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Nuisance Calls

Stephenlehardy
Tuning in

I believe my parents have been "spoofed" where someone has been using their number to call people. These people then call my parents seeing a missed call. They are both in their 90s and it is causing them a lot of stress. There are up to 10 calls a day and obviously they appear as private numbers. They don't want to change number but are there any alternatives? 

1 ACCEPTED SOLUTION

Accepted Solutions

Andrew-G
Alessandro Volta

Take a look at BT landline handsets that have built in Truecall capability.  You can buy standalone Truecall boxes for an existing phone, but they're poor value compared to buying a handset with it built in.  Truecall is very effective, has multiple configuration options, including blocking all numbers not in the phone's saved numbers and rejection of international or withheld calls but by the sound of it you'd need to do the setup, and you'd need to add all existing numbers to the new handset directory, plus work out what options to use for private numbers.  They can all be diverted to voicemail, but then there's "Hi you called me and I missed your call" messages, but if you block all unrecognised incoming calls, then (eg) when Aunt Maud phones from a number that isn't in the phone's saved numbers she won't get through.

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4 REPLIES 4

Andrew-G
Alessandro Volta

Take a look at BT landline handsets that have built in Truecall capability.  You can buy standalone Truecall boxes for an existing phone, but they're poor value compared to buying a handset with it built in.  Truecall is very effective, has multiple configuration options, including blocking all numbers not in the phone's saved numbers and rejection of international or withheld calls but by the sound of it you'd need to do the setup, and you'd need to add all existing numbers to the new handset directory, plus work out what options to use for private numbers.  They can all be diverted to voicemail, but then there's "Hi you called me and I missed your call" messages, but if you block all unrecognised incoming calls, then (eg) when Aunt Maud phones from a number that isn't in the phone's saved numbers she won't get through.

goslow
Alessandro Volta

@Stephenlehardy wrote:

I believe my parents have been "spoofed" where someone has been using their number to call people. These people then call my parents seeing a missed call. They are both in their 90s and it is causing them a lot of stress. There are up to 10 calls a day and obviously they appear as private numbers. They don't want to change number but are there any alternatives? 


Not quite sure if you are describing your parents receiving call-backs from potential scam victims (after number spoofing) or from the scammers themselves or both maybe.

In the case of number spoofing, the usual pattern seems to be that the 'stolen' phone numbers used as fake caller ID are used for relatively short periods of time and then changed. If the misuse of your parents' number follows the same pattern, the calls will, hopefully, die out on their own once their number is no longer being used.

The trueCall system may be helpful in dealing with both the scammers and the call backs. On this (rare) occasion, I'd have to diagree with @Andrew-G on the matter of the standalone trueCall device being 'poor value' compared to the BT handset versions. The BT handsets have the core functions of the trueCall system but are not as customisable and fully-featured. I think the matter of 'value' depends on the needs of the individual customer and what features they require.

For most, the BT handsets will suffice. In the situation of helping protect your elderly parents from these calls, the trueCall standalone device may be more useful, not least of which because you can have access to a web interface which allows you to see calls coming into/out of the unit and for the screening features to be administered remotely (which can be helpful in setting up and monitoring calls for elderly relatives). The remote control feature relies on the trueCall device 'phoning home' peridocially to update the call info and it is worth making sure it does that during non-chargeable times for calls.

Have a read through the trueCall page below

https://www.truecall.co.uk/category-s/116.htm

and the manual

http://www.truecall38.co.uk/manuals/callblocker.pdf

to get an idea how it works.

Thank you. Very useful.

Thank you for replying. Sounds like a useful feature