More scams

[AndrewJ]

Gday All

Dunno if others have noticed, but over the past few weeks
i have been getting lots of different phonecalls from the
"im from the help desk, your computer is infected" mob.
I've now had 4 in the last week???
Are others also noticing a leap in these???

I keep asking them how they got my phone no via my IP address,
but none seem to be able to tell me

Andrew

[leon]

Not recently, but have had them of late, just sting them on and tell em nothing.

Leon

[Regulus (Trevor)]

Here's one from last night:
I got a reverse charge telephone request from some one I don't know via a company that has a name close to, but not, 1800 REVERS

Pretty sure that if I had taken the call i would have been billed a lot by that phone service.

[Forgey (Paula)]

I've had a couple of txt message scams, don't know how they got my number either

[sophie (Jim)]

Originally Posted by Forgey

I've had a couple of txt message scams, don't know how they got my number either

They can't target specific numbers, Andrew was just sticking it to the scammers by getting them to explain how to do something impossible to make them feel stupid.

So don't worry, just ignore.

[mithrandir (Andrew)]

Originally Posted by Forgey

I've had a couple of txt message scams, don't know how they got my number either

They don't know it's your number and they don't care either. They just run a program to generate SMS messages to whole blocks of numbers in the hope that one sucker will reply. They find ways (probabaly illegal) to send these SMS for free.
Here where the sender pays for SMS you can just ignore them. In places where you pay to receive SMS (IIRC the USA is one) it's probably an offence.

[dpastern (Dave Pastern)]

They'll usually find a PBX with an exploit and take advantage of that. Ignore them. If you think EMail SPAM is bad, you have no idea what's coming with voice SPAM over the next few years...

Dave

[cornelia (Ruth simmons)]

There's no way for them to know your phone number through your IP address. If that is what they're claiming, it's a big bluff. The call was a scam and just as you have noticed, there is indeed a quick increase in the number of reports related to this particular phone scheme. But despite the increase, more people are now aware and vigilant against suspicious calls. The scammers can call all they want, but they'd surely have a hard time finding a victim.

[cornelia (Ruth simmons)]

By the way, I forgot to mention that I received a call like that, too. But it didn't last long. As soon as the caller said he was from "Windows Technical Support" and that they have detected a virus in my computer, I told him I knew it was a bluff and that I'm reporting his phone number to Callercenter.com for scam calls to warn others. He hung up.

[AndrewJ]

Gday Ruth

There's no way for them to know your phone number through your IP address.

I know that, hence my request for them to tell me how they did it.
I am with an ISP where my emails IP addr changes every time i login
( hence why many overseas spam filters kill me ).
I just find it humourous to ask em how they got my phone number
based on the fact they arent my ISP, and dont know who that is.

My main gripe is that the frequency of calls has increased recently.
Its almost like they sell off the known valid phone nos to all their mates
once they get someone who answers a call, irrespective of if they fall for the scam or not.
Sometimes its fun to string em along, but other times its just a nuisance,
and they dont take a string of four letter invective as meaning
"no, im not interested".
( Actually one did for a while,
but she hung up on me when i called her a scammer )

Andrew

[LewisM]

Get on the Do Not Ring database. Helps a LOT. I have NEVER gotten a single spam call. EVER.

My father did. He strung them along for 45 minutes.

[AndrewJ]

Gday Lewis

Get on the Do Not Ring database.

I'm on it, but these appear to be from overseas as the accents are really bad,
and when they tell me to go get effed after i tell em they are scammers, they really dont get the accent right

Just getting annoying.

Andrew

[mithrandir (Andrew)]

Originally Posted by AndrewJ

Gday Lewis

I'm on it, but these appear to be from overseas as the accents are really bad,
and when they tell me to go get effed after i tell em they are scammers, they really dont get the accent right

In reality DNC only concerns Australian businesses. It doesn't stop politicians, charities or any company with which they claim you have had business. These scammers are almost all overseas where Australian law can't touch them.

[LewisM]

I don't have a home phone any longer anyway. I also refuse to answer a single call on my mobile that comes up as Number Withheld. I don't care if it is someone I know calling from O/S or whatever - no guts to identify yourself, no answer.

[AndrewJ]

At least the pollies wont be ringing for another three years
( unless Abbott doesnt like receiving his own medicine from the senate and calls a double dissolution )
I personally would like to dissolve the lot of em
in a vat of acid and start afresh.

Andrew

[LewisM]

Waste of good acid.

[AndrewJ]

The acid would know it died a good and honourable death

Andrew

( sick of the pollies as well as the scammers )

[jjjnettie (Jeanette)]

If my kids are with me when the phone scammers call, I hand the phone over to my 16yr old so he can play with them. (he's been doing this for 2 yrs now)
I love that he loves to do this.