Unwanted phone calls

[Harrowby Hall]

Earlier this evening, I had a phone call on my mobile. The individual at the other end knew my name and my address and claimed to be from an organisation called "Beneficial". The voice was not that of a native English speaker and it was unclear as to whether the caller was male or female. The number displayed was from the Leeds area.

The caller claimed to be conducting a survey. After a couple of questions - my age and marital status - I terminated the call because I was not convinced of its legitimacy. I checked the number with some internet sites and found that a large number of other people had reported the number as being suspicious. Some of them stated that it was related to PPI.

My mobile does not ring when a call is received. I checked the incoming calls list and noted that in the last week or so I have received twelve calls from unknown callers. Some claimed to be from Tonga, but it was interesting to note that the same number on another occasion claimed to be from Spain. I have now blocked all the numbers, shall block any future calls whose provenance I do not recognise, and shall only reply when I know the caller.

Is anyone else plagued with nuisance calls? If so, do you have any suggestions as to how to deal with them?

[Shaker]

I feel your pain 

I get a frankly ridiculous amount of nuisance calls, some on the landline but most on my mobile, which I attribute to having had to have put that number down in past years when entering competitions (etc.) and having my details sold on.

To my mind these cold callers (typically outsourced to India and the Phillipines, in my experience) are the bastard scumbag vermin bastard vermin scum of the earth - I know, they know, they know I know, I know they know, that they're just reading from a prepared script and calling at random from what is no doubt a very long list of random numbers.  But seriously; have sex and travel. No, I've never been involved in a car accident. No, I've never taken out PPI. No, my computer is fine. I know I haven't  ever had any issue with these things and here's the thing, so do you.

In my experience they can't be stopped before but only after the fact, that's to say by blocking each number on your mobile once you've received a call. Don't answer a suspicious call; wait for the call to ring off then Google the number and, if necessary, block it. Websites such as whocallsme.com (there are many other similar ones available) are invaluable.

[Anchorman]

 I can top that.
This very morning, some ***** called asking if my MOTHER was available - and this isn't the first time, either.
When I pointed out - with venom - that my mothyer, in fact was no longer available, the cretin asked for a contact address!
I gave the gentlrman the address of the local graveyard.
I wish him luck.

[Gordon]

We get them on our land-line rather than mobiles: there is often a short delay and the caller is obviously foreign and sounds like they are in a call centre a long way from here. Invariably, after hanging up and dialling 1471, I get 'we do not know the caller's number'.

Currently most of these calls claim to be from BT advising of an internet performance issue affecting and when I say I'm not with BT (I'm with Virginmedia) they just carry on. I usually just hang up but if I can be bothered I ask them to hang on just a moment while I turn on a recorder attached to the phone and enable some special number-tracking software since my internet provider is monitoring cold calls in this area - that usually works.

It is annoying though, and worrying that some must fall for these scams else they wouldn't keep calling.

[Robbie]

I too look up strange numbers on the internet and frequently find out they belong to scam artists, surveys, selling stuff.   Usually I don't answer the phone unless I recognise the number but this evening I did because I was expecting a parcel before 9pm & thought it might be the courier. It was a very enthusiastic woman who knew my name.  She mentioned the name of the company she works for and I can't remember it now, just asked what their business was which seemed to throw her a bit but she eventually asked me if I'd seen anything on the news about loans, PPI, etc.  I just said no and that none of that concerned me, I had no such problems, end of.

The poor otherwise unemployed, usually quite young people who man these nuisance call centres have my sympathy, it must be a nightmare having so many dead end calls.

The calls are a dreadful intrusion though, worse than junk mail which you can at least tear up and forget.

Anchorman, well done with your call  .

[Rhiannon]

I have a bit of a problem in that I regularly need to take calls from places that block their caller ID - even my GP's surgery does it.

I had a humdinger of a text the other day, definitely written by someone English, saying it was from (reasonably common name), she needed a favour and she'd broken her arm in a stupid accident and could I text her back to let her know I'd got her message. I do have a friend with that name but she would have used her usual number, her partner wouldn't have had my number in his phone and I smelled a rat. So I sent her a text to ask how she was...strangely all her limbs were intact.

[Shaker]

I have a bit of a problem in that I regularly need to take calls from places that block their caller ID - even my GP's surgery does it.

I have the same with at least potentially important calls from a local hospital - the number looks (on caller ID) the same as a junk call.

Anybody else have an issue with what I firmly believe are voice-activated calls? (i.e. a pre-recorded robot message only kicks in once you say 'hello?')."

[Enki]

We get quite a few. The best ones are those that ask you if you are plagued by nuisance calls, and then suggest that for a small fee(never bothered to find out how much) they can stop them for you.

[Walter]

Earlier this evening, I had a phone call on my mobile. The individual at the other end knew my name and my address and claimed to be from an organisation called "Beneficial". The voice was not that of a native English speaker and it was unclear as to whether the caller was male or female. The number displayed was from the Leeds area.

The caller claimed to be conducting a survey. After a couple of questions - my age and marital status - I terminated the call because I was not convinced of its legitimacy. I checked the number with some internet sites and found that a large number of other people had reported the number as being suspicious. Some of them stated that it was related to PPI.

My mobile does not ring when a call is received. I checked the incoming calls list and noted that in the last week or so I have received twelve calls from unknown callers. Some claimed to be from Tonga, but it was interesting to note that the same number on another occasion claimed to be from Spain. I have now blocked all the numbers, shall block any future calls whose provenance I do not recognise, and shall only reply when I know the caller.

Is anyone else plagued with nuisance calls? If so, do you have any suggestions as to how to deal with them?

Beneficial was the name of a finance company with a base in Leeds. They no longer lend money and were taken over, however they do collect outstanding debt!!!!!

[SusanDoris]

If there is a pause, or a voice I do not know I just put the phone down. If thre is any doubt in my mind I'll do 1471.

[trippymonkey]

When I see a number without a name I just keep quiet as these damn things seem to be voice operated. After a few secs it clicks off then I KNOW it a BS call.
If I go straight to a caller in an office atmosphere then I stay quiet for a sec or 2 then start screaming like I'm being murdered ?!!?!? HA HA HA Then click 'em off !!!

Nick

[Udayana]

We used to get unwanted calls, but very few these days.

Why answer a call from an unknown or withheld number? - If they have something important to communicate they can leave a voice message. With most answering machines you can also pick-up during the call if you need/want.

[Harrowby Hall]

Beneficial was the name of a finance company with a base in Leeds. They no longer lend money and were taken over, however they do collect outstanding debt!!!!!

Thank you for that information, Walter. As Shaker notes there are a number of websites which can be used to check telephone numbers and I looked at three or four of them. Several of the people contributing reported that PPI was mentioned.

What really concerned me was that I was called on my mobile and that they knew my name and address. I do not freely give my mobile number - so it has been sold, together with other details, by some organisation that I had thought would behave responsibly.

[floo]

We keep getting calls for a Mrs Davies, a person who has never lived here. I can only assume that we were issued with the landline number that had once belonged to this woman, when we moved to this house 5 years ago.

[trippymonkey]

We keep getting calls for a Mrs Davies, a person who has never lived here. I can only assume that we were issued with the landline number that had once belonged to this woman, when we moved to this house 5 years ago.

Ask them your address next time to see if the landline is FOR that house & maybe was never switched off.
Could just be someone's been given YOUR no with one digit wrong. I've never made any contact whatsoever with these callers but you never know what you sign up for where they can sell on your no, eh ?!?!?!

[Sebastian Toe]

Once I realise that they are scammers (your computer has viruses, its about your car accident etc, they have an Indian accent and are called 'Andrew Johnstone') I try to keep them on the line as long as possible. If they are talking to me then they are not scamming someone else.
I love the car accident ones as I can spin out a long and sad tale of what happened to me, leading up to, during and after my 'accident'. Then if they are still there I start complaining long and hard about the lack of compensation and what are they going to do about it!
My best time was just over an hour!

Never try to scam someone when they happen to have time on thier hands!