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Author Topic: Yet another scam  (Read 2707 times)

malcolmfrary

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Yet another scam
« on: August 20, 2010, 03:36:06 pm »

I've had one spate of calls a few weeks ago of the "silent, number withheld" type, and a few with strange and unlikely numbers.  Eventually one spoke and got told where to shove it, and its one place where the sun rarely shines.  Then the calls gave up.
Got another today.  Nearly pronounced my name right, had a strong sub-continent accent, and called himself "Mike", sounded more like a "Geet". He claimed to be from a software support company, then promptly cut himself off. 
1471-ing him, I got 034009054.  A google for that turned up a few "complaint and muttering" sites, so it seems that "Mike" is a scammer.  He would, if he manages to avoid cutting himself off, like you to download some software to let him and his mates loose inside your computer to enjoy the fruits of your internet banking passwords.
It would be nice if there was a central reporting point for these scammers, so that they could be officially found and trodden on early, but as I suspect that most of them are out of the country, it might be difficult to implement.
So, if anybody rings out of the blue, asking you to do things with your PC, just let them talk.  It will increase their phone bill, and my pension fund will be happier.  If they pay their phone bills.
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pugwash

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Re: Yet another scam
« Reply #1 on: August 20, 2010, 03:45:45 pm »

Isn't it a shame with all these electronic gadgets around there is no facility to  have a little taser
attached to the phone and once you know it is aforeign callcentre or scammer give 'em a quick
burst right down the headset and between the ears then in future when you register with the
telephone preference service they know you mean it.
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Prophet

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Re: Yet another scam
« Reply #2 on: August 20, 2010, 03:58:18 pm »

you could purchase an air horn ... smack it up to the Mic and give it a blast .. they wont be phoning anyone for a while    <*< <*< <*<
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DickyD

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Re: Yet another scam
« Reply #3 on: August 20, 2010, 04:06:05 pm »

I use my dog whistle, pretty effective. {-)
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Prophet

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Re: Yet another scam
« Reply #4 on: August 20, 2010, 04:10:57 pm »

could put the wife on the phone thats enough to drive most to suicide  {-) {-) {-)
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Circlip

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Re: Yet another scam
« Reply #5 on: August 20, 2010, 05:06:09 pm »

If you ask them to hang on as someones at the door and place the phone down NOT back on the base unit, it ties at least one of their lines up untill YOU decide. :-))

  Regards  Ian.
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Prophet

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Re: Yet another scam
« Reply #6 on: August 20, 2010, 05:11:03 pm »

do you have some really awful elevator music you can play while there on hold? always fancied that type of revenge  %%
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malcolmfrary

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Re: Yet another scam
« Reply #7 on: August 20, 2010, 05:17:14 pm »

Air horn, sadly the volume transmitted through the system is limited, so its just an urban myth that it works.  That scene in The Simpsons where Bart made a circle of loud hailers and destroyed part of Springfield was just a work of imagination, and would have failed for much the same reason.
Dog whistle.  Modern digital systems cut off at 4K due to the 8K sampling rate.  Back in analogue day long distance calls went through a frequency division multiplex system, with a channel bandwidth of, again, 4K, so the dog whistle is another of those myths from days gone by.  Might have worked for someone on the same exchange, with just the one transmission bridge to lose the high frequency response in.
Sadly, no longer have a wife.
The preference service is only effective with UK (and possibly EU) callers.  Johnny foreigner seems immune to such things as legally enforceable restrictions.  
I do like the remote taser device.  Persuading the perpetrators to buy a phone fitted with the appropriate receiver might be a problem.  Bother.
Criminal record for the criminal?  If only the service provider had a (free, at the nuisance callers expense) transfer facility to muzak, or a continuously looping "Agadoo".
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steve pickstock

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Re: Yet another scam
« Reply #8 on: August 23, 2010, 10:58:08 am »

If you register your phone numbers with TPS only - not only does it tell these people not to ring you, but it makes it illegal if they do. It does work I have had all my numbers registered for years and we're very rarely bothered.

www.tpsonline.org.uk

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pugwash

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Re: Yet another scam
« Reply #9 on: August 23, 2010, 11:09:53 am »

As somebody said T.P.S. only works for UK companies ringing you - I have been registered for
years - Its  the foreign callcentres that are the problem for me

Geoff
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Dekan

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Re: Yet another scam
« Reply #10 on: August 23, 2010, 11:05:13 pm »

Just a thought, he's paying for the call so just pick up the phone and leave until you hear the tone..If everybody did that it would cost him a fortune. :-))
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maninthestreet

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Re: Yet another scam
« Reply #11 on: August 23, 2010, 11:34:30 pm »

You could invest in one of these:


http://www.truecall.co.uk/

A bit pricey at £100, but a bit cheaper elsewhere on the web.
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malcolmfrary

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Re: Yet another scam
« Reply #12 on: August 24, 2010, 10:09:52 am »

It would have to cost a lot less than that, and I would be worried about false positives - legitimate calls that should get through being prevented.  The TPS preference scheme got rid of a lot, but there are still some who ignore legalities that are, as far as they are concerned, optional.
The page does have a "report a call" link.  It might lead to something useful happening.  It would be good if there was a proper reporting mechanism that could be found and easily used by the public.  The real problem is that we are generally a polite society, and disinclined to say what should be said early, and tell these parasites exactly where to shove it.
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"With the right tool, you can break anything" - Garfield
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