I’ve been receiving 3-4 phonecalls per week from call centers where the caller is always Indian and they’re all calling about a special promotion from one of the big three telecom companies.
I actually registered my phone on the no call list from the federal government. I’m not even a customer of the big three. (Videotron in Quebec ftw) So I shouldn’t be receiving these calls. I’ve also asked multiple times not to be called again. But they still call.
Has anyone else had this issue? How did you deal with it?
you answer your phone?
LoL I know right?
Sorry to hear you’re dealing with that. I don’t pick up calls from numbers I don’t recognize, with exceptions like if I know a service/delivery person will arrive soon. This is speculation, but I think that picking up fraud calls makes you more likely to be called again. Sorry I can’t be more help
I don’t pick up calls from numbers I don’t recognize, with exceptions like if I know a service/delivery person will arrive soon.
This used to work in the past when the numbers were obviously long-distance or the call ID looked sus. But these newer calls are now using local numbers, and the call ID comes up with regular people’s names.
I’ve set my answering machine so I can hear the caller even as the voice greeting is on, so that can help, but only if they call my home phone and only if I’m near the machine.
It’s infuriating that “nothing can be done” on a wider scale. These numbers are coming from somewhere, and I find it hard to believe they can’t be whitelisted/blacklisted on a national level.
This is speculation, but I think that picking up fraud calls makes you more likely to be called again.
100%.
This might not be am option or helpful for everyone, but I’ve moved cities since I got my current phone number. Now I know if it’s from my own area code, it’s almost certainly spam. And since pretty much everyone has country-wide free long distance calling nowadays, long distance charges don’t really matter.
If it’s not someone on my contact list it’s going to voicemail. Every time no exceptions.
Leave me a message.
A lot of the spam numbers come from the same area code and first 3 digits of my number, makes it really easy to suss out most of the scam calls out. I just hate when they leave a message and I have to go in and delete their message.
Picking them up will absolutely get you more spam calls. That proves to them that it’s an “active” number and you’ll get inundated with a bunch more calls. If it’s actually someone trying to reach me, they can leave a voicemail.
Yes. Constantly.
I went from ignoring them, to politely asking them to remove my number from their list, to letting them know that their call is illegal. I also played along for as long as possible (wasting their time), and tried yelling at the top of my lungs. Nothing works.
Criminals don’t care, as long as they can make money from someone.
Now, my folks have this feature on their phone where the caller has to verify (pushing a number) that their call is legit. This apparently works well enough that they don’t get scam calls.
Oh that’s interesting. I’m going to ask my service provider if that’s an option.
I think it’s “call screening” or something like that. I have a client to has the same feature on their phone for a business line, and he said he hasn’t had spam calls in years.
Another preventative thing I do that I speculate is effective is I don’t enter my phone number in online forms unless it’s something important to me. They already have an email address of my choosing. Most online shopping, “Contact us” forms - heck no, I’m not entering my phone number. They don’t need it. I don’t want them to reach me by it. I usually provide valid local #s of large businesses or organizations if a form requires a number
I use a setting on iOS that blocks all calls from numbers that aren’t in my contact book. The only side effect is I have to save business numbers I interact with in my contacts. For the most part this works well for me and since I don’t answer spam calls they usually don’t try more than a few times before giving up. It is interesting to see their call patterns though. Some try daily for a week, others more randomly over a month.
Occasionally I disable the setting for a few hours when I am expecting a call from a number I don’t know.
I had some scammers from “Bell” that said they were giving me a free phone as a reward for being a loyal customer. The problem? I haven’t subscribed to Bell in over a decade.
I strung them along for a while and figured out they were probably trying to get my 2FA code so they could hijack my account and presumably order new devices on my credit.
Interesting.
I wonder if it’s possible to report these to the RCMP. I know they work on cracking down on these fraudulent groups with the Indian authorities.
I’m getting tonnes of them. They always say they’re from Rogers, for me. They’ve called about 20 times.
I’m hoping they call sometime when I’m otherwise free so I can waste as much of their time as possible. It’s fun to bait them, and it saves them from potentially scanning someone else in that time.
I use Hiya. $2ish bucks a month and it’s seriously cut down the calls I get. I will maybe get 1 a month that sneaks through, and even then it’s pretty clear it might be spam
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How long has your number been on the no-call list? We have a similar thing in the UK but it takes ages to have an effect. Months to a year.
I deal with the issue by wasting as much of the scam callers time as I can. It seems to be the best way to get my number removed.
I usually say “I’m Mr Smith’s personal assistant, this sounds like something he should discuss with you. Please hold the line.” And then stick them on mute and forget about it.
With the right words and intonation you can get some of them to stay on the line for AGES.
