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Scammers & nuisance calls

(23 Posts)
phoenix Tue 18-Jun-19 17:09:41

Hello all,

I was phoned twice yesterday by a rather persistent scammer (I have submitted a report).

On getting in from work today I found 3 messages on the phone, the first was from the scammer, the next 2 were piano music, the Minute Waltz, actually confused both went on for quite some time.I

When I dialled 1471, it said "telephone number 02080774195 called today at" etc.

This is the same number that I got when I checked 1471 after the scam call.

Perhaps as I refused to be drawn in, he has decided to try harassment by Chopin instead?

fourormore Tue 18-Jun-19 17:31:31

Phoenix there is a great site www.who-called.co.uk where you can check any number that calls you to see if they have history of scamming.
The number you quote above has many reports so do have a look.
We invested in a call interceptor and it was the best thing we have ever done. If you want more details of ours just PM me but there are several available on a well known auction site and other places.
Basically we programme any numbers we are happy to receive calls from and once cleared they get straight through every time they ring us.
'Unprogrammed' numbers are intercepted and told that if they are genuine callers to press '0', hang up and redial. We can still block a number if they are cheeky enough to proceed and we find they are unwanted, but call centres and other nuisance callers haven't got the time to faff about so they go away! Well worth a try!
Good luck - I really wish that these idiots could be shot!

phoenix Tue 18-Jun-19 17:40:18

Thank you fourormore I did Google the number, but will try the site you kindly provided the link to.

libra10 Tue 18-Jun-19 17:52:53

We've just bought a new BT landline phone with Truecall call blocking.

All callers not listed in our Contacts list are asked their name, and they press #. The phone then rings, asking whether we want to accept the call.

Still getting used to it, but we haven't had any scam calls since installing the phone. The only thing which bothers me is whether genuine callers might be put off.

phoenix Tue 18-Jun-19 18:03:56

Well, reading the reports listed on the site, it would seem that they are quite partial to the Minute Waltz!

Wish we had a whistle............

phoenix Tue 18-Jun-19 18:34:14

libra10 my plumber has this system (his wife runs the "office" from their home) and I have no problem with it.

However if you have concerns a quick call to your friends and family should help.

phoenix Tue 18-Jun-19 18:34:56

Sorry, guilty of "stating the obvious" blush

Jane10 Tue 18-Jun-19 19:12:02

BT call blocker works well. Just phone 1572 after a nuisance call and add that number to your blacklist. It's made a welcome difference for us.

MiniMoon Tue 18-Jun-19 19:18:23

I've had four call today, supposedly from BT informing me that my broadband is about to be terminated. Each time I've pressed the button on my call blocker but each call was from a different number.
I am heartily sick of them, if any of them had been real people, and not computer generated, they would have been shocked by my language!

phoenix Tue 18-Jun-19 19:55:20

This was a call from a "real" person, apparently called "Paul" with a strong Asian accent!

(I have had the automated ones too)

If you click on the link provided by fourormore you can see the reports about the number that I put in my OP.

Seems that the scammers calling from that number have a variety of jobs, Amazon Security, Microsoft, BT etc, and they all want to keep us safe from hackers!wink

phoenix Tue 18-Jun-19 21:03:40

I have had a thought!

If he calls tomorrow (and I think he will) I will ask him to hold on while I go to the computer wink, put the phone somewhere out of earshot, ask my Alexa Echo to play the Minute Waltz (loud) and then put the phone next to it!

grandtanteJE65 Fri 21-Jun-19 11:23:11

Do call intercepters work with mobiles?

sorry, if it is a stupid question but I have never heard of them and we no longer have a land-line.

fourormore Sat 06-Jul-19 20:44:18

To be honest I don't know if they work on mobiles or not but I know ours wouldn't as the box has to be plugged in between the flex from the box on the wall and the phone base set.
It isn't a stupid question though as there is so much wire-less technology these days nothing seems to be impossible smile
Anyone out there know the answer???

Whitewavemark2 Sat 06-Jul-19 20:46:29

Yes I have a BT call blocker. Had it for a couple of years now or more. Never get a single unwanted call. The peace is bliss.

Floradora9 Sun 07-Jul-19 14:47:51

We have a BT phone which makes any callers who are not on our preferred list state their name . If we do not want to talk to them we just have to decline the call BUT have never had to do so . From time to time I do 1471 to see who has called and google the number to find it is a spam caller who given up at the first hurdle. You can also put people through to the answering machine when they call .

callgirl1 Mon 08-Jul-19 23:34:12

I had the same call 9 times today between 10 am and 3 pm. The one with a female American voice saying she`s from BT and my internet connection is going to be terminated within 24 hours. She`s been telling me that for over 2 years now, I wish she`d tickle off and pester somebody else!

JackyB Tue 09-Jul-19 07:44:06

I had that one at my mum's when I was last in the UK. (The "BT" caller with the American accent) I thought if I ever get that again, I'll ask them if they have any idea what BT stands for.

There was another one - a young man with an Indian accent. My mother took the call. He asked if she was Mrs* , and she said "Yes, but I'll pass you over to someone who understands these things better". She handed me the phone and he then asked ME if I was Mrs **. I said "No, I'm her daughter" He said "You're confusing me now" and hung up!

We don't get that many cold calls here in Germany. They are obliged by law not to hide their number, but they often use fake numbers. We don't answer, then check reports on the number on one of those websites. Then we programme that number giving it a name like "Don't pick up" and nust never answer it.

On mobiles you can block the number once you've established it's a nuisance caller.

harrigran Wed 31-Jul-19 10:40:52

I had three scam text messages between 23.30 and 4.00 this morning. They claimed they were from giffgaff and my contract was being terminated unless I gave all my details so that they could renew it. This scam has been around for at least a year but it is the first time I have been targeted.
Be wary, if you click on the link you could be robbed.

JessK Wed 31-Jul-19 10:49:09

We have caller display and if we don't recognise the number we don't answer the call. We have BT so can also block these unwanted calls. Who Calls Me is a great way to find out who the caller is.

Teacheranne Wed 31-Jul-19 10:52:22

These scam calls are a nightmare for someone with dementia as they can be very vulnerable and easily persuaded to give out bank details. The BT call blocker ( and many others) work on the assumption that someone is able to remember which buttons to press to accept or block a call - not possible for my mother with Alzeimers!

The answer for us was to buy a more sophisticated call blocker which only accepts calls from trusted numbers which have been added manually. All other callers get a recorded message telling them to call my mobile if they want to contact Mum. Since installing it, no one has called me!

It was rather expensive but gives us security from these awful scammers.

gillybob Wed 31-Jul-19 10:54:31

My dad was very shaken by a call he received last week (I wish he had told me sooner).

His landline rung and a lady with a very posh accent said that he owed a quite a lot of money to a company he had never heard of .

He protested that he did not but she said something on the lines of...... "Well its too late to say you don't owe it now, you should have taken that up months ago but its now too late and unless you pay it to me today then I will have no alternative but to instruct bailiffs to collect the debt"

At this point my dad said he was upset and flustered and still protested that he did not owe the money at all. She insisted that he get his bank card and clear this so called debt over the phone right there and then or the bailiffs would be there within days (she knew his address too) and the debt would increase significantly!

Thank goodness he had the sense to hang up but he is now very worried about what he should do if bailiffs do call, although he doesn't owe anyone a penny. I think he should have reported it to the police but he insisted not.

gillybob Wed 31-Jul-19 10:55:09

Someone else might've panicked and paid the money .

WOODMOUSE49 Wed 31-Jul-19 13:30:02

We have BT call blocker on 1572. It works but these scam calls from BT? Microsoft? Loosing your broadband, TV licence standing order needs updating etc. have access to a huge amount of numbers they can use. Some days we get up to 3 or more.
SO
We have stopped answering our phone and let it go to answerphone. Then we ring back those who leave us a message (friends and family). Scammers never leave a message.

The police did help us with a scam text message sent to our landline. We were getting up to 6 over a weekend. We could trace the number and tried to ring it but it always went to answerphone. We never left messages, just in case ! The police checked the number and said it was logged on websites as a nuisance caller. They gave us two websites to log it as a nuisance number too. I think 'Who calls me' was one.

grandtanteJE65 ~You can block calls really easily on mobiles. I have an iphone - Get your calls up. press the blue i at side of the number. At the bottom of the screen is BLOCK THIS CALLER.