Hounded by nuisance callers?

Thanks Vax. I am immune in the end from changing plans but my big concern is the many people out there who fall for their pressure.

there are absolutely ways to block calls on android 5. here’s an article detialing them, if you can’t figure it out natively there are apps you can download to block them

I wonder if charities make any money as they surely must pay the call centres to do their bidding. Overseas call centres have obviously found a way around the do not call register.

I am SO fed up with nuisance calls, it drives me crazy

As a last resort I sometimes blow an umpires shrill whistle down the phone at them or use an air horn . The air horn comes mounted on a pressure pack sized can . Very effective . The fun part is the racist language you get back over the phone if from an Indian call centre .

If you provide your phone number on a web site or when you enter a competition, to register for example, then you have given that company and any linked companies with whom they share data permission to disregard the DNC register, they always put this sharing clause in their privacy policies. So if the site owner or competition holder shares this info with their advertisers and so on you basically wipe your DNC request. This is why many people put themselves on the list and then a little time after start getting flooded with calls again.

If you want to try to stop this and have a mobile phone you can buy a prepaid SIM card for a cheap service that has a 365 or 180 day credit expiry period examples would be ALDIMobile $15 +$5 (SIM cost) 365 day expiry, Amaysim $10 + $unknown for SIM 365 day expiry, Vodaphone $10 + $unknown for the SIM 365 day expiry. Register it and use that phone number anytime a site asks for one. It may cost you about $20 but the peace and quiet may be worth it. If your mobile phone is locked to a service then ALDIMobile uses Telstra, Amaysim uses Optus, and Vodaphone uses Vodaphone :slight_smile:

Just swap the SIM card out once you have your new number and place it someplace safe just in case you need it for some contact over an order or similar, so it can be used for a few calls when you want, and to put a recharge on it before the expiry date (to keep the number active). Put a reminder in your Calendar for a few days before the expiry date so you can ensure you refresh your SIM credit. A bonus is that if you do pay and activate the next recharge before the expiry date most rollover the unused credit.

I hope that helps some of you to reduce or eliminate these calls.

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Thank you . Very helpful

What happens when you engage say a caller from the sub continent and have a bit of fun with him/her,can they use that extra time you are on the phone to get more technical info??

Although I filled in the on-line forms to stop nuisance calls, every day for at least the past three months, with very little let-up, I receive two, often three calls where the caller just hangs up. Usually one in the morning and one about 6.30 p.m. These may be the same callers as Gordon’s? As well, I have been receiving daily calls, often two a day, from Asians pretending to be calling from the taxation department, telling me I will be taken to court and wanting financial details. I keep saying ‘Scam’ and hanging up, but they are persistent. I was also receiving regular calls from people wanting to know if I had solar panels, but they seem to have ceased.

I must admit that I have had success with yelling very loudly, including some naughty words :wink: , at the tax dept scammers and ‘from microsoft- your computer has a problem that needs fixing’ callers. I have not heard from either of them in at least 2 years :slight_smile:
If only there was someone to yell at on the calls I mentioned earlier, yelling at a machine that isn’t recording is a wasted effort.

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me too and got one yesterday from Red Cross asking for money.

I am on do not call plus pay for silent number (when I think it should be other way around - pay to be in in directory if want to be known).

Time charities are banned as they always manage to ring when one has just sat down and taking first bite of dinner seemingly!

I absolutely agree.
Charities are a booming industry, this is evident by how many there are.
They need a “Button Plan” such as the car industry had years ago to get rid of a few.
Plus I feel intimidated by charities ringing, they have a way of making you feel like Uncle Scrooge if you don’t donate…

Don’t let them make you feel mean, you just say, if catch you on phone or at door, - thank you but I always donate on line. Works for all charities.
And until they stop paying their execs etc obscene salaries then I dont donate. I actually stick to The Dogs Home, and animal welfare organizations where many work for sheer pleasure of dealing with these defenceless animals.
I do donate on line just not to human charities all too often spend donations on themselves and the organization rather than the target.
.

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I have being getting calls for months now on my landline. They are have become so annoying that I just refuse to answer the phone at all and only keep the landline so I continue to have internet available. So much for the ‘Do Not Call Register’ it simply does not work and never has for me.

If you are with Telstra . Get in touch with their sales and they can block those particular calls coming into your phone . I will try and find the two 1300 numbers they gave to me and post them so you can get in touch with them to block incoming nuisance calls .

I had my landline and mobile under the DNC register many years ago, there was a good reduction in nuisance calls, but they never totally eradicated. Since I paid extra monthly surcharge to have my landline converted to silent number, the number of unwanted calls did come down a little further. I suppose Telstra had to be compensated for the loss of revenue from the nuisance calls from their more ‘valued or gold customers’. Anyway, back to nuisance calls, initially, I tried a few times to complaint to the DNC registry, only to be told invariably that there is nothing they can do. I understand sometimes the calls are generated randomly from a computer and I also feel sorry for the callers, either from the other end of the world or some poor souls who are struggling to make a few cents. If I detect a call being generated from overseas, I would politely tell the caller that his/her call is important to me, please hold on until I finish what I was doing. I then put them on hold and walk away. They usually hang up after a few minutes. On another occasion, I asked the caller to hold so that I can start recording the call for quality assurance purpose, he hanged up immediately.

I would support a ban on commercial “charity” callers - those profit making companies who collect on behalf of charities - often passing on only a small percentage to the actual charity. The numbers who ring saying they are collecting for Cancer, then next call it is Lost Dogs, then Sick Kids etc. Often running a raffle - when I say I prefer to donate - they argue for the raffle. More of them are using overseas call centres through an Australian number by VOIP which means little cost to them. Choice report (some years ago) disclosed some kept up to a year or more of your donations before the charity got a cent. Genuine charities with a relationship with you - OK. They can call to remind you their annual appeal is on. At least it goes directly to charity.

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Besides charities, the other nuisance calls I get are from real estate agents asking if I want to sell my house - I get more of them these days than any other nuisance calls. I have been on the Do Not Call register for years.

@aschefamily When the real estate agents phone you again advise them nicely that you are a full member of the Choice Community Forum . Also tell them the power that Choice has if you were to name them . I doubt they will phone again . Marketing is all about subtlety and inventiveness not bothering people in the privacy of their own home

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I too have experienced nuisance callers. Most of the calls I get now are charities or scams, but have been spared the politicians! Phone scammers, like the Taxation Office and Microsoft scams, have been very busy here, so much so that warnings have been put in Neighbourhood Watch newsletters and sometimes through the newspapers to alert unsuspecting vulnerable people. As previously stated by others on this page, I’m on the DNC Register and re-registered because of problems. I have found some satisfaction in asking the individual charity to remove me from their contact list and most times I haven’t heard back from them. As for the scammers or any other number which I don’t recognise, I Google the number or contact reverseaustralia.com. Attached is a link for the ATO scam number.
http://www.reverseaustralia.com/lookup/0260642073