avatar! | 1,811 Posted February 19 Share Posted February 19 I seem to be getting these like 5 times a freaking day!! https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/us-consumers-received-just-under-4-3-billion-robocalls-in-january-according-to-youmail-robocall-index-302057113.html The other campaign of interest for January was a largescale telemarketing campaign that appears to be from One Street Financial and consists of robocalls like this one related to loans for consolidating debt: This is Sarah from One Street Financial. I'm calling to follow up on the letter we mailed you. You've been pre-selected for our economic release personal loan because of your current financial situation. This loan is ideal for consolidating high interest credit card and personal loan debt into one easy payment. We manage this offer because you or someone in your household qualifies for this program. Remember this offer and the program are about to expire at the end of 2023. Please call me back at 833-431-2961 to discuss how this can work for you. Your reference code is going to be PR 72383. I'm here to help and assist. The overall volume appears to be in the tens of millions of calls, and some consumers reported that they never gave consent for these calls and they are unwanted. However, these calls come from a limited set of toll-free numbers, making it relatively easy to block for both consumers and for call-blocking apps like YouMail. Easy to block? Yes, but they seem to be constantly changing their 888 numbers so not as easy to avoid. I do report them to the FTC -- https://www.donotcall.gov/ But obviously that only works once the government works... which is rarely. I've read some people say that the best thing you can do is when they call, to actually answer the call. That way, if you keep them online for a few minutes (you don't have to speak to them even) they have to pay for the call. If millions of people did this, they would be forced to quit since it would cost them millions -- well, at least that's what some people claim. Sounds logical, but who knows. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RH | 4,903 Posted February 19 Share Posted February 19 16 minutes ago, avatar! said: But obviously that only works once the government works... which is rarely. I've read some people say that the best thing you can do is when they call, to actually answer the call. That way, if you keep them online for a few minutes (you don't have to speak to them even) they have to pay for the call. If millions of people did this, they would be forced to quit since it would cost them millions -- well, at least that's what some people claim. Sounds logical, but who knows. Andy Rooney had a similar solution to junk mail that came with a pre-marked envelope. He filled it with junk paper and sent it back. Since it was metered and had his details pre-printed on the envelope, or document, he stuffed it in their as well. According to him, months later... his junk mail reduced considerably. That was 15-20 years ago, but yes, making them pay up does work. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Link | 2,712 Posted February 20 Share Posted February 20 I get few if any robocalls. Have you submitted your phone number on donotcall to be disallowed from them? I do like to waste their time. I've gotten them at work a few times recently and I say yes I do have (thing you"know" I have that you pretend to help with)! And mess around until they hang up. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G-type | 2,482 Posted February 20 Share Posted February 20 are they a legitimate service or a scam? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avatar! | 1,811 Posted February 20 Author Share Posted February 20 35 minutes ago, Link said: I get few if any robocalls. Have you submitted your phone number on donotcall to be disallowed from them? I do like to waste their time. I've gotten them at work a few times recently and I say yes I do have (thing you"know" I have that you pretend to help with)! And mess around until they hang up. Oh yeah, number is on the do not call registry, does not seem to stop them. I know the FCC does fine scammers/robocallers but who the heck knows if they ever collect? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avatar! | 1,811 Posted February 20 Author Share Posted February 20 17 minutes ago, G-type said: are they a legitimate service or a scam? Almost certainly a scam, and if not truly a "scam" I'd be willing to bet they are one of those predatory loaning service which takes advantage of people. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hammerfestus | 3,846 Posted February 20 Share Posted February 20 I’ve been getting bombarded lately by some tax relief number. I will answer Spam calls sometimes in hopes that it’s a real person to fuck with. Can’t wait for the election season wave to start Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brickman | 3,986 Posted February 20 Share Posted February 20 It’s most likely a service you have has had a data leak but kept it quiet. The hacker has then on sold all the contact details to these other scammers. Try to only give your real number out when absolutely required. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tulpa | 3,501 Posted February 20 Share Posted February 20 They come and go in waves for me. I'll go weeks and weeks without a single one, and then calls for days on end for like two weeks. I imagine they have some weird schedule or something to time with fiscal events (taxes, quarterly stuff, etc.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Morbis | 2,088 Posted February 20 Share Posted February 20 Yeah, it goes in waves for me too. Sometimes I've won a cruise, sometimes my credit card has been compromised, sometimes it's "confirming" my $2000 amazon order, and a bunch of other stuff too... I better call them all back right away to set them straight... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fcgamer | 4,723 Posted February 20 Share Posted February 20 8 hours ago, Dr. Morbis said: Yeah, it goes in waves for me too. Sometimes I've won a cruise, sometimes my credit card has been compromised, sometimes it's "confirming" my $2000 amazon order, and a bunch of other stuff too... I better call them all back right away to set them straight... Wait...so you didn't win that cruise and I'm not going with you then? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tabonga | 2,318 Posted February 20 Share Posted February 20 17 minutes ago, fcgamer said: Wait...so you didn't win that cruise and I'm not going with you then? Send me the shipping and handling charges and I will gladly drop ship some of the many Temu pallets I have mysteriously won. Generally from the same source all at once in separate emails. Not exactly sure what a Temu is but the emails seem to indicate it is a rare privilege. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Link | 2,712 Posted February 20 Share Posted February 20 10 hours ago, Dr. Morbis said: I better call them all back right away to set them straight... Make sure they have the right credit card number! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tulpa | 3,501 Posted February 20 Share Posted February 20 1 hour ago, Tabonga said: Not exactly sure what a Temu is but the emails seem to indicate it is a rare privilege. Their motto is "shop like a billionaire." I guess you're getting yachts and private jets and social media companies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CT | 91 Posted February 20 Share Posted February 20 If you have an iPhone... Go to> Settings>Phone>Silence Unknown Callers The only issue is to make sure to turn it off if you are expecting a call from someone not in your contacts like a mechanic, pizza guy etc., otherwise it goes straight to voicemail. And my understanding is to not answer the call, otherwise it shows you are a "live and legitimate" number and they will keep calling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Splain | 2,570 Editorials Team · Posted February 20 Share Posted February 20 I don't live in the same place I did when I got my cell phone in 2005, so when I get a call from a number I don't recognize, but it's from my home area code, I know it's probably the trick where they spoof a number similar to yours, so that you're more likely to pick up. The fun part is when someone calls me (and leaves a voicemail) to tell me to stop spam-calling them. So my number is also being spoofed and used for spammin'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tulpa | 3,501 Posted February 20 Share Posted February 20 (edited) 11 hours ago, Dr. Morbis said: Yeah, it goes in waves for me too. Sometimes I've won a cruise, sometimes my credit card has been compromised, sometimes it's "confirming" my $2000 amazon order, and a bunch of other stuff too... I better call them all back right away to set them straight... Yeah, I've gotten the order confirmations a bunch lately. They always have weird websites like nflx.xzy or some such. Netflix? No idea. I guess they're counting on people to go, "oh, that's a company I've heard of before. Must be legit." Mark Rober did a series on scammers, and they actually had a clever ploy to bilk people. They'll send out emails or robocall about an "Amazon refund." Most won't bite, but a few (usually older, non-tech savvy people) will contact them and get a nice bloke from abroad who chats them up and be like "Oh, yeah, we'll process that; by the way, you remind me of my granny." So then they get them to install remote desktop software (usually under some bullshit that it isn't actually installing anything), and get them to pull up their bank account website. The scammer then copies this, and has the mark go through a refund process. The mark will type in the refund of like $200, the scammer alters it to say $20,000, and goes into a panic about how that's permanent, they'll lose their job, etc. They show the bank account website to them, altered to show $20,000 extra. They plead with the mark to help them out, and ask them to send cash or gift card numbers to them to make up the shortfall. The cash or gift cards bypasses the bank's fraud protection, and is nigh on untraceable once it goes into the mail or read out over the phone. If it sounds like there should be tons of red flags flying, there are, but by sheer numbers they snag enough people to fall for it. Edited February 20 by Tulpa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tabonga | 2,318 Posted February 20 Share Posted February 20 13 minutes ago, Tulpa said: Their motto is "shop like a billionaire." I guess you're getting yachts and private jets and social media companies. Must be diamonds or platinum to fit on pallets....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tulpa | 3,501 Posted February 20 Share Posted February 20 4 minutes ago, Splain said: The fun part is when someone calls me (and leaves a voicemail) to tell me to stop spam-calling them. So my number is also being spoofed and used for spammin'. I got a call onetime from a lady who asked why I kept calling her about her taxes. It took a hot minute to explain number spoofing. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tabonga | 2,318 Posted February 22 Share Posted February 22 Not quite the same but still weird - I got a letter in the mail today from some one wanting to buy my 2015 RAV 4 for $1000 over book - so they could resell it to someone else. No thanks - it is paid off and I have under 50k on it - it will likely outlast me since I put very few miles on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesRobot | 5,800 Events Team · Posted February 22 Share Posted February 22 On 2/20/2024 at 12:17 PM, Tulpa said: I got a call onetime from a lady who asked why I kept calling her about her taxes. It took a hot minute to explain number spoofing. I got a spam call from my own number once. So of course I answered. They immediately hung up when I called em out. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now