Nuisance phone calls from abroad

[R E S T E C P]

Since joining the TPS we've had almost no marketing calls from within the UK on our landline, but still getting about 6 per day from India "Microsoft Technical Support" trying to install viruses on our PC.

We usually just hang up when we hear an Indian accent, but they still keep calling.
We've also tried wasting their time by saying "hold on the laptop is a bit slow, windows is loading..." and putting the phone down to see how long they'll wait (5 mins is the record so far). But that hasn't made a difference either.

The calls come from a withheld number.

Is there anything we can do to stop the calls?

[glenrobbo]

Yes, you can unplug the phone.

Bloody nuisance callers get on my nerves so much, that's what I've done. I only plug it in if I want to make a call.
It's a plague that needs stamping out.

[C&C]

We leave the landline to go to answerphone all the time, and have done for years.

All our friends/family know to start leaving a message, and if we're in, we'll pick it up when we hear them, or get the message when we return.
This also works if it's (say) the garage calling, or someone about a delivery etc. They tend to leave a message.

If it's not worth leaving a message, then it can't be that important.

Cold callers hang up as soon as they hear the answerphone message, so I've never actually answered a cold caller/PPI/Microsoft scam call.

Obviously this doesn't work if you're using your landline for your business.

[davhill]

A Truecall machine came from my best eBay deal ever. It even says, "If you're a cold caller, fk off" or words to that effect.

[NDA]

It's only ever the mother in law who calls the land line. So yes, we get nuisance calls.

I never answer withheld numbers and, as above, most of the time let it go to answer machine.

[BristolRich]

BT Call Guardian Phones are good too...

If the caller isnt in the handset phone book they are presented with a message which basically asks to identify themself. The phone then rings and you can choose to accept, reject or send to answerphone.

From ~6 "PPI and MS Support" calls a day to zero.

[grumpyscot]

davhill said:

A Truecall machine came from my best eBay deal ever. It even says, "If you're a cold caller, fk off" or words to that effect.

Another vote for Truecall. We used to get anything from 3 to 8 calls a day. Now, it's about 2 a week but Truecall intercepts and they don't get through. All International calls are barred except for people we know, and they have special extra digits to key in that bypasses the system.

[captainzep]

When I got nuisance calls from India I pretended to be outraged ex-Indian cricket all-rounder Manoj Prabhakar from the 90's.



"DO YOU BLOODY KNOW WHO I AM?"

[vikingaero]

Any chance of a change of mindset? Sure if the caller is calling in the middle of dinner, when your favourite TV show is on or you are in the middle of decorating then it's an inconvenience. Just saying no thank you and putting the phone down and being annoyed is a cop out.

If they call when you are REALLY not doing anything then play along. The more of us that don't just be abrupt and wind them up, the sooner this scam will disappear. Most of the Microsoft scam callers will swear at you when they realise they've been had, so just expect it. The longer each person keeps them off the phone the less calls they can make and the less money they earn.

I have great fun with cold callers, especially UK ones. I have unlimited minutes on my mobile and I'm careful to only call those numbers that are free under my plan. So basically no 0906 or 070 numbers (070 numbers are different to 07 mobile numbers). So if someone calls me up and I'm waiting in the car for The Vikingettes, standing on a street corner waiting for a friend or having a big st, then I'll call them! I tell them to really remove my number or I will call them back 100 times for each time they've called me. When the same agent answer your call time and time again they know to remove your number - "Hi, I had a terrible accident at work today..." or "Hi, it's Viking, I said I'd waste your time, 79 more to go, your choice, when I get to work I'll program calls in the autodialler too.."

[Koan]

vikingaero said:

Any chance of a change of mindset? Sure if the caller is calling in the middle of dinner, when your favourite TV show is on or you are in the middle of decorating then it's an inconvenience. Just saying no thank you and putting the phone down and being annoyed is a cop out.

The cold callers referenced above (Microsoft Vindows Tech Support etc) are actually scam artists which con people in to thinking their computer is infected. They then remote on and install either ransomware (or just encrypt/delete your files) until you pay them an extortionate fee to fix - which they may or may not do.

A polite 'no thank you' is undeserving.

[King Herald]

R E S T E C P said:

The calls come from a withheld number.

Is there anything we can do to stop the calls?

Set your phone to reject withheld numbers?

Our BT phone can do that. We have Virgin phone system etc, but the phone I bought in Argos says BT on it.

[ashleyman]

I've noticed that I'm getting more calls from +00 000000000. All calls are about me winning £500 of vouchers.

Last week I had 3 or 4 calls from 0000000000 in a single day.

[wildcat45]

If it's a UK call centre, then I'm usually polite and just tell them I'm on TPS and no thanks.

I get persistent pre-recorded calls. Usually for green energy. I am tempted to book appointment for a "survey" or whatever the personal face to face contact is, then tell the guy to do one. To be fair though tha would be messing with someone just trying to earn a crust.

The Indian call scammers? Well they are criminals they prey on the vulnerable. Then I fill my boots. Nothing is off the agenda when I talk to them.

[mikeveal]

hartge bob said:

If you're with BT you can currently activate BT Call Protect for free.

Can then select to block withheld numbers, unknown numbers or international numbers as well as BT's own blacklisted numbers and add to your own blacklist.

https://www.productsandservices.bt.com/products/ph...

Thanks for reminding me to do this.
But...
BT have really upset me.
The process of signing up moves you from paper to paperless billing, with no option not to accept this.

And here is what BT have to say about Call Privacy:

BT said:

Signing up to BT Privacy with Caller Display will also update your marketing preferences so you may receive the occasional call from BT Group companies letting you know about special offers relevant for you. You can change your consent at any time by calling us free on 0800 800 150.

Not very private then. Block all marketing calls? No, just the ones that don't come from BT.

[DanielSan]

Act dumb, lead them on saying you're not sure what your computer is after they mention the windows nonsense, if asked to say what your keyboard is like because you've acted that dumb, describe an apple layout and let them walk into the trap of saying your apple computer is faulty, then ask how that's possible when they told you your windows laptop has issues....

It turns out they really don't like their time being wasted, and also turns out I find some irony highly amusing

[IIIRestorerIII]

ashleyman said:

I've noticed that I'm getting more calls from +00 000000000. All calls are about me winning £500 of vouchers.

Last week I had 3 or 4 calls from 0000000000 in a single day.

Had a call from "00 0" a few days ago. I didn't get to answer it which may have coincidentally taken me off their list.

[The Hypno-Toad]

I've got calling barring on my Phillips home phone. Banned all international and withheld numbers and if I do get a call from a uk number I don't know, I google it and add it to the list if its dodgy. The only small issue is that the barred list for uk numbers is for 10 only but as they rotate these its just a case of replacing them. Any of my friends call from abroad they know to text me before they call so I can turn the bar off.

One day the dicks will stop calling but answering the phone and leading them on is not worth my time.

[LittleBigPlanet]

It's become my new favourite hobby to try to keep these people on the phone for as long as possible. My current record is 24 minutes (claimed I had a 'very slow' PC, running Windows 98).

I recorded a recent effort on my phone. The call involved all manner of recorded noises from YouTube (drilling, cows, alarms and errr, a bad stomach) and I kept the person on the phone for ~five minutes. I think YouTube would like it.

It's a fun game. Also means that they're not trying to scam someone else whilst I'm wasting their time.

Note: I call Talk Talk up after receiving the calls and get them to block the number for everybody. I even had the scammer on the phone once whilst calling Talk Talk but they were not interested in talking to him. Opportunity missed in my eyes!

[55palfers]

The Hypno-Toad said:

One day the dicks will stop calling .

They will never, ever give up.

[DavieW]

A couple of weeks ago I had a nuisance call from a nice Indian chappie (Arnold or William I think he called himself) offering a way of stopping nuisance calls. I don't think he understood the word "irony" as he rabbited on!