It's only available on newer versions of Android and you also need to opt-in to it, so it's possible that you've never enabled the feature.
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A scam phone calls and emails discussion.
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py_megapixel
Established Member
It runs Android 9. I've never even been asked whether I want to opt in or not. Maybe I'll dig around in the settings a bit later and see if I can turn it on.
Scammers don't need a list of phones that work; if their automated dialer rings a number that does not exist, nothing much is lost. In any case, lists of working numbers are freely available on the internet, like this Facebook leak of 500,000 [Later edit : I meant 500,000,000 !] users, https://tech.slashdot.org/story/21/...-on-half-billion-facebook-users-leaked-online , enough to keep scammers busy for years.
What is valuable to them is lists of marks of whom some characteristic is known, like the ISP they use, if they are elderly, or if they have fallen for a scam before. (Incredibly, some people fall victim to scams several times over.)
But your case was most likely because no agent in the scam office was free to pick up your answer. The scam office autodialler is dialling all the time to ensure that when a scammer finishes a previous conversation with a mark, there is likely to a further potential mark ready to speak without delay. If an agent can't pick up the call immediately the autodialler hangs up and moves on to dial the next number on its list, because the potential marks are unlikely to hang on for minutes.
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py_megapixel
Established Member
Which makes me very glad indeed that I've avoided Facebook like the plague!
Seriously, it seems that huge privacy and data protection issues with their platform are almost cliche at this point...
Where scam phone calls are concerned, it wouldn't really make that big of a difference. But yes, generally speaking, the less information you publish online the less information there is to be disclosed in a data breach. That said, a lot of people publish enough information publicly that they are their own walking, talking data breach.
greatvoyager
Established Member
And that's one of the reasons why I publish minimal detail on Facebook, considering friends would already know the details anyway.
I have a FB account in order to communicate with just one friend who won't use anything else. My account contains totally false information, but they know who I am.
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Jamesrob637
Established Member
- Joined
- 12 Aug 2016
- Messages
- 5,241
Tell us your phone number, and we'll see what we can do
07458645073 just rang me about some tax nonsense. First "stupid" call of the month. I only answered because I am expecting a call back from my insurance company and thought it might be them. My phone didn't pick up the number as spam/fraud.
Earlier this week I had two of the robotic "This is BT and your contract is about to be terminated" calls on the same day. The first one woke me up and I really wasn't in a good mood. I pressed "1" repeatedly until I got through to a human then went off on one. The woman who answered the call had the cheek to say "goodness me, no need to be so rude" as she was hanging up!
Later in the day I received a second call. I was still fuming after the first one, so I pressed "1" and when the call was answered I made it clear that I knew they weren't calling from BT and that Bad Things Would Happen* if they ever called me again. I've not heard a peep from them since.
I'm not entirely convinced that all the people who are answering these calls are aware that they're involved in a scam. Call-centre staff are often "scripted" anyway, so I wonder if they've been employed under false pretences and are, as far as they're aware, legitimately trying to make a living. If this is the case and they're purely relying on on-target-earnings (OTE) in order to earn a crust then it makes these scams even worse.
* Obviously those weren't the exact words - I'll leave those to your imagination.
Later in the day I received a second call. I was still fuming after the first one, so I pressed "1" and when the call was answered I made it clear that I knew they weren't calling from BT and that Bad Things Would Happen* if they ever called me again. I've not heard a peep from them since.
I'm not entirely convinced that all the people who are answering these calls are aware that they're involved in a scam. Call-centre staff are often "scripted" anyway, so I wonder if they've been employed under false pretences and are, as far as they're aware, legitimately trying to make a living. If this is the case and they're purely relying on on-target-earnings (OTE) in order to earn a crust then it makes these scams even worse.
* Obviously those weren't the exact words - I'll leave those to your imagination.
Many of them aren't. Exactly as you describe, many of the agents are just trying to earn a living doing a "sales" job.
Another Facebook phone number leak a few days ago. Why do people give their [real] phone number to Facebook anyway? The platform has and is a message system in itself. It is like my bank keeps asking me for my email address, when they can send me messages within their on-line banking pages. The new Facebook story is here :
Another Facebook Phone Number Database Online
Peter Mugridge
Veteran Member
A fresh leak, or the 500 million members one from a few months ago that only became public last week?
From the linked article, it is a separate leak, and works via a bot. OTOH the 500 million leak was a simple list :
"Analysis by Motherboard and a security researcher indicate the database is separate from the recently reported cache of 500 million accounts .... Motherboard verified the tool, which comes in the form of a bot on the social network and messaging platform Telegram, outputs accurate phone numbers of Facebook users"
Gloster
Established Member
They are probably working on that at the moment.
Had one today, a woman about "my" washing machine warranty. They asked for Mrs Lucan by name but I handled it. As it happens I had bought a new one (in my name, not Mrs Lucan's) only 4 weeks ago, and I first took this to be the usual attempt to sell an extention to the standard year's warranty, so I pointed out it was still under warranty. But they kept to their script, seemingly not having listened, and said maybe my maker's warranty had expired and I therefore needed to renew my cover.
It dawned on me that they knew nothing about my washing machine and had phoned entirely at random, hoping to find people who's washing machines had recently (say within a few months) run out of their standard year or two year warranty. I suppose that as nearly every house has a washing machine, there must be a very high proportion in that target bracket, perhaps 10%. The caller's script was intended to give the impression that they represented the maker.
I challenged them to tell me what washing machine I had and when I bought it, as I was interested to know how much of my information had been sold to these people. They knew nothing, and they suggested terminating the call as they sensed me getting angry. They would have had no chance of selling me an extended warranty anyway, even if they were genuine, as those warranties are rip-offs.
It dawned on me that they knew nothing about my washing machine and had phoned entirely at random, hoping to find people who's washing machines had recently (say within a few months) run out of their standard year or two year warranty. I suppose that as nearly every house has a washing machine, there must be a very high proportion in that target bracket, perhaps 10%. The caller's script was intended to give the impression that they represented the maker.
I challenged them to tell me what washing machine I had and when I bought it, as I was interested to know how much of my information had been sold to these people. They knew nothing, and they suggested terminating the call as they sensed me getting angry. They would have had no chance of selling me an extended warranty anyway, even if they were genuine, as those warranties are rip-offs.
swt_passenger
Veteran Member
- Joined
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Agree about the extended warranty scam. My usual tactic if in a shop is to say “I’d like to buy one of these machines, and if you so much as mention an extended warranty I’m out the door...”. I’ve ended up doing it a couple of times.
I was once seriously invited at the till somewhere to pay about £9.00 to extend the warranty on a £15.00 steam iron. You’d probably get better odds down the bookies...
Jon_jpwh
Member
I have received a peculiar text today. It appears to be from an organisation called ONF.RU which Google tells me is the All-Russian People's Front. It starts with my name and continues "according to policy SCA(PSD 2.1.4) legislation, you need complete your Apple configuration". It then has a web address which I obviously haven't opened. It is a complete mystery and I very rarely receive anything which I would class as a scam.
greatvoyager
Established Member
I keep getting calls about a car crash I apparently had, despite the fact I don’t have a car. Voice is robotic and is usually a female voice.
ABB125
Established Member
I had a car crash once. Then a family member had a car crash. Then the call centre person hung up.
swt_passenger
Veteran Member
- Joined
- 7 Apr 2010
- Messages
- 31,426
I have a long story I can tell about my last car crash, in 1973. I ask them if it is on their computer system yet.
greatvoyager
Established Member
I’ve found telling them about my day makes the call a lot quicker.
Westcountryman
Member
Here is video of my most recent crash.
Why do they ask how your day has been? Its an open invitation to pour all your woes (real or invented) on them. The best they will get from me is 'It wasn't too bad until I received this nuisance phone call. Goodbye'.
To try and disarm your defences. They really don't want to know.
greatvoyager
Established Member
They don’t ask, more just me wanting to waste there time.
That may have worked in the past but because they all do it you can then go on about the cat, the leaky guttering, the car MOT, Aunt June, until they get bored and ring off.
Perhaps they have learnt their lesson with you, they usually ask me and I usually let them know. Glass much more than half empty.
greatvoyager
Established Member
If it’s a real person speaking, I enjoy hearing the get frustrated, and usually the conversation ends with them saying “okay bye, we rang the wrong number” as if I’m expected to believe that.
MarlowDonkey
Member
- Joined
- 4 Apr 2013
- Messages
- 1,101
I've long wondered what the point of the car crash calls was. If you admit to having a car crash, is it just to get bank or credit card details? Is it perhaps more subtle, to build a list of potential claims to sell on to a claim management company?
There was a spate of calls a while back where the caller seemingly seemed convinced you had worked for an employer that had called hearing loss. Unusually the call came from the UK. That seemed to tie in with a genuine Government scheme, but in practice I believe it was an attempt to build a database for onward sale to a Claims Management group looking to enter the UK market.