Scam callers and Telstra's policy on phone book listings

For the past four years we’ve been getting bogus calls from people claiming to be from Telstra who then claim that our internet is about to be cut off due to our internet usage clogging up the system or, in some cases, claims that we’re completely destroying the Internet for everyone right around the country due to our so called fraudulent web activity. They then try and get us to download malware to our computers by saying they need remote access to ensure we don’t have any malware, or they’ll try and get our bank details to verify who we are, etc. No matter how many times we tell them to go ahead and just cut it off, they keep trying to con us. Seriously, if we don’t believe you the first time you call what makes you think we’ll believe you the 900th time you call? Obviously they don’t keep tabs on who’s said no unless they decide to attack you for not falling for the con by continuously calling over and over just to exact their revenge for not being taken seriously.

I began a thread on Telstra’s Crowd Support website here and you can see how it’s affecting quite a lot of people. Imagine how many others have been affected and they haven’t discovered or contributed to the thread.

Telstra keeps coming up with the same useless ways to solve the problem such as registering with the do not call register, which isn’t going to help because the scammers won’t actually be checking if you’re on the register or not before they call. There was one almost useful bit of advice, which they’ve erroneously flagged as the solution to the thread, that involves reporting the call to Scamwatch (didn’t really fix anything) and also contacting their unwelcome calls centre who can put a trace on the line which we had to do at one stage because the scammers became aggressive and would call just to abuse us before hanging up over and over, multiple times in an hour. A trace was put in place and I had to contact a certain person at Telstra every time we got one of the bogus calls so that they could log it into the system. It seemed to have worked, either that or the scammers just gave up giving us a hard time for not believing their stories. Only problem was, Telstra didn’t respond to the contact link one time and as the links are only good for one use, I wasn’t able to log any further calls with them as they never sent me a new contact link to use. Contacting the unwelcome call centre again didn’t get me anywhere the second time.

We’re still getting the calls from the scammers multiple times a day to tell us they’re from Telstra and that our Internet is about to be disconnected, so the only solution we have now is to use a home phone with an answering machine built in that announces who the caller is. So if it announces a random caller or a number instead of a name from our personal phone book, we don’t answer. Instead we let the answering machine take the call, which lets us listen to whoever it is as they leave a message before we decide if we want to pick up or not. So far we’ve had nothing but hang ups, which is fine by us. At least we don’t have to worry about talking to any con artists from now on.

If you actually ask the people doing the con to verify who you are, they usually come up with the correct name and address of the account holder. Obviously, they get their numbers from the Telstra white pages, either online or via the printed editions. Telstra place all their customers’ details in the white pages for free by default. If you want them to not publish your name, address and phone number they will actually charge you to keep the information suppressed. WHY? By not including our details in print, we’re not contributing to the cost of the phone directory or the online database. So how do they justify the added cost of charging you to not be in the phone book when it’s not costing them extra at all? If I was to do business with any other phone carrier in Australia for a home phone and internet service then I wouldn’t have my name, address and phone number in print or on the internet for anyone to look up. The only reason we use Telstra is because they’re the only phone service provider that seem capable of operating in our area with minimal disruptions to service compared to other providers that we have a choice from.

So, here lies the problem. Telstra gives the scammers the information they need with which they can try to better convince someone that they are who they’re not, yet penalise you if you ask that they don’t publish your name and address. It’s only a couple of dollars a month, but how much revenue are they actually raising per year from the people who do choose to pay the fee for a service that isn’t costing them any extra. If anything it should be cheaper to not print our details.

Anyway. Rant over. The answering machine is doing wonders for our sanity at the moment.

8 Likes

Hi Vince @NubglummerySnr
I have posted a link to your post to “Residential White Pages phone numbers. Why do we have to pay for removing our details?”

I think that your question about publishing details fits well there.

3 Likes

We are with TPG. On their Home Phone Control Page when you log into their website, one can select to have or remove ones name from the White Page for free (see below:

I don’t know why Telstra charges but may be something to do with Sensis who produce the phone book. The more phone numbers in the book I imagine the higher the advertising value in the phone book. Maybe they are charging as lost revenue which is not an ethical thing to do.

I see this as another reason why I am pleased that I left Telstra many years ago.

On the page one can also set up:
Call Barring (call barring allows you to restrict certain call types that can be dialed from your TPG telephone service. You can choose to bar outgoing long distance calls (STD), calls to mobile phones and international calls.),
Number Display/ Number Block (Select whether you would like your telephone number displayed or blocked when calling other parties).
Call Forwarding/Diverting (Standard Call Rates apply to forwarded calls Call Forwarding allows you to divert calls from your TPG telephone number to a different number).

Also, Telstra know that scammer use robocalling software whereby each phone number incrementally is called…e.g. XXXX XXX1, XXXX XXX2, then XXXX XXX3 and so on. It doesn’t matter if the number is listed or not as the number will eventually be called by this method (irrespectively if you have a silent number). I also understand that they will make say 50 calls at one and have say 5 scammers waiting to talk. Those calls which are engaged, ring out or answering machine answereds drop off. Those who do answer…say a dozen… the first 5 are transferred to the ‘scam’ operator…while the rest may be dumped but recorded as a answer caller…meaning they will be recalled in a later batch.

There is also a pause while the software works out if the call has been answered by a person and what to do with the call (transfer to a scammer or dump the call and call back later).

5 Likes

I phoned the “Do not call Register” people with whom I am registered. Most of my nuisance calls seem to come from overseas and they advised that there is not a lot they can do about overseas calls. However if you are quick enough to copy down the call number and pass it on to them they will investigate if there is enough nuisance calls coming from the same number.

2 Likes

My suggestion, go out and buy one sports whistle. Leave by phone. When they call, use whistle to full advantage. Bet they dont call back haha

2 Likes

Hope they don’t buy a whistle too.

I just play them along and have fun at their expense. If they talk about Windows I say I only have a Mac. If they talk about the internet I say ‘what’s that’ I just use google. If they say they’re from Telstra I ask them for their D number – when they query this I say it is their six digit ID number. They then make something up and I say no that’s not the right format. Then I ask for the INT id which is short for Client Interaction #. By now they’re getting really frustrated and badly curse me with really rude words and hang up. QED.

3 Likes

I can do a decent Indian English accent. When I get a call I turn it on and ask if they are in Bangalore or Mumbai, then if they know my good mate (by name) at the other facility, and then how the weather is and if they finally got more staff in their security group. Being curious and chatty confuses them for a while as they fall further behind the conversation, realise they have been had, and hang up.

2 Likes

I just ask them to hang on for a moment and put the phone on the table and walk away.

When passing the phone next I pick up and have a listen. No-one is ever there. No idea how long they hung on.

2 Likes

The answering machine ■■■ phone sounds like a good idea. Have you considered having your phone number changed to a silent one? Or ditching the landline altogether and get an unlimited plan? Or getting a SKYPE “My Country” account which includes a normal looking phone number which people can use to call you?

1 Like

I use a whistle. I was getting daily nuisance calls until I used it, but they seem a little more reluctant to call since.

1 Like

Instead of coming up with number out of range as it used to with these calls, it comes up with PRIVATE, and I live on my own, with family a couple of States away, and their number comes up as PRIVATE, so I can never tell till I pick up the phone who it is, its so upsetting, the last time I heard "we are from Windows and …bla bla, I just said “Oh really, thats terrible tut tut” and hung up, they did not call back. The world seems to be full of people with no morals now.

1 Like

I think that the best response is to advise them that you have to turn on the computer and to warn them that they’ll need to be patient as it’s a bit slow. I then put the phone down and just leave them to it. The longer they are kept hanging on the better as it delays them from moving straight on to someone else.

5 Likes

If you have a Telstra landline, you can block and unblock overseas calls easily (many nuisance calls
coming from overseas), like call barring. I got rid of most of these calls doing that.
You can asked your caller for his phone number because you’re too busy right now and will call them back. They usually hang up.
If you have your answering machine on, make sure to limit the message to 2 minuses or less because they tend to stay on til the time limit. Good Luck. I had 4-5 calls from these BOZO’s a month, not anymore.

3 Likes

In these days of highly sophisticated software engineering and electronics, it shouldn’t be hard for the telco’s to put a stop to this. The only problem is that it would cost them money which their shareholders wouldn’t like. So their customers are treated like stupid trash. After all, anyone who voted for one of the major political parties in the last 3 decades has now got their just deserts (don’t get me started on the banks, developers, frackers and other large donors to the political parties that you poor dumb-clucks were silly enough to vote for).

1 Like

Why limit your comment toward voting for major political parties? The old and new minor ones join in opportunistically and sometimes enthusiastically when they can, doing deals with the devil.

In recent memory the more decent MPs have been the true independents (eg Wilkie, Oakshott, Windsor, and even Katter although I did not like his overt hard-edged conservatism). What is needed is a dozen such independents holding the balance of power and no formal or binding coalition or support agreement in place, and that would “keep the bastards more honest”.

3 Likes

This has been happening to us for at least 5 years now and yes we got caught twice but not any more. I simply say I don’t need your services, or not today thanks and hang up. DO NOT GET INTO A CONVERSATION WITH THEM. Yes they will ring back in afew weeks or months but just persevere and eventually they will give up. It works for me.

Why not just say you do not have a computer or internet connection when they call? it works for me.

3 Likes

Came across this news this morning: http://www.gizmodo.co.uk/2017/06/microsoft-scam-callers-arrested-after-years-of-terrorising-the-technically-challenged/

3 Likes

Why bother talking to them at all? If you don’t pick up they are not allowed to leave a message, so they hang up. I haven’t answered the phone for about two years. I only pick it up when the taped message has finished and a voice actually starts to leave a message. My friends and family now know what to expect. I haven’t the patience to waste time playing games with these people.

2 Likes