Phone scams.

[postman]

Having just read about a former tv sports presenter losing £70,000 to a phone scam.How do you deal with dodgy calls.Here at Postman's home the number shows up on the screen,if i know the number i will pick the phone up.If i don't we let it ring and a message tells them to leave a message and we will get back to you.Now this week alone this has happened six times.They must have got the message they have stopped ringing.

 

[Cycleops]

One of those very loud compressed air horns place near the phone might come in useful.

 

[classic33]

Best bet is not to answer, as by answering you confirm the number is live.

 

[swee'pea99]

"You shouldn't be calling this number - I'm registered with TPS. Goodbye."

 

[Deleted member 26715]

Depends how far you want to go, I always answer them & try to keep them talking as long as possible, that way whilst they are wasting their time with me nobody else is being scammed. I then register the number at https://who-called.co.uk/ again to warn other people. I then go one step further if they are really annoying, I go to http://static.ofcom.org.uk/static/numbering/index.htm find out who the Range Holder is & report the number to them

 

[Jody]

I also try and keep them on the line as long as possible without giving the game away.

 

[albal]

I usually answer and say 'who's calling please '? When they reply I say 'just a minute I'll go and get him/her'. Then leave it for a bit. Pi§§ed them off no end.

 

[MichaelW2]

I got a BT scam call claiming that my internet speed was slow. I asked them how slow it was, in specific numbers and would not accept " very slow" as a number. That must have pushed them off the edge of their scam script because they hung up on me.

 

[Jody]

I usually answer and say 'who's calling please '? When they reply I say 'just a minute I'll go and get him/her'. Then leave it for a bit. Pi§§ed them off no end.

Keep going back every couple of minutes to tell them the person is really interested in their service and ask them politely if they can wait. Annoys them even more as they fell for the lie and waited

 

[Electric_Andy]

My mobile phone comes up with an alert saying "telemarketer", or "potential fraud" and will automatically hang up. I block it afterwards. It might be a bit of a risk, but if it's important then they can always write to me.

 

[Vapin' Joe]

Having just read about a former tv sports presenter losing £70,000 to a phone scam

I can understand some confused elderly or otherwise vulnerable person being scammed like that, but a supposedly intelligent TV presenter?

Good grief, does she not read the papers or watch the news?

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Depends on my mood.

Sometimes if I'm bored I'll play along. I had one girl ring me up about an offer for some share of mine. The shares are worthless and it's not worth selling them. So anyway it goes on and on and on. Well she does whilst I'm away in the kitchen making a cup of tea, and ocassionally picking up phone to say yes then put it down. Get to the end, and she says do you want to sell your shares then? I say well, if you can put it all in writing and mail it to me I'll have a read and think. But but but, it's a special offer only now on the phone. Well no then. A bit of back of forth, then she burst out with "You completely wasted my time you bastard...." , to which I reply "Well you are the one who rang me up". At which she slams the phone down. If you can get the scammers to lose it then slam their phones down, it's a small victory.

 

[Vapin' Joe]

Male caller, converse using the names of Welsh villages instead of English.

Female caller, be very accommodating and friendly but gradually start talking dirty and asking intimate questions.

 

[Goldy]

I don't answer any numbers I don't recognise on the mobile or landline.
Sometimes they're genuine but hey life's to short to worry about that

 

[Deleted member 26715]

I can understand some confused elderly or otherwise vulnerable person being scammed like that, but a supposedly intelligent TV presenter?

Good grief, does she not read the papers or watch the news?

You say that but a friends father who is a reasonably intelligent man, having just retired was conned out of his £39K savings, luckily as he was still talking to the scammers he also rang his bank, but due to the length of the queue on hold he still transferred it. They were able to stop the payment being completed, but it was a very worrying 36 hours until it was resolved.