Having had an account hacked earlier this year, I am now harassed by overseas calls.
If my phone displays it as overseas or a number with too many digits, I just don’t answer then block the number. But during a call from an 02 number, the penny dropped that I was not speaking to someone in Australia. It was, in fact, Switzerland. Can anyone tell me if I can set my iPhone to block all overseas calls without having to do each individually?
And can Choice take up the matter with Telstra and others to force them to stop allowing overseas calls to be secretly routed through Australian numbers. Overseas calls should be clearly shown as such. I’m now not answering any number I don’t know. My list of blocked numbers is getting longer…
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Scammers calling from overseas use number spoofing so as to appear as Australian fixed line or mobile numbers, and as most calls do not show as overseas numbers, then blocking overseas numbers would be rather futile.
The Australian numbers that they spoof are sometimes genuine numbers and sometimes numbers that are not in service.
I simply prefer to answer the very few calls that I get and “re-educate” them in no uncertain terms.
They don’t call again.
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The numbers showing of the callers are false. Black listing them is a waste of time as they will pick another number tomorrow. If you are on the Do Not Call register it matters not as they will ignore that and there is no way to prosecute them. Having a silent number is no use as they do not require knowing your number in advance as they dial at random within the profile of valid numbers in this country. You can have such calls daily without having any account hacked, I doubt there is any connection.
There are various threads here about phone scams and so far nobody has come up with any way to reliably block these calls. So far the technology is on the side of the scammers.
You can swear at them or blow a whistle until you are blue in the face and it has no effect on whether they will call again.
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On the occasion I answer a call from a cold caller trying to sell me something, I find it very effective to simply say I already have whatever they are trying to sell. That is the end of it. Never hear from them again.
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This is a very appropriate post for Scam Awareness Week.
I would suggest that you write to your FEDERAL Government representative as telecommunications is a Federal matter. At this stage, the Federal Government is doing just about half of absolutely nothing meaningful to protect Australians from phone number spoofing even from within Australia.
As has been explained, scammers can make calls appear to emanate from any number, including the AFP, ATO, even your own number. This is spoofing. For more information you can search the forum using the magnifying glass. Here are some of the discussions we have had: Caller ID Spoofing, 0279812755 : Another Telstra impostor - #13 by grahroll, Unsolicited SMSs - #20 by postulative, Spam, Junk Mail, Email Scams, Phishing, etc issues - #111 by phb, More Creative Scams - #2 by meltam
All that is happening to this time is that various Government authorities are tallying the millions of dollars that have been swindled from hapless victims by a variety of scams, including via phone calls.
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In addition to what has been previously posted, Choice is not a regulatory agency and is unable to ‘force…’
@meltam provided the best advice - contact your federal MP and the Minister for Communications, the Hon Paul Fletcher, MP ( minister@communications.gov.au).
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I once had a scam caller who decided she didn’t like my attitude towards her scam calling, so she made a point of repeatedly calling my number every few minutes for about 3 days. Blocking didn’t help, because she changed the number shown at her end every time. Telstra was no help. They said they couldn’t do anything because the number was different every time and couldn’t be traced. The only thing I could do was turn my phone off for a few days until she gave up, so be careful giving a scammer a hard time. They can return the favour with a vengeance.
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You were obviously not swearing hard and loud enough.
I have only ever had one grub call back and ask me if I knew what I had just said.
Thinking that the scammer must have been suffering from short term memory loss, I repeated what I had said word for word.
It must have solved their problem as they did not call again.
It is always good to know that one has helped someone with a problem.
The last time I had a scammer call, one of my wife’s sisters was visiting, and when I finished “chatting” to the scammer, she was virtually R.O.L.F.
Rolling on the laughing floor? Right out of loo fixtures? Ready to operate line fasteners?
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I usually just don’t answer, BUT I ALSO OWN A VERY PIECING WHISTLE, WHICH I BLAST IN THEIR EAR ON OCCASIONS !!!. THEY DON”T LIKE IT !!!. SERVES THEM RIGHT, THEY SHOULD BE IN JAIL, WHICH I TELL THEM ON OCCASIONS AS WELL !!!.
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This may make you feel better but it will do nothing to stop them calling again.
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Nearly all are just doing a job for a pittance in the hope of making a sale and an earner. Why take it out on the caller? Depending on their background getting angry is a sign of weakness. They may even be smiling at the anger.
The real villains are those who set up and manage the call centres or scamming operations. Perhaps it might serve to ask the caller for the bosses home number. Although I’d not recommend it. Who knows where that might lead.
I’d be all for reimposing $1 minimum plus timed charges on incoming International Calls as a disincentive. Our phone systems have long been reconfigured to make that unlikely. It would also punishes the majority who are honest callers.
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Better than anger is a calm statement: “It is such a shame your mother did not love you enough to teach you to be honest”
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I only get scam calls in my landline. Recently I got the usual Windows tech support telling me my computer is spreading viruses. I said I don’t have a computer. He asked about other devices, I said no, don’t have any devices. He asked how I check my emails. I said I go to the local library… he hung up.
However, I’ve found that an answering machine helps. Only genuine callers actually leave messages, usually someone you’re already in contact with.
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Systems have evolved, but this old mate still was the best (mid 1980’s)
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I no longer have a “landline” and only use mobile. I have a massive list of blocked numbers which is pretty useless for all the reasons already stated. I also no longer use any of those call block apps because they have not been useful for a couple of years…. because the scammers can spoof genuine numbers. So I use Do Not Disturb quite regularly, and wiht iOS15, it seems like you can send a message to genuine callers saying that DND is on (or similar) and to call or msg again later.
I keep hoping that Woolworths mobile will get the short message service which goes to text, which is available on both Telstra and Boost prepaids but its n/a yet. That saved the notifications you get that someone called and no message was left because your friends, contacts, doctor or whoever will leave a message. If scammers dont leave a message I dont care and I dont want to know. Annoying.
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Overseas scammers are definitely spoofing local numbers. I phoned one back, and the woman who answered swore that she had not just called me.
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Classic.
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I missed a scam call a couple of days ago when I had put my phone down.
As usual, calling the number back using the overide code could not connect.
I had another one yesterday which I answered within 2 rings only for it not to connect.
This one is the strangest number I have ever seen.
+71867907875
I cannot find out which country it supposedly originated from and calling it resulted in a recorded message from Boost Mobile advising that they do not support calls to this destination.
Perhaps it was from Hell?
None. It is a random number that doesn’t pretend to match real phone numbers.
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