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Spam Calls
Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2019 6:17 pm
by OFSO
Just a mention: since our hard-wired landline was replaced by a 4G box feeding our private house network, we have not received a single spamscam call offering to help us with non-existent computer problems. The new number is on the national network and anyone can call it but so far, so (it's not really Microsoft) good.
Re: Spam Calls
Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2019 7:33 pm
by Boac
I suspect the duller crims use the BT phonebook to locate 'victims', but the smarter ones just generate random numbers.
Re: Spam Calls
Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2019 8:47 pm
by Pontius Navigator
Do phone books exist today? For a start the geographical coverage is not large and many people use mobiles without directory. Whenever we need to provide a phone number people expect a mobile number.
Re: Spam Calls
Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2019 9:14 pm
by Capetonian
The Cape Town residential phone book has shrunk over the years from about an inch thick to about a quarter of that. A lot of people don't have landlines and of those who do, many are not listed.
Re: Spam Calls
Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2019 10:57 pm
by G-CPTN
I believe that British telephone directories list British Telecom subscribers, so that when people migrate to other suppliers their entry is deleted.
Re: Spam Calls
Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2019 12:56 am
by ExSp33db1rd
Mrs. ExS tried to make a booking with a new medical ( Opthalmic) service yesterday. Name. DoB, name of Grandmother's second dog etc. then Mobile No. ? I don't have one, my landline number is ..... How do you mean you don't have a Mobile No, must have a Mobile No. Ended up them refusing her business.
I suggested that perhaps they needed her money more than we need their services ?
What law says you must have any sort of telephone ?
And yes, how does one find numbers now that Directories are on the way out, does one have to join Farcebook and "befriend" everybody ?
World's gone mad.
P.s. My parents had no phone in he house until after I had left home for the RAF, aged 21. We survived, and grew up. If I wanted to meet my mates I used to go around to their house, and ask if Fred could come out to play today.
Re: Spam Calls
Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2019 2:34 am
by Slasher
We always keep the steam driven landline phone active in case of a total area-wide lecky failure. This has happened twice during our tenure here. Doesn't cost much (about US5 pm) to run the line anyway.
Re: Spam Calls
Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2019 2:53 am
by ExSp33db1rd
We always keep the steam driven landline phone active in case of a total area-wide lecky failure.
Yes, even do that for our landline eqpt. Usually use cordless, portable handsets, around the house, but theyy go t*ts up when we get a - frequent - power failure, so have one permanently wired into the wall, usually only used to ring the power co. and say " So what the f**k is it this time ? "
Re: Spam Calls
Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2019 3:15 am
by llondel
Cold callers, scammers and debt collectors, plus the political nonsense, are all combining to make a phone more of an annoyance than a useful tool now. I use mine as a mobile data terminal, I rarely actually speak into it.
I keep a landline as a magnet for such idiots, who get to talk to the answering machine and rarely leave a message, then get blocked for failing (and sometimes even if they do). Makes life easier when someone really wants a phone number.
Re: Spam Calls
Posted: Fri Feb 15, 2019 9:52 pm
by 4mastacker
I can't think of the last time we looked up a number in the phone book. It's certainly getting thinner with each new issue.
We've got that 'call block' thingy on our landline so if an unrecognised number calls, it switches straight to answerphone. If the call is important, the caller will leave a message. Invariably they don't.
Re: Spam Calls
Posted: Sat Feb 16, 2019 8:42 am
by Boac
PN wrote:Do phone books exist today?
"Are you a BT customer?
O Yes
O No
Is your book damaged or faulty (e.g. pages missing, unreadable print or damaged when delivered)?
O Yes
O No
Please emaildirectory.products@bt.com or call0800 833400 Option 1"
Since I have not been a victim of BT for several years now, all my spam calls are either originated by random dialling or by the 'sale' of telephone number lists.
Re: Spam Calls
Posted: Sun Feb 17, 2019 6:29 pm
by OFSO
Don't even use the smart phone as a 'phone'. All voice and video calls are now made on WhatsApp, just tapping the icon on the phone home screen for the person wanted. Phone number ? What's that ?
Re: Spam Calls
Posted: Sat Feb 15, 2020 3:03 pm
by Capetonian
This is brilliant:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/ ... rs-launch/
‘Robo-revenge app’ that allows you to automatically sue spam callers to launch in UK
The Robo Revenge app was created by 23-year-old British entrepreneur Joshua Browder
Named Robo Revenge, the free app is the work of 23-year-old Joshua Browder
An app that helps people get “revenge” on nuisance callers by automatically suing them is to launch in the UK.
Named Robo Revenge, the free app is the work of 23-year-old Joshua Browder who is also behind Do Not Pay, a “robot lawyer” that fights parking tickets and bank fees.
Mr Browder's latest invention launched in the US this week and takes advantage of laws that entitle users to up to $3,000 (£2,300) in compensation if they are the victim of robocalls.
He said he plans to launch a version of the app in the UK within week.
The app works by adding users to a registry of “do not call” numbers. It then filters for robo-callers and signs up to their services using a virtual credit card.
It uses the transaction information to harvest data from the robo-caller. Consumers then go through the app's chatbot lawyer to sue the company. In the US, successful claims can secure victims up to $3,000. Americans receive on average 18 spam calls each month.
In the UK, some successful cases have been brought against nuisance callers in the small claims court. Complaints to Ofcom and the Information Commissioners Office have also yielded fines against nuisance callers, including a £400,000 fine for one company in 2017 that made more than 99 million fake calls.
The Robo Revenge service is likely to be slightly different for British users due to different laws, but Mr Browder said there was a “version of the 'do not call list' in the UK and equivalent laws”.
The company claims mobile phone operators and smartphone makers including Apple have failed to protect consumers from nuisance callers, leading people to become unwitting victims of financial fraud - or simply dealing with hundreds of robotic sales pitches.
Mr Browder's company, DoNotPay, previously created a robotic lawyer service to automatically contest parking fines or automatically stop payments for free trials. The entrepreneur founded DoNotPay at just 18. He claims his anti-parking ticket app has already saved motorists $25m by challenging tickets.
Last year, Mr Browder told The Telegraph: “We’re trying to make a universal assistant for all areas of consumer rights, for whenever someone’s being treated badly by companies or the government.”
His robot lawyer company has received millions of pounds in investment from the early backers of Facebook.
I had a spam call yesterday, number showed up as 01285 Cirencester, so I picked up said :
"Who do I know in Cirencester? that must be Sally."
Silence at the other end for a moment and then :
"I'm calling about your recent accident."
"Oh. is that the police?"
"So you have had an accident?"
"Yes, but I thought you were my friend Sally from Cirencester. Are you pretending to be her?"
Unfortunately I think they realised I was taking the piss and hung up.