ago, I disconnected the line altogether. A little drastic but I dont miss it at all. Like an earlier "gran" mentioned, we have our mobiles with WA. Less stress for sure without a landline. I think for some time, I believed you needed a line for Broadband!

Fairycakes

We don't answer the house phone at all any more due to the number of nuisance calls we were receiving, but I still get them on my mobile. I have only given my mobile number to family, doctor, dentist, hospital, so have no idea how these companies know my number 🤔

Chances are they DON'T know your number, Fairycakes, any more than the people who use the postman to deliver flyers to every house in the area, with unmissable offers on paving, pizzas and polythene greenhouses. They can get automatic programs that are dialling the next number while you are answering the last one. That is why it is worth taking advantage of any option your phone provider has to block numbers that are known to be a nuisance, or getting your number onto the Telephone Preference Service, where organisations doing telemarketing have to check at least every 28 days that the numbers they are phoning have not opted out of reciving unsolicited sales and marketing calls.

Fairycakes

My daughter received a nuisance call from someone which was obviously a scam so she put the phone down on them. Can you believe they phoned back and became threatening? 😳

... yes, I can believe it.

Individuals who are prepared to rob your bank accounts or your identity are no different to those who would break into your home - they are criminal cyber thugs.

I've no idea if they are ever caught, but I'd like to see them serving hefty jail time.

People joke how they 'outwit' them by wasting their time on the phone, but this isn't a joke - these cyber thugs are ruining people's lives. And I hate this attitude that implies you are stupid and therefore "it's your own fault" if you get scammed... some very intelligent people fall for these tricks because the online thugs are getting ever more sophisticated, and they are making everyone's lives more complicated as we are urged to do more and more online by various organisations and businesses.

You Can Block Unwanted Calls
So easy if you have an iPhone:
• tap on phone icon
• tap on Recents (on bottom - it shows all incoming calls; the ones you don’t answer will be in red)
• on the Right side of unwanted call is a blue circle with an “i”
• tap on that
• scroll to bottom, tap on Block This Call
• DONE!

I do it all the time to solicitors, surveyors, political calls, etc. Fun!

My daughter received a nuisance call from someone which was obviously a scam so she put the phone down on them. Can you believe they phoned back and became threatening? 😳

We don't answer the house phone at all any more due to the number of nuisance calls we were receiving, but I still get them on my mobile. I have only given my mobile number to family, doctor, dentist, hospital, so have no idea how these companies know my number 🤔

GolferGrandma

We changed from BT to Sky, phone and Broadband, just as the Country went into lockdown March 2020. Horrendous problems for about 5 weeks, without either service. BT didn’t care, Sky were brilliant and with them we now have Caller ID and Sky Shield (at no extra cost) which requests caller info then asks if you want to accept call, or block. Package was cheaper too and we’ve been very happy with the switch. Not one nuisance call since using Sky.

My brother has that package - I think he's been caught out once or twice, but it would appear cold and nuisance callers give up when they're challenged with identifying themselves.

I say "nuisance" callers - those that are out to de-fraud you are criminals like any other criminals, and I'd like to see them spend a significant time behind bars. Such is the thinking though that they are now 'accepted' as an 'unfortunate' part of life, and there are even those who believe that if you are gullible enough to fall for their trickery - you deserve what you get!

... how technology has changed us!

We changed from BT to Sky, phone and Broadband, just as the Country went into lockdown March 2020. Horrendous problems for about 5 weeks, without either service. BT didn’t care, Sky were brilliant and with them we now have Caller ID and Sky Shield (at no extra cost) which requests caller info then asks if you want to accept call, or block. Package was cheaper too and we’ve been very happy with the switch. Not one nuisance call since using Sky.

If I get a call from an accident management company I usually point they’re breaking the regulations as lawyers aren’t allowed to chase after injury claims, they can only pursues personal injury claim if the injured party approaches them and I demand they remove my information from their systems inline with Information Commissioner rules. That has significantly reduced the number of calls I get.