Forum Discussion

hils49's avatar
hils49
Tuning in
6 months ago

Spam calls on mother's phone despite being on a call blocker service through Virgin

Hi

I manage my mother's Virgin media account as she has dementia.  She keeps receiving very distressing calls repeatedly despite being on a Virgin call blocker service and the TPS.  I am assuming now the only option is to change her telephone number but have heard that even that will not stop spam calls (even if she is ex directory)?

Am not sure what to do but obviously cannot continue as it is as it is seriously affecting her mental health and stressful for me to sort out each time.

Can anyone please advise as to whether changing telephone number would be a good idea?

Private messages preferred on this and I can go through the security checks too as am registered on her account.

I have tried calling Virgin but cannot get through to anyone.

Thank you so much

  • goslow's avatar
    goslow
    Alessandro Volta
    6 months ago

    Consider using this device

    https://www.truecall.co.uk/shop/truecall-call-blocker

    which I have found to be 100% effective in the past.

    It screens calls, rather than blocks numbers, and it can be configured to varying degrees of severity (even to screening out all calls other than those on an approved whitelist of numbers stored in the device).

    VM has no nuisance call-stopping features on its landline service (other than anonymous caller reject, which may cause more problems than it solves by blocking calls from legitimate medical service providers).

    Changing landline numbers is not really a solution. Firstly any 'new' number you get from VM just comes from a pool of recycled numbers belonging to VM. It may well come with its own history of nuisance calling problems. Secondly, most spam/scam calls are generated by automatic diallers which just work their way through blocks of numbers in turn. Eventually the 'new' number will end up on a scammer's dialling list.

    • Carley_S's avatar
      Carley_S
      Forum Team
      6 months ago

      Hi hils49 

      Welcome back to the community forums 

      So sorry to hear that your mother is receiving a lot of spam calls and you've not been able to get through to speak with us.

      As goslow has kindly taken the time to already advise, numbers are recycled and as such you might find that the new number doesn't resolve the issue of the spam calls. 

      Sadly, we aren't able to block all spam calls but do offer some services that can help restrict them, such as anonymous caller reject. You can find more information and tips here should you need.