New landline phone number not working - Scammers can still call

Hi iandavid,

Thank you for your post and welcome to our community forums. We're here to help.

I'm so sorry to hear of what happened to your father, and that there appears to be an ongoing issue related to his current landline contact number. Please respond to the private message that I'll be sending to you shortly and we can assist you further from there.

Thanks,
 

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iandavid wrote:

Is there someone at Virgin who can check to see if his new phone number is activated. Our whole family is  worried he is still open to these scammers. Please help. 

 

 

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Changing landline numbers is only a temporary fix. Scammers operate by using auto-diallers that dial thousands of consecutive numbers simultaneously, eventually dialling every number on an exchange. So sooner or later they will ring again when they get to his new number. If there is a response from the number it is tagged as active & the scam centre callers will follow up. I would also point out that all telephone numbers, especially landline numbers are recycled & will have had a previous user. This previous user could have been a company, or someone with bad debts, hence the possibility of more unwanted calls.

The scam call centres are based in India, & as our ageing telephone infrastructure cannot tell where an internet originated call is coming from neither the authorities or the telephone providers can currently stop them. Even if the phone is linked to an internet hub, landline calls are still routed through a traditional switched exchange.

I did reply but got a message to say dont send private messages. I am the account holder and would like to talk to someone as my land line still has not ben changed as promised

John Chapman [MOD EDIT: Personal info]