New Home Phone Scam 18/9/23

[Splodgie]

Hi, The scammers are using my home telephone to run a scams on OAP's like myself, They contact people from India using my phone number, If some one they call has a mist call phone or answer machine when the see who made the call it my number, If the press to call the number who tried to contact the and using the auto call back function I receive the call from some one who I never called in the first place. As the has happened several times I have to reassure the caller there in nothing to worry about (As they are OAP's like me) and explain what's going on. I contacted VM twice about this,First to find out about what's gong on and explain the problem I don't think they are much bothered and they spent more time trying to sell me a more expensive VM package. I need that like a hole in the head. The second time I called them was to get them to check my phone log to see where the calls was cumming form as I vertically never use the VM phone to call out, the call log shown the calls are not from my phone, I needed reassurance I would not be billed for the scammers calls, and was told I should not be,  they spent more time trying to sell me a more expensive VM package AGAIN. OAP's are wasting money calling me to find out it's a scam The last lady who called me was 84 years young, and a pleasure to talk to her. This needs sorting out FAST before the blood sucking scamming cockroaches rip more people off. So who ever should be stopping this new scam get of your ass and get it fixed ASAP. As you may have worked out I'm angry that they target OAP's and have done so for years. Death to all scammers. Now I'll wait to see how long before VM takes this post down.

[goslow]

Sadly, similar stories to yours have been mentioned on here before.

The scammers take a genuine number (from a residential customer or a business) and use it as a fake caller ID.

The scammers do this to add an appearance of authenticity to their call. Often they match the dialling code of the fake caller ID with the dialling code of numbers they are calling.

The scammers usually change the fake caller ID quite regularly.

How long have you been experiencing the problem for?

There should be no charges/costs to you, just the (hopefully temporary) annoyance of getting call backs

[Vikki_M]

Hi Splodgie,

Thank you for your post and welcome back to our community.

We are very sorry to hear this, its sounds as though they are spamming the number for fraudulent purposes. 

You wont be charged for the calls, however we do appreciate this is concerning for you and also an inconvenience.

We can't stop the scammers unfortunately, however we can offer to change your phone number for you if you would like?

Please let us know here.

We would also recommend you report this to Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 or visit the Action Fraud website. 

[goslow]

@Splodgie Worth noting though that any number change will give you a (not really) 'new' number recycled from a pool of numbers belonging to past customers of VM.

Any 'new' number may possibly bring with it its own problems of nuisance calling problems.

[newapollo]

Hi @Splodgie 

If your phone number has been spoofed, you’ll likely get a lot of angry callback messages. Strangers often call back unknown numbers in order to ley off steam, check if it's genuine etc.

Whilst having your own voicemail message won’t stop the calls, it can help to explain the situation to victims and reduce the chances that they’ll keep calling you. In your new message, explain that a scammer has taken your number hostage. Apologise for the inconvenience and suggest that the caller block your number. 

Spammers use auto-dialing software to spoof the phone number from their list(s). Usually, such systems are used for robocalls.. They use the number for a week or two and then drop it.  There are numerous ways they could have obtained the number such as online phone directories, numbers supplied by marketing companies,  public records, social media profiles, online waranties/guarantees etc. 

[nodrogd]

There is currently nothing that can be done to stop this. Scammers are exploiting the vulnerabilities of our ageing telephone system, that allows them amongst other things to use cloned numbers from innocent customers.

This will change in 2025 when the old exchanges are decommissioned.

Cloned numbers are only used for a short time, so its likely the scammers will move on in a few days.

[Lee_R]

Hi @Splodgie thanks for getting back to us.

Sorry for any concerns the issue with your telephone number may have caused you.  I would like to take a look on your behalf as it appears our 'nuisance calls' section does not really cover the scenario you've raised.  However, it may be very useful in the future. Although I do hope you never have need of it. I am going to send you a private message. Please keep an eye on your inbox in the top right of your screen.

Regards

Lee_R