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Phone Scams

Smigo

Gold Contributor
Member For 2 Years
Hi friends. In recent times here in Oz I heard about the crazy rise in scams.
I got alerts from my phone Motorola, Duckduckgo to upgrade security a few weeks ago. I did that after checking they were verified.
Im getting hit with at least 1 a day sometimes 3 now. (Edit... that was happening before my security upgrades) Thankfully im getting alerts not to answer them with Red Light Scam alerts. Just a few minutes ago got a call, alert showed the number as a scam call from Thailand. I know nobody from there.
You guys getting smashed with them like I am here?
 

ajvapes

Gold Contributor
Member For 5 Years
VU Patreon
Hi friends. In recent times here in Oz I heard about the crazy rise in scams.
I got alerts from my phone Motorola, Duckduckgo to upgrade security a few weeks ago. I did that after checking they were verified.
Im getting hit with at least 1 a day sometimes 3 now. (Edit... that was happening before my security upgrades) Thankfully im getting alerts not to answer them with Red Light Scam alerts. Just a few minutes ago got a call, alert showed the number as a scam call from Thailand. I know nobody from there.
You guys getting smashed with them like I am here?
3 calls a day is a quiet day.... I try to waste as much time of theirs as I can....
 

Smigo

Gold Contributor
Member For 2 Years
3 calls a day is a quiet day.... I try to waste as much time of theirs as I can....
Hi. I dont know what they are like where you are but this is what I do now. Yrs ago I could have fun with them here but it's changed with technology and things I probably dont even know about.
Sometimes my phone alerts me to not answer them. I don't know if it's from my phone provider doing it or the security on my phone. I get a big lit up red alert scam call.
Others though I learnt this.
When it's not a number I know, or not when im expecting a call, I will wait 15 seconds. Many scam calls cancel at the 10 second mark automatically from their auto dial. Some go longer. Those I answer, or should say click on, but I dont say a word. Scam Auto's hang up automatically when no voice is heard after a few seconds. Its all auto and only goes to a person, the scamer when a voice triggers it. Its all auto dial random numbers by the thousands waiting for an answer and voice. Iv lost count of the hang ups, disconects, that I answer without talking.
A new one here is calling with actual peoples numbers that show up on caller Id. Often the others showed as Private numbers, no number shown.
A few, I waited, it disconnected. Later I rang the number back. I am convinced the person I rang had zero idea what was going on. Their number somehow was being used randomly by the scammer as the caller ID to make it look legit. Some I have used our service here ReverseAu where you can go to the website and put the number which called into their search engine. Known reported scams show up and if you got one scam yourself you can log it in to alert others.
Getting more scam calls now than real ones. Might get several legit calls in a week. Double to triple scams.
I wish at times I could do a cartoon character loony tunes style of reaching my arm and hand through the phone and strangling them. :giggle:
 

~Don~

Platinum Contributor
Member For 5 Years
I have block unknown callers turned on.

Call doesn’t ring, goes straight to voice mail, which I have a custom greeting.

“If you are hearing this, that means you’re not in my contacts list and you can fuck off”

There are a few exceptions, like my mom calling and I miss the call for whatever reason and she calls back immediately

Cussing me out in Tagalog for the voice prompt lol

Same with texts, I don’t get notified of texts, although some get through, but they are highlighted red and I just delete them without reading.

My contacts list is small, Work, family, doctors and the few friends I have, with the total being less than 20.

No special app.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

5150sick

Under Ground Hustler
Staff member
VU Administrator
Senior Moderator
VU Donator
Diamond Contributor
Press Corps
Member For 5 Years
Mod Team Leader
I get the asshole call every day or so.
Kind of goes like "We have noticed that your car warranty has expired..."
I don't have a car in my name so there is no way it's not a scam.

Fucking government, you have to act, look, and play poor in order to get disability heath insurance.
without the insurance I'm one slip away from a million dollar hospital bill.
it's a poverty trap.

I have gotten good at looking very poor on record.
See, you can be on disability and "have" whatever you want. just most of the shit can't be in your name.
My goal is to one day become the first person who receives SSDI that has a million dollar net worth. :giggle:
 

Lady Sarah

Platinum Contributor
Member For 5 Years
It's all the time here. Usually comes up with some city on the caller ID. I never answer them. When the caller ID says "unavailable caller", I figure, well... I'm unavailable too then. It's so bad that I might actually pick up the phone 4 to 5 times a week, and then only because I actually know who is calling.

The majority of calls don't even have a live person on the other end to pick up, even if they here a live voice. They are test calls, to see if that number is viable for marketing purposes. The Do Not Call list is nothing but one big fucking joke.
 

Smigo

Gold Contributor
Member For 2 Years
It's all the time here. Usually comes up with some city on the caller ID. I never answer them. When the caller ID says "unavailable caller", I figure, well... I'm unavailable too then. It's so bad that I might actually pick up the phone 4 to 5 times a week, and then only because I actually know who is calling.

The majority of calls don't even have a live person on the other end to pick up, even if they here a live voice. They are test calls, to see if that number is viable for marketing purposes. The Do Not Call list is nothing but one big fucking joke.
Yeah auto dialing robotic voices are common telling us we have an item waiting from Amazon or Australia Post.
The trouble is now we get legit calls from landlines as well a mobiles. Up until just a year ago nobody rang you after normal working hours, meaning if you got an unknown number call you after 5pm then it wasn't a legit business call and you could ignore it.
Its all changed now. We had a doctors receptionist ring at 6pm to change an appointment, weeks ago a Govt one rang at 8pm to discuss something with my misses in regards to her ongoing health issue. At the time we ignored it. But we knew it was them later when they sent a letter telling her she had not taken part in the telephone interview and another was going to take place. That 8pm one was them.
Yeah we have a do not call here too which is a joke as well.
We have on our door as well 2 big stickers saying "no marketing, do not knock"
I can watch from another window, they stand there and read them, wait for a bit, think, then they knock or ring the bell. I have never seen one walk away. We hear them coming because the path has a noisy gravel. Maybe have missed one do the right thing but not one ever that I have watched and knew was there has.
The amount of people out there these days ready and willing to rip you off is off the charts now. I remember as a kid in school and seeing on TV things in regards to evolution. The bit that I always remember hearing was how mankind was evolving into something better, and better, and better........what a load of crap that is now :giggle:
As far as im concerned im witnessing the De Evolution of mankind!
 

Lady Sarah

Platinum Contributor
Member For 5 Years
Yeah auto dialing robotic voices are common telling us we have an item waiting from Amazon or Australia Post.
The trouble is now we get legit calls from landlines as well a mobiles. Up until just a year ago nobody rang you after normal working hours, meaning if you got an unknown number call you after 5pm then it wasn't a legit business call and you could ignore it.
Its all changed now. We had a doctors receptionist ring at 6pm to change an appointment, weeks ago a Govt one rang at 8pm to discuss something with my misses in regards to her ongoing health issue. At the time we ignored it. But we knew it was them later when they sent a letter telling her she had not taken part in the telephone interview and another was going to take place. That 8pm one was them.
Yeah we have a do not call here too which is a joke as well.
We have on our door as well 2 big stickers saying "no marketing, do not knock"
I can watch from another window, they stand there and read them, wait for a bit, think, then they knock or ring the bell. I have never seen one walk away. We hear them coming because the path has a noisy gravel. Maybe have missed one do the right thing but not one ever that I have watched and knew was there has.
The amount of people out there these days ready and willing to rip you off is off the charts now. I remember as a kid in school and seeing on TV things in regards to evolution. The bit that I always remember hearing was how mankind was evolving into something better, and better, and better........what a load of crap that is now :giggle:
As far as im concerned im witnessing the De Evolution of mankind!
Yeah, we even had one guy tear down the No Soliciting sign before knocking. I about bit his fool head off for that before he left. I wonder what the hell he was thinking.

There may be a sucker born every minute, but it seems a scammer is born every nanosecond. There can't be enough suckers out there to support all the scammers.

The problem with the Do Not Call lists is that when fines are handed out, it's cheap to pay them, merely the cost of doing business.
 

Smigo

Gold Contributor
Member For 2 Years
Yeah, we even had one guy tear down the No Soliciting sign before knocking. I about bit his fool head off for that before he left. I wonder what the hell he was thinking.

There may be a sucker born every minute, but it seems a scammer is born every nanosecond. There can't be enough suckers out there to support all the scammers.

The problem with the Do Not Call lists is that when fines are handed out, it's cheap to pay them, merely the cost of doing business.
I heard our no call and dont knock, whatever they are supposed to be govt department, dont do or enforce anything. I can only assume they are paid to go to an office and chat amongst themselves, take selfies and read magazines whilst drinking coffee. Any wonder the scammers are running rampant with no fear of reprisal. Here action is usually only taken after someone contacts a Current Affair program who then does a story on TV about it exposing them. Then magically to save face and make it look like they actually work, someone from one of those gov departments steps in. This of course is after the TV program shows with proof that they had been contacted several times in regards to the matter over the past year or two by the person who was getting ripped off.
 

MyMagicMist

Diamond Contributor
ECF Refugee
Member For 5 Years
Kind of goes like "We have noticed that your car warranty has expired..."
I don't have a car in my name so there is no way it's not a scam.

Phone calls & emails both. "We can offer you better auto insurance rates, ..." Never have driven. Though once had a CDL course found in my credit report. Disputed it right away. Credit agency asked why. Told them never drove much less taken a CDL course.

They wanted proof. Told them check national DMV registry, they got computers just the same as me. Took them two minutes to boot me to a supervisor who was quite apologetic & said that record was wiped out.

Odd enough I find there are indeed other Benjamin Badgley's out there. None me unless you verify with me. Still kind of silly that there would be confusion. Everybody gets a berthing number, erm, SS number. Mine is, [HASH=2222]###[/HASH]-##-####. Knock yourself out. ;) :)

Fucking government, you have to act, look, and play poor in order to get disability heath insurance.

Pretty much gave up on that when the hearing for my claim all but stated several different disabilities I have. Yet I was told no dice. "You can do custodial work." Think we that work for county schools are capped at 25K a year, if FT you get benefits.

No point in me getting insurance through my work though. Wife has us both on her state provided work insurance. Me having my own would cost us more. And yes, that's about the only benefit the county schools offer that's worth a whit to me. "Look, 10% off sporting events.* "Don't enjoy sports, keep your 10%." "Oh, um well, ..."
 
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