Scam phone calls??

[Old Merc]

Everyday at 16.30 I get a call on my mobile from a 0843 number,I`ve never answered it.
I Googled the number,found a site where the number was discussed,"accident" compensation,dept relief,PPi,etc etc they try to get you involved in all sorts.Of course if you call back it costs shed loads.
My questions are,is this legal,does it cost me anything if I DON'T answer,how do you block it,is there an official site to report it. Any other comments ? Its a real pain in the bum,every !!!! day.

[Aretnap]

http://www.tpsonline.org.uk/tps/index.html

Unfortunately it's only really useful for "reputable" companies. A lot of the outright scammers operate from overseas, beyond the reach of UK regulators.

[Vaud]

Which phone model do you have?

[Old Merc]

Vaud said:

Which phone model do you have?

Its a special hearing aid compatible one from the RNID,not even a smart phone,dead basic odd ball stuff.
I`ve checked all the settings and I cant block individual numbers,just groups like international etc.

[357RS]

Depends on the features of your phone.

You can simply block the number. Many such scammers will change their number regularly so you have to keep adding extra numbers.

My phone doesn't offer the facility to block numbers so I created a contact called SCAM and just add the inbound numbers to that contact. All calls to the contact SCAM are directed straight to voice mail and they never leave a message. This technique does seem to work, at least to some degree.

My number is registered to TPS but as said, it doesn't stop the callers from abroad and they fudge caller display to show a false UK (sometimes local to you) number.

[Cooperman]

The last one I had was about my entitlement to PPI compensation. I kept them on the line for over 20 minutes by saying I had had a big loan and had had PPI. I gave a load of nonsense as details of the loan, then the caller went to get his 'senior consultant'. I spoke with him for a couple of minutes, then invented someone at the front door, holding a one-way conversation with the 'person at the door' and kept saying that I was on the phone on an important call. I then apologised saying the caller at the door was someone cold calling and wasting my time and that I was sorry about it, After some more conversation I told him that his type of call also kept wasting my time & I hoped I had wasted some of his and I hung up. He never called back!

[rs1952]

I've got a simple way of dealing with scam calls - it basically involves not answering them.

I have caller ID on both my land line and the mobile. Very few people know my mobile number so if I get an unidentified caller (coming up as "call" or "withheld") I ignore it, working on the basis that is there is anybody with something important to say on the other end, they'll leave a message.

The land line is a little more complicated because some of my work clients withhold their numbers, so I answer "withheld" numbers during working hours. Outside of working hours they go to answerphone. International calls on the land line are always ignored except at weekends when I sometimes get calls from Germany, the USA or South Africa, and all of those come up with a number on my caller ID (starting 0027 for ZA, 0049 for Germany etc).

Suffice to say I get very few messages left.